News and Updates

Parents of grade 5 students are invited to the opening night of the PYP Exhibition on Tue., Apr. 24, 6:30PM - 8:00PM in the Tanner Auditorium.

After the Elementary play, a student confided that he had "found a new type of happiness in drama", and that he "wasn't afraid anymore". His transformation, and that of others, was a pleasure to see.

Service learning allows our students to get connected, feel relevant and engage in a meaningful way.

Gr. 12 Visual Arts students will be exhibiting their graduate artworks in Design Festa Gallery East, Harajuku, in the biggest display of their Diploma Program.

Inspired by the hit musical 'How To Eat Like a Child and Other Lessons in Not Being a Grown Up' , this year's ES musical is a journey through the joys and sorrows of being a child.

Richard Falvin returns to YIS to work with Grades 3 to 5 to provide them with a hands-on experience of making beautiful, handmade, traditional paper.

Saneyuki explains, "I had never heard about refugees before. I was surprised this was happening to people, so I decided to collect clothes because I thought I could help at least a little."

Parent, Teacher, Student Conferences (PTSC), or Three-way conferences, actively involve parents, students and teachers in reflecting on student achievement, discussing progress and setting future learning goals.

Service learning allows our students to get connected, feel relevant and engage in a meaningful way.

Kana's love for the environment resulted in a Personal Project on the illegal trade in the endangered slow loris. Her digital book, Dr. Slow Loris Got It!, is being used by NGOs in Japan and Indonesia to promote conservation education.

Parents are invited to join us on Thursday, January 25 at the Personal Project Exhibition to celebrate one of the most exciting projects that a student will complete during their time at YIS. It is an opportunity for the Gr. 10 students to showcase their abilities to independently inquire into a topic of their choice.

ELC and Grade 8 work together to create ceramics with a purpose.

We were prepared to make the AISA Girls Volleyball tournament one of the best of our high school years, and even more so because YIS was finally hosting it. As we strived to improve through hard work and a few losses, we learned to pick ourselves up, building our momentum towards getting YIS into the finals. And that's exactly what we did.

Sato comments, "I thought of poverty as something very distant and far away from me as I only had some vague ideas. But as I started to do my internship, I was able to get a better idea of it and how even a water well or a school can help families to break the poverty cycle."

Ten YIS delegates recently travelled to the Bangkok Model United Nations held at the United Nations Conference Center to debate issues of global importance with their counterparts from other schools.

When we hear the word "Leadership" we often think about one person standing up and guiding others. The Middle School Leadership Retreat was designed to show us that there are other ways of becoming a leader.

In this short video, Head of School Craig Coutts recalls hearing how a student linked those three simple words

Moving from Colombia to Japan has been an incredible learning experience for me. As I reflect on the first weeks settling into my new home, I was expecting to notice the many differences between Colombia and Japan, but instead have been struck by the commonality of kindness in the two cultures.

Our community was asked on several occasions to provide examples of their experience with living, learning, and leading in the YIS community.

This year, in Grade 8 Drama, we will be studying children who have been significantly impacted by the tragedy of external events in their lives.

Established in 2011, the ICJC is designed to help students as well as the greater YIS community explore and appreciate Japan's rich, unique culture through curriculum enhancement programs, music and arts education programs, hands-on workshops, Yokohama historical tours, and lectures by special guests.

Although mountain biking can be fun, and climbing rocks can be thrilling, the reasons for YIS having a scaffolded Outdoor Education program extend beyond only having fun.

Director of University Counseling, Hillary Hewins, emphasizes the importance of learning about oneself in high school in order to navigate the university search and application process.

The only way to get better at it is to read more, and there is no such thing as a bad book.

For the second year in a row, the 7 & 8 graders collaborated on group projects to open up a year of active learning. Igniting a spark with Dragon Days.

I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for your continual support through the year. Once again, it is a time for us at the school to reflect on what a good community we have here at YIS.

Middle School Parent Newsletter - April 2016

After the Elementary play, a student confided that he had "found a new type of happiness in drama", and that he "wasn't afraid anymore". His transformation, and that of others, was a pleasure to see.

A profound connection is created when many performers come together to perform a story for our community. Although the show last for a short time, th experience of producing a story as a school stays with the performers and directors for much longer.

Service learning allows our students to get connected, feel relevant and engage in a meaningful way.

We should keep in mind the inherent joy students experience when they forget about all of the holistic learning just for a moment.

Senior Visual Art students are working hard to finalize their studio pieces for their, arguably, biggest moment in the Diploma Program, curating their own collection of work for their graduate exhibition.

Together with 17 students from the HOPE Cambodia Service Club and two colleagues, I returned to school last week inspired by our 9-day trip to Cambodia, where we helped to construct a new junior high school classroom building.

Ten students from YIS took part in the inaugural Spanish Exchange Program between YIS and SEK, Atlántico, in Spain's northwestern autonomous region of Galicia.

As Global Citizen Diploma Coordinator, I am very fortunate to read and comment upon student reflections, and I am always amazed at how powerful these stories can be. An's is one such story. She provides answers to common questions about the GCD, which students at YIS may earn along with their IB diploma.

A self-organized group of eight of our HS koto players won the grand prize at the "Kono Oto Tomare! Koto Competition" held on January 2 at the International Forum in Yurakucho. The creation and success of the group is a prime example of self-initiative, mentorship and teamwork underscored by friendship and a passion for playing the koto.

We were prepared to make the AISA Girls Volleyball tournament one of the best of our high school years, and even more so because YIS was finally hosting it. As we strived to improve through hard work and a few losses, we learned to pick ourselves up, building our momentum towards getting YIS into the finals. And that's exactly what we did.

Sato comments, "I thought of poverty as something very distant and far away from me as I only had some vague ideas. But as I started to do my internship, I was able to get a better idea of it and how even a water well or a school can help families to break the poverty cycle."

Ten YIS delegates recently travelled to the Bangkok Model United Nations held at the United Nations Conference Center to debate issues of global importance with their counterparts from other schools.

In this short video, Head of School Craig Coutts recalls hearing how a student linked those three simple words

Moving from Colombia to Japan has been an incredible learning experience for me. As I reflect on the first weeks settling into my new home, I was expecting to notice the many differences between Colombia and Japan, but instead have been struck by the commonality of kindness in the two cultures.

The Gr. 12 students were fortunate to have participated in an on-campus workshop by award-winning translator Alexander O. Smith, who is also a parent at YIS. Alexander specializes in entertainment media, translating video games, novels and manga from Japanese to English.

Our community was asked on several occasions to provide examples of their experience with living, learning, and leading in the YIS community.

This year, in Grade 8 Drama, we will be studying children who have been significantly impacted by the tragedy of external events in their lives.

Established in 2011, the ICJC is designed to help students as well as the greater YIS community explore and appreciate Japan's rich, unique culture through curriculum enhancement programs, music and arts education programs, hands-on workshops, Yokohama historical tours, and lectures by special guests.

Although mountain biking can be fun, and climbing rocks can be thrilling, the reasons for YIS having a scaffolded Outdoor Education program extend beyond only having fun.

April

Welcome to the 2017-18 school year!

Adam Gutterman, Class of 1998, and his wife Rashmi, paid a nostalgic visit to the campus recently, reuniting with teachers he hadn't seen since his last visit here in 2001.

Class of 2014 alumna, Isabel Thompson-Pomeroy, spent two weeks observing and working with class 4M as part of her practicum for her studies in education.

Arthur is very committed to the YIS alumni community having produced the '74 Chowa yearbook, prom & graduation. His graduating class of ten students was only the second high school graduating class the school had.

After studying German and Drama in the United Kingdom for her undergraduate work, Anissa decided to take a gap year, returning to YIS in the fall of 2017, to gain experience in the profession she plans on pursuing.

John Tanner, Head of School from 1976-1993, paid a visit to YIS after several years.

Cellist Chris Gibson and R&B singer Aisha, both YIS alumni, continue to gain recognition in Japan's active and varied music industry.

Fleur was happy and surprised to see that some things hadn't changed, particularly the feel of the school as she walked through the hallways. "There is still a small community feel to the school, just as I remember", recalls Fleur.

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Yokohama International School will be held on Thursday, November 16, 2017, in the Auditorium, commencing at 7:30 PM.

Timpa recalls spending plenty of time in the library, which was in the Main Building during her time here, soaking up all the books, and stuffing her bag with books to read during the holidays.

After more than six decades of combined service to YIS, longtime faculty members Junko Cancemi and Dennis Stanworth will be retiring at the end of this school year.

"Not going to Uni straight after high school was definitely the best decision for me. I'm gaining so much from being on the road, attaining practical skills we don't learn in school: planting, harvesting, fishing."

Join Leo Konno on March 31st at BankART Kawamata Hall to celebrate the release of his first CD.

YIS alumni visit campus.

Remembering 1975 YIS graduate, Curtis Bond.

YIS honors an important member of our community, John Eric Hasegawa.

Recent YIS graduate Izzy Thompson shared her career plans while volunteer teaching recently on campus.

We recently received the sad news that Joji Sato (class of '74) passed away on May 4th, 61 years old. Leslie Helm (class of '73) has written a remembrance of Joji to share with the YIS alumni community.

Akira Otsuka (Class of 1986) was at YIS during her nursery year in 1973 and her high school years from 1983 to 1986. Today her two daughters are YIS students. We asked Akira to tell us about her experiences at YIS and why she decided to enroll her children here.

Longtime YIS faculty member Edward Bernard recently sent us an interesting find - a copy of the YIS school brochure from the end of the 1950s. We've scanned the brochure for the enjoyment of our alumni.

Have you started a new job? Finished your college education? Moved to a new city? Started your own business? Taken the trip of your dreams? Did you get married or have a baby? Please let us know so we can share your news with former classmates and YIS alumni around the world. We want to hear from you. Submit your class note today!