About TIS
Tsukuba International School ( つくば・インターナショナル・スクール) is an English-based elementary and junior high school in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. It was founded in 1992 in response to the need for an educational opportunity for English-speaking students in the Tsukuba area.
TIS provides an education for students from grades one through seven. We are introducing our junior high school program (starting with Grade 7) in September 2010 and will eventually offer up to Grade 10. Children must be at least six years old by December 31 of a particular year in order to enroll in Grade 1 that year. (Three to five year old children are eligible to attend Tsukuba International Preschool, which is located beside TIS. Please see the preschool’s website for more information.)
Tsukuba International School is a candidate school for the Primary Years Programme (PYP) and the Middle Years Programme (MYP) of the International Baccalaureate. We are pursuing authorization as an IB World School. These are schools that share a common philosophy—a commitment to high quality, challenging, international education that we believe is important for our students. (Only schools authorized by the IB organization can offer any of its three academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), or the Diploma Programme (DP). Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted.) For further information about the IB and its programmes, visit the International Baccalaureate website.
The school year runs from September to June, for a total of 180 class days. In addition to winter break and spring break, TIS observes all Japanese national holidays. The school day starts at 8:30am and ends at 3:05pm, five days a week (Monday to Friday). There are no classes on Saturdays or Sundays.
The primary objectives of TIS are: to provide an education in English based on a well-planned curriculum of an international nature designed to encourage higher-order thinking, to provide a safe and caring atmosphere, and to instill within students a sense of responsibility as citizens of the world.
TIS is a non-profit, religiously-neutral organization. Our six core teachers are all native-English speakers (from Australia, Canada, and the United States) who are certified teachers, and we have a team of part-time teachers who assist with activities such as art, music, physical education, Japanese language classes, and field trips.
The school has been a member of the Japan Council of International Schools since 1998.
Please see our pamphlet for more information about the school’s latest developments. (Click here to read the pamphlet in Japanese.) If you would like to visit the school, please consider attending one of our Open School Days.
(Click to download pdf documents.)
We hope this brief overview of TIS has been helpful to you. If you are interested in enrolling your child in TIS or if you would like to receive any additional information, please contact the school. Thank you for your interest in our school.