Ms. Shaney Crawford, the principal of Tsukuba International School in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, was elected as the vice-president of the Japan Council of International Schools at the Annual Meeting of heads of JCIS member schools held at the International School of the Sacred Heart (Tokyo) on April 16, 2012. She will be taking over from Mr. James MacDonald of Yokohama International School. The new president is Mr. John Searle of Osaka International School, who is replacing Mr. Peter MacKenzie of Hiroshima International School. Presidents and vice-presidents serve a two year term.
Japan Council of International Schools
The Japan Council of International Schools (JCIS) is an organization that promotes and supports English medium member schools serving the international community in Japan. It currently has a membership of 26 schools. The heads of these schools meet twice a year to network and exchange information. In addition, they communicate on a regular basis to consult with each other about issues such as offering help in times of disaster (such as last year’s earthquake) and how to handle potential health public issues such as influenza. The smallest school in JCIS has fewer than 100 students and the largest has more than 1500.
Tsukuba International School
Tsukuba International School is an IB World School that was established in 1992 in order to provide an English educational option for foreign researchers and employees who work in the Tsukuba area. In 2009, it gained official status as a school (学校法人 各種学校) from Ibaraki Prefecture and in 2011 it received the authorization to offer the Primary Years Programme (PYP) of the International Baccalaureate (IB).
Last year on March 18, one week after the earthquake, the school’s principal (at the time), Mr. Masayasu Kano, passed away suddenly from a brain hemorrhage. Ms. Crawford has been principal of the school since that time. While the school initially suffered from decreased enrollment due to the triple disaster, it is now recovering and focused on its goal of gaining authorization to offer the Middle Years Programme (MYP) of the International Baccalaureate.