The Territory of Hawaii government purchased the Cecil C. Brown Estate and the school moved there in September 1918.
[3] In the 1980s enrollment fell to nine, and Mary Vorsino of the Honolulu Star Advertiser called it "a rocky period".
Dr. Fernandes established a strong bilingual school with American Sign Language as primary in and out of the classroom and hired deaf teachers and staff as role models for students.
[3] Ed Chevy, a member of the group "Save Our Angel Ramos" (SOAR), stated that he reversed a decline in the school management.
[5] By 2020 there was a bill in the Hawaii Legislature over requiring members of the deaf community to be in the management of the school.
[4] In 2010 Vorsino of the Honolulu Star Advertiser wrote that there were "disappointing test scores and years of struggling to boost student achievement".