Tripler Army Medical Center: the family map

Licensed childcare within reach

Oahu's licensed providers aren't published as a downloadable list, and we won't reprint a partial one. Use the authoritative finders, then verify each provider's current license before visiting:

• Hawaii DHS child care licensing & provider finder — the official source for licensed providers and license status.
• PATCH statewide child care referral line: 808-839-1988 — free referrals by town and age.
• MilitaryChildCare.com — the on-base CDC waitlist for Tripler. Waitlists are the real constraint; request the day orders drop. Income-banded fees and CCDF fee assistance can land well below market.

For what care costs and whether the second job pencils, see The Second Paycheck Report — e.g., a licensed center-based or group child care home runs a median of $900/mo (2023 Hawaii Child Care Market Rate Study).

Before you visit any provider, confirm its current license status directly with the state — licenses lapse and change. This site publishes no provider roster; use the official finders below.

Public elementary schools near the gate

The nearest open public elementary schools to Tripler, from the federal directory. This lists public schools only (private/parochial to come). We do not rank schools and we never publish attendance boundaries — your exact zoned school depends on your address; confirm at the DOE school finder before you sign a lease, and see the DOE Geographic Exception process for out-of-zone requests.

School	Town	Grades	Enrollment
Moanalua Elementary School	Honolulu	PK-6	678
Red Hill Elementary School	Honolulu	PK-6	416
Major General William R Shafter Elementary School	Honolulu	PK-6	390
Mayor Joseph J Fern Elementary School	Honolulu	PK-5	394
Salt Lake Elementary School	Honolulu	PK-6	659
Kaewai Elementary School	Honolulu	PK-5	258
Linapuni Elementary School	Honolulu	PK-1	127
Kalihi Elementary School	Honolulu	PK-5	183
Kalihi Waena Elementary School	Honolulu	PK-5	453
Aliamanu Elementary School	Honolulu	PK-6	643
Kalihi Uka Elementary School	Honolulu	PK-5	240
Kapalama Elementary School	Honolulu	PK-5	510

Source: NCES Common Core of Data via Urban Institute Education Data API, 2023-24 directory (latest). Pulled 2026-08-06. Ordered by proximity to the installation reference point (internal only — distances not published). Enrollment and grade span as reported to NCES.

Commute reality

Which pockets reach Tripler in what free-flow time. Peak bands are pending (shown as —). Full grid: the Commute Reality Grid.

Free-flow band	Pockets
≤10 min	Salt Lake / Moanalua, Aiea, Kalihi
10–20 min	Pearl City, Downtown / Kakaako, Waipahu
20–30 min	Mililani, Kaneohe, Ewa Beach / Kapolei, Wahiawa, Kailua

Source: Free-flow drive time between pocket and installation reference coordinates via OSRM public routing (no traffic model), rounded to 5 minutes. Peak bands (peak_min) pending traffic-aware sampling per the family-layer spec windows; render as em-dash until sampled. H-3/H-1 incident variance applies; reference coordinates are pocket/installation centroids, not addresses. Pulled 2026-08-06.

The spouse-work picture

A PCS to Oahu usually means a career interruption for the accompanying spouse — and a set of programs built to soften it. Hawaii recognizes many out-of-state professional licenses through military-spouse provisions; federal hiring has a spouse-preference path; and the MSEP partner network, NAF/MWR, and the exchanges hire locally. The remote-work option is real but runs into the time-zone math. The spouse-jobs directory links each official starting point — no placement pitch, just the doors.

Bringing a family to Tripler?

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