The Montessori School of Tokyo

Admissions Process

To make an inquiry, sign-up for a school tour. To request an application, please complete the Enquiry Form (Registration of Interest). Access to our online Application Form will be provided once we receive your Enquiry Form.

Important Admissions Update

Currently, our Lower and Upper Elementary programmes have extremely limited seat availability for the Academic. Please inquire prior to starting an application.

Please be aware that even families that pass the documentation screening stage may not be invited to attend a Parent Interview or Student Visit in the short term. Rather, your information would be held in our database and you would be invited to visit the school for the Parent Interview and Student Visit at a later time only if the likelihood of enrolment were to increase based on demographic shifts or expanded capacity.

Step-by-step process

Tokyo Residents

Step 1: Submit Applications, Progress Reports, and Recommendations

Your application process starts when you submit the Application Form and Application fee of 25,000 yen. Progress Reports and Recommendation Letters are required for all applicants who are currently attending (or have previously attended) other schools. If reports are not in English, originals and translations must be provided. For applicants who have not attended any schools prior to applying to MST, these items will be waived. (PDF Recommendation forms are also available: LP/SS, EL/MS)

Step 2: Document Screening

Your application will be reviewed with the application form, Progress Reports and Recommendations.

Step 3: Notification of Document Screening Status

If your application passes the Document Screening, parents and applicants are invited to a Parent Interview and a Student Visit.

Step 4: Parent Interview

Parents meet with a member of the Admissions team.

Step 5: Student Visit

Children spend some time with a MST faculty member in the classroom. For those who are applying for our Little People programme, the Student Visit may be postponed if the applicant is deemed not old enough for the visit to be informative. In this case, the family will receive provisional admissions status and a Student Visit will be arranged closer to the enrolment date.

Step 6: Notification of Admissions Status

Families will be notified of their admissions status.

Non-Tokyo Residents

For those not able to visit Tokyo to complete the full process, Steps 1 to 4 should be carried out as above. Please note the Parent Interview is held by video conference.

Non-Tokyo residents must also carry out the following subsequent steps.

Step 5: Notification of Provisional Admissions Status

Families will be notified of their Provisional Admissions Status.

Step 6: Student Visit after your Relocation to Tokyo

Children spend some time with a MST faculty member in the classroom after applicants' arrival in Tokyo.

Step 7: Notification of Final Admissions Status

Families will be notified of their admissions status.

Eligibility Requirements & Criteria

The Montessori School of Tokyo is a close-knit community of well over 100 families with children ranging from 18 months to 15 years old. Our truly international community represents around 30 countries from every corner of the globe.

Most of our classes are typically fully enrolled at various times of each academic year. However, due to the transient nature of our community, spaces do open up on occasion at most age levels. This may occur at any time and we welcome applications from all families who would like to explore a Montessori education for their children.

To maintain a balance in our student population, The Montessori School of Tokyo uses the following criteria for admitting students.

• Age group – Due to the mixed ages in Montessori classrooms, it is very important to have an even distribution of ages.
• Gender – MST strives to maintain a balance of boys and girls in each class and throughout the school.
• Social tendencies – We aim to have students with a range of responsiveness, energy levels, and interaction styles with adults and peers.
• Developmental level – Language ability, academic knowledge, and maturity.
• Bathroom Independence – With the exception of the Little People programme, all students should be out of nappies/diapers before entering MST.
• Native language – MST aims to have in each class a majority of children who are native speakers or fluent in English. As an international school we also accept children who have other languages as their native language.
• Special Education Needs – MST classrooms can accommodate a limited number of children with relatively mild special education needs (developmental, behavioural, and academic). Currently we are not accepting new students with special education needs.
• Montessori experience – Students with prior Montessori schooling receive priority in the admissions process.
• School of siblings – We prioritize families committed to Montessori principles and who enroll all their children in a Montessori school.
• Current students – MST strives to be a school for families, so younger siblings of current students receive admission priority.
• Sibling departure - Should an MST family choose to transfer an older sibling to another international school at an age-level where MST offers a programme of our own, we will no longer be obligated to guarantee a place for the younger sibling(s). We will of course discuss cases like this individually with families should they arise.

Application Requirement

MST communications (emails, announcements, meetings, etc.) will be delivered in English - as such, in order to apply to The Montessori School of Tokyo, at least one parent should be a native or fluent English speaker.