Kyoto International School

Late in 1957, when the American School located on the Botanical Gardens Army Base closed, missionary families were forced to consider alternative options to educate their children. Doug Muir, the son of missionaries living in Kyoto, became one of the first students of what is now called Kyoto International School. Doug’s mother decided to home school him, his best friend, along with one other student. Classes were held in a vacant bedroom in their family home. The following year, their large 2 story house on Ichijo-dori was turned into a day school (Kyoto Christian Day School) and a full time teacher was hired. By the 1958/59 school year 28 students were enrolled between Grades 1-8. The student body consisted of children from missionary homes as well as families visiting Kyoto for special studies. The name changed in Kyoto International School in 1966.

Kyoto International School is a creative and innovative school with 60 years of history. Our solid foundation of values and our mission to make the school a fun and collaborative community that inspires and challenges, enabling students to thrive and take responsibility anywhere in the world makes us a great choice for anyone looking for an international education.

Kyoto International School is in the heart of one of the world’s best known cities. Our students are readily able to access the city’s cultural richness, historical traditions, and modern innovations.

What we are proud of at Kyoto International School is our community. Our students, teachers and parents work together to ensure our school is safe and secure, provides quality education and encourages lifelong learning. The small, intimate size of our classes enables us to know our students and families well. We encourage inclusion, open communication and mutual respect.

Our curriculum is significant, meaningful, engaging and challenging. The International Baccalaureate Organisation’s Primary Years Programme provides the framework to develop the thinking, communication, social, self-management and research skills our students need for success in the 21st century. We endeavour to nurture the whole child: cognitively, physically, emotionally and socially. Our students are encouraged to take action as a result of their learning, either on a personal level or with a wider community.

We aim to be a well-known speciality school in the heart of Kyoto city, recognised locally and internationally for providing an exemplary international education.

To be a fun and collaborative community that inspires and challenges, enabling students to thrive and take responsibility anywhere in the world.

Our community holds a set of shared core values that binds all of it members together. These core values are central to learning and provide the school’s foundation in Inspiring Active Learners, Developing Global Citizens.

Play is essential for young children’s cognitive, social, emotional, physical and brain development. Through play-based learning, young learners develop attributes of the IB learner profile, practice and build skills, understand concepts, and acquire new knowledge. They also develop the academic skills necessary to succeed in the world today.

Teachers support this through ongoing, intentional planning for a careful balance of child-initiated play and adult-supported learning. In this way, students are given specific time to practice and learn foundation skills and to apply them to their own play

Each day for Middle School students starts with a PE and Health lesson. Research shows that exercise in the morning helps adolescent brains (source). After that, there are 5 one-hour learning blocks throughout the day, and one hour of lunch. Students finish each day with a short homeroom time.

Students are not supervised during the lunch duty. They are free to move around the school as long they are not being disruptive. If they abuse this privilege, they will lose it.

Students are expected to attend school every day, as missing instruction adversely impacts student learning and achievement. All absences (full or part day, including tardies), must be documented by a phone call, email, note, or visit from the parent or sponsor to the front office, with information regarding the reason for absence, date, and/or times the student was absent or tardy. Excused absences/tardies include medical/dental appointments, emergencies, illness, or an advanced absence request has been completed and is on file.

We offer a range of co-curricular activities each day for students from Early Learning 3 and above.Activities offered by KIS teachers are free for KIS students. These activities are usually focus around the creative arts (eg: choir, drama, photography, film making, visual arts).We also offer activities which are run by outside providers. These activities incur an extra fee. These activities include soccer (run by FC Kosmos), ikebana (run by Ikenobo), piano and vocal lessons.

We firmly believe that first-hand experiences provide the best learning opportunities. We take advantage of the fact that we are in one of the world’s most culturally rich cities. We provide many opportunities for our students to experience learning outside the classroom throughout the year.

Upon entering the school, students are placed in a house team. Friendly, competitive activities are set up each week for the house teams to earn points. A champion house team is announced at the end of each school year

The house teams are named after the four guardians protecting Kyoto (stemming from the Heian-Kyo days): the Black Turtles, the Red Phoenix, the Blue Dragons and the White Tigers!