American School in Japan

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American School in Japan
Location
Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan
Japan
Information
Type Private
Motto Developing Compassionate, Inquisitive Learners Prepared for Global Responsibility
Established 1902
Head of school Tim Carr
Enrollment 1,600
Color(s) Black and gold
Mascot Mustang
Accreditation(s) WASC
Affiliation none
Website American School in Japan Website

Founded in 1902, the American School in Japan (ASIJ) is an international private day school located in the city of Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan. The school consists of an elementary school, a middle school, and a high school, all located on the Chōfu campus. There is also an early learning center (nursery-kindergarten) for children aged 3–5 located in the Roppongi Hills complex in downtown Tokyo. Instruction is principally in English and follows an American-style curriculum. About two thirds of the school's students are the children of citizens of English-speaking countries who are on temporary assignment in Japan, and the remaining one third are Japanese students who speak English. Tuition for this school is approximately 2 million yen. However, the campus is fenced in, resulting from heightened security measures taken after the September 11 attacks, with campus surroundings including the Nogawa Koen and the neighborhood of Tamabochi. In a review, the Good Schools Guide International said "This is an impressive school, not only for its size and facilities but also for its strong sense of where it is going. [1]

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Overview

Officially founded in 1902, The American School in Japan was started by a dynamic group of women who recognized the need for a school among the growing foreign community. Beginning life in rented rooms in the Kanda YMCA, the Tokyo School for Foreign Children, as it was then known, quickly attracted a growing numbers of students from around the world and soon needed to move to a more permanent home in Tsukiji. The school survived the Great Kanto Earthquake and continued to expand and outgrew the Foreign Settlement moving to Meguro in the 1920s. After closing during the war years, the school reopened in 1946 and later moved to a new campus in Chofu in 1963.

A series of major improvements to the main campus began in the 1990s, when the school became one of the first in Japan to have internet access. Over the last ten years many of the building have been redesigned and rebuilt, while others were retro-fitted. A new cafeteria and classroom building was added in 2003 and a state-of-the-art theater complex opened in 2005. In 2003, the school's Early Learning Center opened in Roppongi Hills, moving from Naka-Meguro.

Today, with diverse curricular and co-curricular programs, a highly qualified faculty of over 140, and over 1,500 students from more than 30 nations, ASIJ is one of the oldest and most respected international institutions in Japan.

[edit] Curriculum

[edit] On campus

ASIJ follows a strictly American curriculum, offering almost all Advanced Placement courses for high school juniors and seniors. There is an extensive Japanese language program, which begins in the first grade. Other languages taught are French, Spanish, and Chinese. All the students in the Elementary School have to learn Japanese for one period every other day. There are different levels in the Japanese classes.

[edit] Extra/co-curricular

[edit] Clubs and activities

[edit] Elementary school
[edit] Middle school

The Middle School starts from 6th grade up to 8th grade.

Fall: Girls/ Boys- cross country, Girls/ Boys- soccer, Girls- volleyball,

Winter: Boys/Girls -swimming, Boys- basketball, Boys- wrestling, Girls field hockey,

Spring: Boys/ Girls -track and field, Girls-Basketball, Boys/ Girls- Tennis, Boys/Girls Baseball,

Yearly: Student Leadership team ( student council), Peer Helpers, Brain bowl team, Mix it up Mondays, Golf Club etc.

[edit] High school

The high school offers a variety of co-curricular and extracurricular activities, including the following sports:

Fall: boys/girls cross-country, boys/girls tennis, boys football, girls volleyball, cheerleading

Winter: boys/girls swim team, boys/girls basketball, cheerleading, boys soccer, girls field hockey, boys wrestling

Spring: boys/girls track & field, girls soccer, boys baseball, girls softball (club)

The high school also offers many clubs & service opportunities, including Habitat for Humanity, UNICEF, Abot Kamay, Amnesty International, Speech/Debate, Thespians, Gay-Straight Student Alliance (GSSA), National Honor Society, Peer Helpers, Anime/Manga, Dance, Model United Nations, etc.

[edit] Extended campus

The school values interaction with its host country, however, and the curriculum includes several programs including an 5th grade exchange program with Japanese students of a school in Numazu, "Intermission" activities for middle school students, and "JUMP" (Japan Understanding Motivational Program) trips for high school students, which include the options of traveling around Japan to places such as Okinawa.

The middle school includes extended campus trips to the Izu peninsula, Kiyosato [AKA: KEEP (Kiyosato Educational Experiment Project)], Hiroshima, Naeba Skii trip, and Lake Sai.

    • The 8th Grade Hokkaidō trip was changed in 2003 due to restructuring of the Extended Campus program. Now, the 8th graders "engage in Tokyo area cultural activities before or after Lake Sai trip, and goes on the Naeba ski trip there."[2]

[edit] Facilities

[edit] Athletics

In house Athletic trainers are on duty while athletic events occur on campus.

ASIJ Mustangs Logo
[edit] Main field

The main field, located in the back of the Chōfu campus, is set up for all major sports, including soccer, baseball, football, field hockey, most track & field events, and archery. The field, newly turfed in 2007, includes built-in bleachers, a 100-meter strip of track, football goalposts, stadium lighting, and a security fence next to Nogawa Koen.

[edit] Middle school field

The middle school field is surfaced with FieldTurf.

[edit] Multiple gyms

ASIJ has three gyms, one in each division. The high school gym was recently re-floored (2006). None of the gyms are air-conditioned, but all are full-sized and equipped for sports such as volleyball and basketball. The high school gym features retractable bleachers.

[edit] Workout facility

The weight room/fitness center consists of two levels and is located next to the pool. The lower level houses the free weights and larger machines, while the upper level is divided into smaller machines and a stretching area. There is also a dance studio located in the new cafeteria building.

[edit] Aquatics

The Chōfu campus houses a 25-meter heated pool used by the elementary, middle, and high school swim teams and PE classes. The pool features a 10 ft (3.0 m) high "platform" for diving, as well as heated floors.

[edit] Fine arts facilities

[edit] Ricketson Theater

The Ricketson Theater is the home to many students. It is frequently called the "RT" for short by students and faculty. The theater originally opened as the "Little Theater" in 1963. Later, it was renamed after former Headmaster and musical director, Bill Ricketson. Bill Ricketson died in 2004.[3] The original Ricketson Theater was demolished in 2005 and a state-of-the-art, 420-seat theater opened in 2006. Features of the new theater:

  • State-of-the-art ETC lighting system
  • Yamaha digital sound mixing console
  • Hydraulic operated orchestra pit
  • Xenon Spot lights
  • Changeable acoustics & fly-in acoustical shell
  • SONY DVCAM Multi-cam recording system with Sony's Anycast System
  • AVID Xpress & Media Composer non-linear editing systems
  • TV Studio

[edit] Blackbox Theater

A mini-theater located on the second floor of the Fine Arts complex adjacent to the high school. This facility is also equipped with a full lighting grid housing an ETC lighting system. This room also has mirrors for dance practice.

[edit] Art studios

The art studios encompass a variety of art including, but not limited to:

  • 2D Art
    • Drawing
    • Painting
    • Photography
      • Studio Photography
      • Digital Photography
      • Black and White Photography
    • Photoshop
    • Computer Animation
  • 3D Art
    • Ceramics
    • Metal Working
    • Sculpture

[edit] Bandroom

The band room is used by students in middle school and high school in an instrumental music program. Middle School level courses

  • Rookie Band (beginner band)
  • Cadet Band (at least 1 year of experience)
  • Symphonic Band (at least 2 years of experience)

High School level courses:

  • Rookie Band
  • Concert Band (majority is freshman)
  • Wind Ensemble
  • Jazz Band

High School bands also participate in the following festivals and competitions:

[edit] Choir room

Don Berger Choir Room.

[edit] Misc

[edit] Technology
  • Telescope and dome for astronomy classes
  • Technology is a key component of the ASIJ curriculum. ASIJ offers various services on the web, including MustangsOnline[4] (a parental portal for community news) and Blackboard.
  • The school maintains over 800 Windows computers.
  • Plasma screens and LCD screens are placed in the lobby for announcements
  • In Summer 2009, ASIJ was refitted with a new WiFi networking using Cat-6
[edit] Banking

A Shinsei Bank ATM is located in the plaza in front of the middle school. Transactions can also be made with the following banks:

[edit] Food services

The cafeteria seats 250-300 students with additional seating outside in the high school courtyard and middle school plaza. The menu is large, with daily specials and à la carte items including pasta, meat, and vegetable main dishes. The cafeteria also serves ramen, soba, and udon every day. The "Beans'n'Greens Cafe"/Kiosk, located in the bookstore in the front of the middle school, offers a variety of deli-type sandwiches, soups, and salads, as well as snacks such as senbei, pretzels, bagels, candy, and ice cream. Beverage options include coffees (made from Starbucks beans) and fruit juices from the "Beans'n'Greens", Crystal Geyser water machines, and Coca-Cola product vending machines.

[edit] Library and media centers

ASIJ has 1 library in each school division The main library alone houses over 32,000 books, 200 periodicals, several thousand video, audiocassette and CD-ROM titles.

[edit] Security

Since September 2001, ASIJ has security guards securing the gates, requiring ID checks.

[edit] Environmental Sustainability

[edit] Solar Panels

In February 2009, with the help of Government Funding and private and corporate donors, ASIJ installed Solar Panels on top of the Gym and Pool buildings which have a maximum capacity of 80 kW/h

[edit] Earth Worm Composting

Cafeteria food wastes are composted using earthworms. The compost is used to fertilize the greenery around campus

[edit] Recycling

[edit] No Heat No Cool Months

ASIJ promotes energy conservation by not turning on the heat or air-conditioning during October and April. Sometimes, the students do tend to get too cold/hot but there are two reasons why they are doing this; one, so that the promote energy, and two, so that the students get used to the feeling of knowing what to wear/bring to school.

[edit] Other

  • ASIJ is trying to reduce pet bottle consumption by promoting the use of water bottles, such as SIGG
  • The regular PET Bottles in the vending machines have been replaced by I Lohas bottles [5]

ASIJ Tweet: PET bottle compromise: an environmentally friendly version coming to ASIJ

[edit] Finances

[edit] Major contributors

  • Class of 1977 (in the name of Jack Collins) - Main Field Project
  • Ehara Family - Renewal of the Fine Arts wing
  • Zwaanstra Family - Renewal of the Fine Arts wing
  • Various companies

[edit] Summer programs

ASIJ hosts two summer programs, the Summer Studies Program, and Summer Day Camp.

[edit] Summer Studies Program

The Summer Studies Program (formerly known as Summer Passport Program) is a three-week summer school program available to international and English-speaking students, ages 5 (kindergarten) through 18 (high school senior). The program is run like a camp for the younger students and a summer school for the older students. Students in kindergarten and first grade study bugs and dinosaurs, respectively. Elementary students (2nd grade - 5th grade) do a variety of "passport" programs, usually focusing on one or two countries. The middle and high school students are allowed to choose four classes to take for the three weeks, from a variety of topics including sports, musical instruments, and SAT prep classes.

All instructors at the Summer Studies Program are certified teachers, and the program offers a monitored bus service for children living downtown.

[edit] Summer Day Camp

The Summer Day Camp program, run by Jo Ash and Tim Thornton, is a two-week summer day camp for Japanese-speaking children (there are also some English-speaking groups), grades 1 - 6.

The camp promotes the usage of English in everyday life, and usually has an enrolment of approximately 750 children per two week session (there are two sessions, beginning mid-July and ending mid-August). The campers are separated into groups by age (and, in older groups, by gender), with each group named after an animal. The groups spend their two weeks going to different activities, including swimming, sports, model craft, needle craft, music, mini-golf, computers, roller skating, etc. All the campers attend English class every day. The camp curriculum also includes a special activity called "Kappa Corner," led by Kappa-sensei. "Kappa Corner" is set up as a competition between every group in the camp and campers compete in a variety of games to win coveted "Kappa Badges".

The camp is primarily staffed by college and high school-age teens, although each activity's lead specialist holds a college degree.

[edit] Special Events

[edit] Battle of the bands / Show Down

Battle of the Bands was a large event hosted at ASIJ which was faculty sponsored by Bruce Bryant and the Communications club. Over the years it had grown to a large competition involving all the international schools in the Kanto Plains area, with sponsorships from HMV and Coca-Cola. The original series of Battle of the Bands came to a close in '97 with "Spring Fest 1997". (Jesse McFadden performed here prior to the formation of RIZE).

The event was revived in 2000 with Tai Dirkse and David Neale. This event is no longer competitive and rather a time where students can perform "MUSE-ic" with their band. The event is currently run by "MUSE", ASIJ's music enthusists, and COSA.[6]

[edit] Robotics at ASIJ

ASIJ hosted the first VEX Robotics Competition ever held in Japan on November 11, 2009 in the Ricketson Theater. Teams from Kyoto, Hawaii, Texas and California joined four teams from ASIJ to compete, with two of the home teams emerging as champions in the hard-fought contest. ASIJ won the Excellence Award.

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] Miscellaneous information

Herbie Hancock, George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara Bush, Yo Yo Ma, Jane Goodall, Colin Powell & John Glen have all visited ASIJ as speakers and notable guests.

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.gsgi.co.uk/countries/japan/tokyo/the-american-school-in-japan?form.submitted=1&country=japan&countryCity=&submit=Go&city=
  2. ^ Middle School Extended Campus Trips
  3. ^ ASIJ Class of 1974: Memoria
  4. ^ "MustangsOnline"
  5. ^ "I Lohas Bottles"
  6. ^ MUSEicFest.com
  7. ^ http://tripatlas.com/Imrat_Khan
  8. ^ Jimmy Wales visits ASIJ

[edit] External links

[edit] Image Gallery Links

Coordinates: 35°40′51″N 139°31′17″E / 35.68083°N 139.52139°E / 35.68083; 139.52139

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_School_in_Japan"
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