Is punahou better than iolani

Answer 1

NO WAY!!! IOLANI IS AWESOME. I AGREE PUNAHOU IS COOL. BUT IOLANI HAS THE RAIDER SPIRIT. GO RAIDERS. :)
~EVERY SCHOOL IN HAWAII ROCKS THE WORLD :)

Improving this answer: Both are good schools. Iolani is smarter per capita. Punahou has a much larger student body thus a greater variety of students. Both give their students good global perspectives. Iolani graduates have the reputation of being more civic minded, specifically to Hawaii and usually remain or return to work here. Punahou graduates have the reputation of having less an allegiance to Hawaii but through businesses and entrepeneurship, have a significant impact on the local economy. Iolani was an all boys school until the mid 1980's and was more Asian in its' make up. Punahou has the reputation of being more well-to-do-white American in it's roots but the student body has evolved to more diversity in recent years. Using a collegiate example, Iolani is to Punahou as Yale is to Harvard. You can't go wrong with either.

(I wouldn't say improving, but, "adding" onto the answer)
Iolani is a great school, their academics are definitely their strong point. Punahou is a very well-rounded school that encourages every student to express his or her interests. Punahou also has one of the best sports programs in the country (a few years back they were ranked number 1 on the sports illustrated "Best High School Sports Programs" list. Two years in a row. Now they're ranked top five if I recall correctly.) It is very tough to make a sports team at Punahou, some kids probably would be starters on other teams, but they're getting cut at Punahou. So if you're really good at sports, and sports is a big part of your high school experience, go to Punahou. Iolani is pretty good at sports too but sometimes they play "out of their league." And not in the good way. For example, Iolani has won the DIV II football championship five years in a row, and they are definitely a DIV I team. But they would probably get crushed in DIV I so they stay down and beat up on the little guys. Whereas Punahou won the Baseball title seven years in a row...in DIV I. So as you can see I'm a little biased towards Punahou and I think it's a much better school to go to for success. Not saying that Iolani people don't become successful. But if academics is your one and only incentive to go to a school, go to Iolani. If you are a well rounded person who, maybe academics isn't quite so high on your list, but is still very very high, then go to Punahou.
If you'd like to know some famous people who went to both schools then...I'm not the person to ask haha. But I do know a few, from Iolani: Honolulu's former mayor Mufi Hannemann. From Punahou: President Barack Obama, Founder of Ebay: Pierre Omidyar, Founder of AOL: Steve Case, Kelly Preston (Actress, Mrs. John Travolta), Golfer Michelle Wie, Star of the show "Prison Break" Sarah Wayne Callies, Offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans Norm Chow, Rod Lurie (creator of "Commander in Chief"), Daughter of Jack Nicholson (Jennifer Nicholson), and Mark Tuinei (Late Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman.
As you can see I know of a lot more Punahou people, there are probably more Iolani people that I'm not aware of so please do share with us if you know.

And personally, I think Punahou is more fun, Iolani is so uptight about things.

Having attended Iolani (and a daughter that attended Iolani for 5 years before she switched to Punahou), i'd have to say in our case, that Punahou is the better school. Both schools are good and it basically comes down to your child's personality and what you are looking for in a school. Punahou tends to focus on the development of the child as a whole, not only on academics. The students are taught the importance of working with others. They have a refreshing way of looking at a child's personality always focusing on the positive. The students at Punahou tend to be more well-rounded and supportive, whereas the Iolani students (as well as the parents) tend to be competitive and catty. Punahou also will embrace a child's talents and encourages the development of the talent. This is probably why Punahou tends to have more successful graduates as a whole. The child is encouraged to develop their interests, and the school will do their best to showcase and support that child.

Now I know not all Iolani parents are like this, but, during one of our Lacrosse games this season we were beating Iolani 11-1. And our team was laying some big (but legal) hits on them. (One kid got sent to the hospital because he felt a little dizzy after one really big hit) But may I remind you, all of these hits are legal, and you wouldn't find anything different in a sport like, say, football. But then the Iolani parents just started calling out our parents and before some of them left they flipped us off and stuff like that. How immature of an adult to do something like that, is that really how you want your parents to be portrayed at Iolani. And it wasn't just ONE parent or family doing that, it was the WHOLE Iolani fan section.

As to the above paragraph, I was there and I would say you have not described the incident fairly or accurately at all. What angered the 'Iolani parents was the cheering when someone - anyone - got hurt, not the hits, legal or otherwise. That hit was filmed and it was NOT legal, but the main point was that the boy was hurt and had to go to the hospital (concussion). The family reacted to the Punahou parent cheers and calls to their son to "suck it up" with anger. I know what I said as an 'Iolani faculty member and parent of a player: "These are ALL our boys, all our Hawaii boys, and when they end up doing well on the mainland, we all love and claim them." The person who flipped off the Punahou parents was the sister of the injured boy, not a parent. Her anger at the cheers when her brother was hurt was perfectly understandable. This is my "improved" explanation of the above. As a follow-up, I've asked my son not to play anymore because of the vicious tone the sport has taken on. It's not good lacrosse when it's all about slamming the opposing players rather than finesse. Sad. I know the board feels the same and is doing what they can to control the gratuitous violence.