Tsukuba International School is a *candidate school for the Middle Years Programme (MYP) of the International Baccalaureate (IB). 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 Tsukuba International School believes is important for our students.

Here at Tsukuba International School, the middle school has been granted ‘Candidate Status’ for its first year of operation. The 2010/2011 academic year has begun with a Grade 7/8 class working on the new curriculum. This means that students will be receiving a new style of report card geared to the objectives of the Middle Years Programme.

In each subject students will receive a level of achievement for the assessment criteria which will then be collated to determine the final grade. Each subject has different criteria and grade boundaries. Please refer to Assessment in the Middle School for specific details including the ‘General Grade Descriptors’.

Prospective parents are encouraged to click the admission procedures tab above, attend an open school day, or contact us for more information about the school and its programmes. Our MYP Coordinator, Mr. Shaun Beilby, will be happy to answer your questions.

See also: Tsukuba International School to Launch Middle School in September 2010

*Note: 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.

Tsukuba International School develops critical thinkers and lifelong learners by providing opportunities for inquiry, creativity, and discovery, where respect for self, others and the environment is a core value.

Tsukuba International School (TIS) is currently accepting applications for students to start in September 2010.

TIS is located in the western area of Tsukuba, in a forested area which lets the natural environment become a part of the classroom. The school is a 15-minute drive from the center of Tsukuba, a nine minute drive from Kenkyu Gakuen Station (site of the new Tsukuba City Hall government building), and a seven minute drive from Banpaku Kinen Koen Station. We offer bus services from various locations in Tsukuba, including Banpaku Kinen Koen Station on the Tsukuba Express Line and Arakawaoki Station on the Joban Line. Please inquire for more details.

TIS is a full-time elementary school (Grades 1 to 6) and junior high school (Grade 7) for children of all nationalities. We will introduce a Grade 8 class in September 2012 and eventually offer up to Grade 10. The school was founded in 1992 in response to the need for an English-based educational opportunity for students in the Tsukuba area.

All of our homeroom teachers are native English speakers who are certified teachers in their countries of origin. Our staff consists of six homeroom teachers (from Australia, Canada, and the US), six part-time teachers (from Japan and the US), one school administrator (from Canada), and a principal (from Japan).

We are currently a candidate school for both the Primary Years Programme (PYP) and the Middle Years Programme of the International Baccalaureate (IB) and we are developing a curriculum that follows the standards and practices of the IB PYP and MYP. (Please note that our candidate status does not imply that we will automatically receive authorization from the IB.)

Please see the tuition page on our website for information about our fees. Also, if your children are in need of a scholarship to support their studies, please contact us to discuss your options.

If you are interested in learning more about Tsukuba International School, please have a look at our website or contact the school directly. We also have open school days (reservation necessary) once a month where you can observe the school in action.

Thank you for your interest in our school and we look forward to your visit!

Date: Saturday, May 15, 2010
Time: 3:30pm to 5:00pm
Place: Tsukuba City Hall (meeting room 3 on the second floor of the new building near Kenkyu Gakuen Station) — (map)

A spelling bee is a competition where students are given words to spell and they stay in the competition as long as they continue to spell words correctly. These kinds of events are very popular in classrooms in Canada and the United States, and there are even some very prestigious national-level competitions in some countries. (Japan recently held its first spelling bee thanks to the Japan Times. Two students from Tsukuba International School participated in the Japan Times Bee which was held in Tokyo in March.)

At the Tsukuba Spelling Bee, students from Tsukuba International School will compete together with students from other elementary schools in Tsukuba. Prizes will be awarded for participation and merit. If your child is interested in participating, please contact the Tsukuba International Association (029-869-9675, inter[at]tsukubacity.or.jp) to sign up.

Download the word list.

Words on this list have been divided into four categories:
Great Speller
Super Speller
Fantastic Speller
Champion Speller

The Tsukuba Spelling Bee will start with the words in the “Great Speller” list and gradually get harder. In general, words in the spelling bee will be chosen from this list, but the judges may also decide to use words chosen from an English dictionary if the students’ spelling ability surpasses the words on the list and there is no other way to determine a champion.

Our school is now a *candidate school for both 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.

The junior high school will eventually comprise Grades 6 to 10. In the 2010-11 academic year, the Grade 7/8 class will be working on the new curriculum. The Grade 5/6 class will do the final year of the Primary Years Programme before entering the junior high school in the following year.

Preparations are underway for the official launch in September 2010:

• The school has appointed a Middle Years Programme Coordinator.
• Staff are undertaking training in all areas of the Middle Years Programme.
• The curriculum framework is being developed.
• Policies regarding student life and well-being at the school have been written.
• A new timetable is under construction.
• New furniture has been added to the classrooms.
• A new student resource centre with computers, audio-visual equipment and a library is being finalised.
• The current grade 6/7 class has moved into a new, previously unused, second floor classroom.

Download:
An introduction to the Middle Years Programme, curriculum, and policies
at Tsukuba International School

Prospective parents are encouraged to contact us, explore the tuition page, attend an open day or click the admission procedures tab and follow the links.

*Note: 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.

Children who are turning three, four, or five years old in the current calendar year (January to December) are eligible to enter the preschool in September 2009.

The preschool has two teachers: Ms. Skye Wheat is a qualified teacher from Australia who has several years’ experience teaching in Japan, and Ms. Hiromi Yagishita is a qualified nursery school teacher originally from Tsukuba. Both of these ladies are working hard to put together an interesting and stimulating program for the preschoolers who will join in September.

Please note that although the preschool building is located on the same campus as Tsukuba International School and there will be interaction between the preschool and the elementary school, the preschool is, at least for the time being, a separate entity from the elementary school.

For more information or to enroll your child, please see the Tsukuba International Preschool website.

Visiting the Grade 1/2 class

Learning about the desks and chairs in the library
that are made out of 100% hinoki (Japanese cypress)
from Ibaraki Prefecture

With Mr. Masayasu Kano, principal (left)

More information on the outbreak is available on the University of Tsukuba website.

More information on what can be done if you think you or your children have contracted swine influenza is available on the Ibaraki International Association website.

If your child develops a fever or respiratory problems (runny nose or nasal congestion, sore throat, cough), please inform the school immediately and do not send that child to school. Follow the procedures outlined in the Ibaraki International Association website (above).

Here is a list of the bus stops.
1: Arakawaoki Station (Joban Line)
2: Blomster Anna (Higashi Odori)
3: Tsurumi Dental Clinic (Nishi Odori)
4: Banpaku Kinen Koen Station (Tsukuba Express Line)
5: Tsukuba International School

Click here to see a schedule and a map showing the bus stops. Please contact the school for more information.

March 16, 2009: Cherries Bloom, Waiting for the Lawn

Click here to see more photos of our new school building under construction.