The Hawai'i Technology Academy, a new public charter school in Hawai'i, will celebrate the grand opening of its learning center in Waipahu today.

The 250 students of the school spend nearly all of their school days working online from a computer at home under the supervision of a "learning coach," typically a parent or grandparent, said Jeff Piontek, the school's director.

As a result, the center itself consists of a leased 10,000 square foot space that includes a high-tech lab and a digital media program. Students go to the campus for one-on-one "direct intervention" and instruction from teachers a minimum of 1.5 hours a week.

The coaches themselves also visit the campus, about 1.5 hours every month, Piontek said.

Students must be under the supervision of a learning coach or teacher at all times, he said. Teachers can also check their students' progress by monitoring how much time they are spending on lessons and seeing whether they are on target for finishing their work, he said.

"It's something different for the child," Piontek said.

HTA isn't the state's first charter school in which students learn primarily online. The school known today as Myron B. Thompson Academy pioneered the concept in Hawai'i in 2001 and has proved popular with parents and students.

The student body of HTA is diverse. About 40 percent of its students are Native Hawaiian. About 45 percent come from the West O'ahu region between Waipahu and Wai'anae. Roughly one in four of students are from military families, Piontek said.

The school employs seven full-time teachers and one part-time teacher, he said, and there are openings for two special education instructors.

The school first opened for business July 29 in Kapolei.

The new location is on the second floor of the Waipahu Sherwin-Williams outlet at 94-810 Moloalo St.

For more information, go to www.k12.com/hta/.