Since 1991, the Nānākuli High and Intermediate School Performing Arts Center or NPAC has provided students from grades 4 to 12 from any public school the opportunity to learn and apply performance, academic, and self-esteem skills through the process of staging over 90 productions and performances.

 

The program meets after school every day from 4 to 6 pm and some Saturdays and evenings. There is no cost to participate in this program and middle and high school students may earn an elective credit.

 

In 2018, NPAC was one of 50 high school theatre programs out of 1000 applicants from across the country to receive $10,000 from the NBC’s R.I.S.E. (Recognizing and Inspiring Student Expression) America grant. The program is inspired by the NBC drama Rise about a high school theatre department and its effects on a small town and stars Hawaii’s own Auliʻi Cravalho.

 

In 2011, the NPAC was selected to perform at the American High School Theatre Festival at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. There were 2200 schools that were nominated to perform and only 62 schools were selected and NPAC was one of them.

 

The NPAC has been honored to be the first organization Hawaii to perform Disney's Beauty and the Beast, High School Musical 2, and Camp Rock the Musical.

 

NPAC is one of 29 Learning Centers in the state that focuses on a specialized area for students from any school.  

 

This after-school program has enriched the lives of students from various schools and across the island.