Quote:
Originally Posted by acase
Someone emailed me some questions now that I have some experience with international schools in Tokyo and here is my response:
"Most of the international schools, if not all and including TIS, are more than $20k if you factor in the one time payments, field trip fees, strong yen, etc. We are paying about $60k for my two kids this year.
My wife has actually worked at three international schools this year and we visited another for a sporting event. I've also spoken with teachers from another couple. There isn't that big a difference between them.
Some have nicer facilities (KIS, for instance, seems pretty run down but it is cheaper). Some have a higher proportion of Japanese students or students from just one or two other countries (KIS students are almost all from Japan or India). The quality of the teachers doesn't seem to differ much and the quality isn't as high as we were hoping given the cost. Basically there aren't many teachers willing to agree to teach in Japan for 3+ years so the schools take what they can get. Don't be put off by the "country" schools. Canadian School in Japan isn't mostly Canadians for instance.
All has not been negative however. The facility at TIS is very good. The mix of students at TIS is very good (no more than 20% from any single country). The class sizes are nice and small.
I have been disappointed in the Japanese classes at TIS though. Nearly everything they have covered in class are things my kids already knew. Some students stay in the exact same, beginning Japanese, class every year.
If we had it to do over again I think we'd start our search with the schools closest to our residence and move out from there.
Here are some photos of TIS: http://traveljapanblog.com/wordpress/tag/tokyo-international-school/"
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Interesting. Wonder if you were aware that many public schools in Tokyo are much more "international" than this KIS you mention. The elementary and junior high schools in my part of Tokyo have students from around a dozen countries. It's all free, too. Lots of counseling is available to those students who are new to the country as well.
I understand you don't want your kids surrounded by many Japanese students, but that's the quickest (and most economical) way to have them become bilingual/bicultural. I used to work with non-Japanese kids attending these "international" schools for a couple of summers and I remember getting shocked by how little they knew about Japan and its language and culture. It was like they lived in Japan but they really didn't.