K. International School Tokyo

K. International School Tokyo
Location
Tokyo Japan
Information
Type	International school
Motto	"Learning for Life"
Established	1997
Acting Head of School	Yoshishige Komaki
Website	http://www.kist.ed.jp/

K. International School Tokyo (KIST, Kインターナショナルスクール東京 K Intānashonaru Sukūru Tōkyō) is a K-12 secular international school in Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1997. KIST offers all three programs of The International Baccalaureate centered on inquiry based learning. The main language of instruction is English, catering to approximately 600 students from over 50 different countries.

The school was founded by Yoshishige and Takako Komaki.

The school is split into two sections sharing one campus located next to two metro stops on the Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon Line and Toei Oedo Line in Koto, Tokyo. The campus is about a one-minute walk from the subway. The elementary school runs the Primary Years Programme, while the secondary school runs the Middle Years Programme and Diploma Programmes.

KIST is well-known for high academic performance in the Tokyo area. Diploma Program average score was 36.00 this year where the full potential mark is 45. KIST is excellent in academic performance.

The campus has several of the original buildings but opened a new section in August 2009. The elementary school was featured on ABC News with an interview with students about the UK Royal Wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton seeking to get Japanese school children's impressions on March 28, 2011.

History

April1997	ECE program began at Higashi-suna, Koto-ku It was a kindergarten for non-Japanese children
September 1998	Elementary School program began, Grades 1 and 2
September 1999	Elementary School program expanded to Grade 5
July 2000	Recognized as a school foundation by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government
September 2000	Secondary School program began, Grades 6 to 9
January 2002	IB Primary Years Programme authorization received
June 2003	IB Middle Years Programme authorization received, Affiliated with CIS as regular member
September 2003	Grade 10 began
June 2004	IB Diploma Programme authorization received
September 2004	Grade 11 began
September 2005	Grade 12 began
January 2006	PYP re-authorization received
June 2006	Inaugural Grade 12 graduation held
September 2006	Campus relocated to Shirakawa, Koto-ku
April 2007	10th anniversary celebration held
October 2008	IB PYP, MYP and DP Workshops in Tokyo held at KIST
November 2008	Construction of West Building began
August 2009	West Building opened
January 2010	Artificial turf installed on main playground
September 2010	LEAP (Learning Enhancement Academic Program) began
October 2011	MYP-DP re-authorization received
April 2012	EIC (English Intensive Class) began for Grades 6 to 8
June 2012	Inagural performance of the school song, 'For Tomorrow'
May 2013	Edexcel International GCSE examinations recognition received
August 2014	K. International Preschool (KIPS) opened at Nihonbashi-Hamacho, Chuo-ku
January 2015	Granted candidate status for accreditation by CIS

Source for table: http://www.kist.ed.jp/node/1

Academics

The school is well-known for demonstrating outstanding academic achievement compared with other IB schools in Japan. According to the school homepage, the IB Diploma average score for Class of 2015 was 36.00(of 45 maximum possible) which is +6.12 points above IB DP average score for May session. 9 students achieved over 40 points, 1 students attained a perfect score of 45 , 1 student attained 44 points and 2 students attained 43 points.

• Mathematics and English

One of the school's guiding belief's is; "Special emphasis should be placed on development of skills in language and mathematics as essential learning tools." In line with this, the school has a strong focus on mathematics and English, following the Key Stage 1 and 2 curriculums in the elementary, and the Key Stage 3 curriculum and Edexcel International GCSE. Mathematics class is divided into Extended, Standard, and Basic classes from MYP. English (also known as Language and Literature) is one of the most important subjects at the school. Students are given assessments for English class frequently such as writing essays, writing exams and etc. The school also offers a English strengthening program, Learning Enhancement Academic Program (LEAP), for those who need support and improvement in English.

• Science

The school follows the Cambridge IGCSE Science curriculum. Students begin studying Science as an official subject when they enter the Middle Years Proram (G6). Therefore, the school science curriculum is approxamately 3 years behind compared to Japanese public schools. KIST DP Science scores are outstanding and higher than the world average in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics.

• University Acceptance

Graduates of KIST most commonly attend universities in the USA, UK, and Canada. With the emergence of Japanese universities offering English course, graduates attending Japanese universities are also on the rise. Due to the profile of the school and the high academic results, many students receive scholarships. Bold print* below indicates that scholoarships were offered with admission.

Australia

Deakin University	Queensland University of Technology	University of Sydney*	Sydney Institute of TAFE
University of Melbourne	Monash University	University of Queensland

Canada

Acadia University	Simon Fraser University	University of Western Ontario
Bishop University	University of British Columbia*	York University
Dalhousie University	University of Northern British Columbia	Mount Allison University*
McGill University*	University of Regina	Trent University*
Ryerson University	University of Toronto*	University of Victoria*

Japan

Akita International University	Lakeland University	Temple University
Chuo University	Meiji Gakuin University	Tokyo Future University
Dokkyo University	Nagoya University	Temple University Japan
Doshisha University	Ritsumeikan University	University of Tokyo*
International Christian University*	Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University*	Waseda University*
Kwansei Gakuin University	Sophia University*	Yokohama National University

United Kingdom

Ashton University	Manchester Metropolitan University*	University of Kent
Birmingham City University	Oxford Brookes University	University of Leeds
Brunel University	Queen Mary, University of London	University of Liverpool
Camberwell College of Art and Design	Roehampton University	University of Lincoln
College of Fine Art and Design London	Royal Holloway, University of London	University of Liverpool
Durham University	Staffordshire University	University of Manchester
Edinburgh Napier University	University College London	University of Nottingham
European Business School London	University of Aberdeen	University of Saint Andrews
Hult Business School	University of the Arts London	University of Sheffield
Imperial College London	University of Bath*	University of Stirling
King's College, London	University of West of England, Bristol	University of Sussex
Kingston University	University of Birmingham	University of Surrey
Lancaster University	University of Cardiff	University of Warwick
Leeds Metropolitan University	University of Edinburgh	University of Westminster
London School of Economics and Political Science	University of Exeter	University of York
University of Glasgow

United States

Bard College	Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising	OTIS School of Arts and Design
Birmingham Southern College*	George Washington University*	Pacific Lutheran University*
Boston College*	Georgetown University	Pennsylvania State University
Brigham Young University (Hawaii)	Gonzaga University*	Purdue University
California State University (East Bay)	Hofstra University	Portland State University
California Institute of Technology	Illinois Institute of Technology*	Princeton University*
Clarkson University	Lynn University	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Concord University	Marist College	Rochester Institute of Technology
Dartmouth College*	Michigan State University*	Rutgers, State University of New Jersey
Drury University*	Midwestern State University	San Jose State University
Evergreen State University	New York University*	Savannah College of Art and Design*
Florida Institute of Technology*	Northeastern University*	School of Visual Arts
School of Art Institute of Chicago	Ohio State University	University of Richmond
Seattle University	University of California, Santa Cruz	University of San Diego*
Soka University of America*	University of California, Los Angeles	University of Southern California
Snow College	University of Chicago	University of Virginia
Stanford University*	University of Dubuque*	University of Wyoming
State University of New York, Binghamton	University of Hawaii at Manoa	Utah State University
State University of New York, Buffalo	University of Iowa	Wake Forest University
State University of New York, Stony Brook	University of Oregon*	William Carey University
Syracuse University	University of Massachusetts	Willamette University
University of California, Davis	University of Miami	Worchester Institute of Technology
	University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)*

Other Regions

American University in Cairo (Egypt)	Seoul National University* (Korea)	University of Antwerp* (Belgium)
Lasalle College of Arts (Singapore)	University of Hong Kong* (Hong Kong)	University of Groningen (Netherlands)
Raffles College of Art (Singapore)	Yonsei University (Korea)	University of Pecs (Hungary)
Savannah College of Art & Design (Hong Kong)	Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (Korea)

School building and facilities

The school consists of three buildings; elementary building, main building, and gymnasium.

• Elementary Building

All pupils that follow the Primary Years Program study and spend most of the time in this building. The elementary building is new with elevators and excellent classrooms.

• Main Building

The main building, also known as the secondary building is where the main office is located at and pupils study the Middle Years Program / Diploma Program. The main building is relatively old as the building was previously used by Japanese public school. It is said that the owner of the school bought the old Japanese public school that has closed due to population decline. Science laboratories, Library, and main office are all in this building. The main building has all the necessary facilities for students.

- Criticism

According to reviews, the school is old and dusty in general. One of the review claims that the school is unable to provide enough resource for conducting experiments for science class. The school is hosting and running events such as KISTival to collect enough money to reconstruct the main building. The school has been delaying their reconstruction schedule for a long time. The school is currently considering to reconstruct the main building at 2020.

• Gymnasium

The school has a gymnasium with stages and a full basketball court. The gymnasium is large enough to hold assemblies for all secondary students. The gymnasium is commonly used for Physical and Education class and assemblies. The gymnasium has bathrooms, equipment storages, and changing rooms for students. There are several reports of water leaking from the roof when heavy rain seasons and the changing room being insanitary however, the school established a rule which prohibits students from leaving their belongings behind in the changing room.

Internet and Computers

The school provides free Wi-Fi for enrolled students. Laptops are available from the library center and students that are 9th grade or above are permitted to bring their own personal laptop to school. However, students in the school claims that the Wi-Fi speed is too slow and laptop (DELL VOSTRO 3550) usually does not respond when internet explorer is running. Wi-Fi routers errors occurs frequently and only staffs / teachers have access to LAN cables. The school is currently trying to improve the Wi-Fi conditions, however, students are still concerned about the slow Wi-Fi and slow computers.

Student body

As of 2008 the student body originated from 50 countries, and about 20% were Japanese nationals. To enhance national origin diversity the school makes sure that no nationality has more than 30% of the student body comes from any particular country. That year there were 480 students.

External links

• Official website
• Japanese School Children on the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton-ABC News