New International School of Japan

New International School of Japan was founded in 2001, as the first international school in Japan specifically established to meet the needs of permanent, international marriage, and/or long-term residents of Japan, regardless of nationality, in the clear and research-based recognition that dual language and multiage education are good for children!

In addition, the school offers a smooth transition for children moving from a Japanese based educational system to an English one, or vice versa, and families temporarily in Japan  but with an interest in Japanese as well as English are also welcome.

The school began for children from age 3 to Grade 9 and extended to Grade 12 from August 28, 2014.   It is accredited through grade 12 by both the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA) and the Council of International Schools (CIS), and it is a member of the Japan Council of International Schools (JCIS), the Progressive Education Network (PEN) and the  Tokyo Association of International Preschools (TAIP).

At New International School, the children maintain and develop their social and academic skills, creativity, and independence in a child-centered environment they can participate in with great enthusiasm.  Knowledge, skills and attitudes are developed through an inspired dual language implementation of Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence.

Our students learn bilingually through team-taught multiage classes, a resource-based thematic approach, and a combination of whole group, individual, center-based and project-based activities. There are two full time teachers for about twenty children in each exceptionally well-resourced classroom.

Multiage education, like Montessori education, is constructivist, meaning that the children construct their own knowledge and understanding based on experience.  It is, however, a Vygotskian style of constructivism which emphasizes learning and language acquisition as a social process.   The students learn from one another as well as from the teachers in a highly interactive style of education.   The children thrive in an environment where they can progress unimpeded by traditional grade level limitations.

From August of the calendar year in which they turn 6, all the students learn to play the violin by ear, physical education includes International Tae Kwon Do, and Mandarin Chinese is offered as an elective.

Interested persons are encouraged to visit by appointment or register for a group orientation and tour, offered at least twice monthly, once in English and once in Japanese.