History

The school was originally founded as a place for education majors at then Teacher's College at the University of Hawaii to practice their teaching skills. Between 1939 and 1941, an elementary school was built to give elementary and pre-school education students hands-on experience. A permanent building for this purpose, Castle Memorial Hall, was constructed at this time. It was a gift of Mary and Samuel Castle, who was one of the founders of Castle & Cooke.

Buildings for the high school were constructed after the war with University High School Building 1 opening in 1943 and University High School Building 2 opening in 1948. University High School Building 3 opened in 1957. Finally, the Multipurpose Building is opened in 1963. In the mean time the school graduated its first high school class in 1951.

In 1966, the school's focus changed to testing curriculum developed by the college for use in the Hawai'i Public School system under what is now called the the Curriculum Research and Development Group (CRDG). Since that time, admission to the school has been based on getting a cross section of the state's socio-economic groups to meet the needs of the testing of the curriculum materials.

The university stopped funding the school in 1999 due to major budget cuts from the state of Hawai'i in the university's budget. Alumni and friends raised enough money to cover the loss of revenue for two years.

In 2001, University Laboratory School became the charter school, Education Laboratory School. The Hawai'i State Department of Education now contracts the CRDG to run the school and the university allows the use of the facilities on campus in exchange for use to test CRDG materials.

Controversy

Over the years an unusually high proportion of the students are children of university faculty members or relatives of politicians and other island notables. This has caused some to question the use of public moneys to fund the school including former Governor Benjamin Cayetano who essentially left the school with no funds.

Use of University of Hawaii at Mānoa facilities

When the Laboratory School became a separate entity from the University of Hawaii at Mānoa in 2001, there was an understanding that the school would become self-sufficient within two years. This meant being able to pay for its maintenance, and not need any more university assistance. In 2003 the Chancellor of the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, Peter Englert, suggested that the university concentrate solely on research and discontinue managing the school. He also suggested giving the school a one-year contract to prepare to pay rent or move out.

Fire

On June 13, 2006, a fire erupted on campus in the University Elementary School building.  The fire spread rapidly, causing a devastating amount of damage to the building. Among the sections lost were the orchestra room (along with newly refurbished orchestra equipment), the choir room, the performing arts room, the gym, and the athletic office.  Arson is believed to be the cause of the fire.