Hokkaido International School

Hokkaido International School opened as Hokkaido American School in 1958 when the local US military school, Camp Crawford U. S. Army Dependents School, closed. The school started with 12 children from five missionary families who were left without a school.

In 1962, the school changed its name to its present name, Hokkaido International School, and moved to its own new campus in Fukuzumi. Students selected the school mascot, the Husky, as well as the school colors, Kelly green and white. The gymnasium was completed in 1965 with help from the US government.

In 1968, the Hokkaido Government granted accreditation, and by the early 1970s enrollment was up to 70 students. In 1982, Western Association of Schools and Colleges granted HIS accreditation. In 1988, the school added a high school program by enrolling one grade per year beginning with the 10th grade. Grades 10-12 were added to the WASC accreditation in 1992.

In the early 1990s, HIS, with the cooperation and assistance of the city of Sapporo and the prefecture of Hokkaido, developed plans for a new school to be constructed in Hiragishi, and the school moved to its new and present facility in the fall of 1995, with an enrollment of approximately 120 students. The new campus also included a dormitory to house 20 students.

HIS celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2008 with an enrollment of 200 students from over twenty countries, and a full and part time faculty of 25 from the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Peru and Japan.

While the school has grown, it continues its mission to provide international families with an education for their students that will prepare them for study at college and university as well as future stewardship of the ever-changing world.

HIS has 18 full time and 13 part time teachers, Pre K-12. The upper school has 13 teachers, 6 of whom share time in elementary. Teachers on staff come from the USA, Canada, Australia, Peru, Bulgaria, and Japan. Of the secondary staff, 70% have advanced degrees. Student/Teacher ratio in the upper school is approximately 10:1 and class size average is about 17 pupils per class.

The HIS school year is 180 days long and is divided into semesters. HIS follows a rotational, A-day B-day block schedule with 4 blocks on each day. The school year begins in mid-August and ends in mid-June with a one-week fall break in October, a three-week winter break in December/ January, and a one-week spring break in March.

HIS' curriculum begins in the Early Years (ages 3 & 4) with a Reggio Emilia inspired classroom where children, through teacher guided "provocations" inspire students to curiosity, creative play, expression and questioning. At the elementary level the core of the curriculum is defined by the International Primary Curriculum. The middle school follows the International Middle Years Curriculum (IMYC). At the high school level, HIS offers a Western-style, college-preparatory curriculum culminating in AP offerings in Calculus, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, European History, US History, Comparative Government, Studio Art, English Language and Literature, and Japanese. From 2012-2013 HIS is offering outdoor education as an option in its high school program.

The Early Years multiage program at Hokkaido International School is for children ages 3 and 4. The program is built on a foundation of understanding the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development of young children. We understand that the whole child must be nurtured. This is done by providing an environment that is child centered, experiential, stimulating, creative, and flexible. Activities are designed to offer children opportunities to explore, experiment and discover with hands-on materials. The multiage learning environment, climate, and activities encourage students to develop confidence, skills, and attitudes that will benefit them throughout their lives.

Elementary instruction at HIS follows the IPC (International Primary Curriculum). The IPC was developed in 2000 as a cross-curricular thematic curriculum to meet the needs of international schools around the world. As of 2012, it is being used in more than 1,000 schools in 100 different countries. HIS has been an IPC member school since 2005.

The central purpose of everything connected with the IPC is student learning. Helping children develop academically, socially and emotionally through a focus on learning is the core goal of this curriculum. The curriculum takes into account the most recent research on the brain and how children learn.

Hokkaido International School’s commitment to multiage instruction continues in the middle school years. Students entering 6th, 7th and 8th in the 2012-2013 school year will be taught in multiage classes through integrated units of the International Middle Years Curriculum (IMYC), the follow-on curriculum from the International Primary Curriculum, which HIS has successfully used at the elementary level since 2005. The IMYC was developed specifically to meet the learning needs of middle school students (ages 11 - 14) and therefore fits perfectly with our school’s multiage approach to learning.

Ninth and tenth grade students have three areas from which to select electives: languages, arts, media our outdoor Ed. If they are still developing their English language skills and the ELL director recommends it, they must continue in English Language Learning (ELL). If they are not enrolled in ELL they may choose Japanese language or they may take Spanish. The other two electives can be chosen from the following; visual art, choir, instrumental music, jazz band, music theory, drama, outdoor pursuits or media and publications!