Reflecting on Our Successes

Reflecting on Our Successes

by Charles Jack, Member of the YIS Board of Directors

During this year’s Annual General Meeting, it was a reflection on what an incredibly
unprecedented time we have seen in our lives with the way the world has been, and how
resilient YIS has remained passing through this pandemic. I am honoured and proud to be able
to serve the School for another term on the Board of Directors.


There are many positives that we can reflect upon in the last school year, whether it be the
100% pass rate achieved by the students in the IBDP, the development of the new campus on
budget and on time, sustaining the best possible student enrollment numbers in the last two
years given the situation and keeping the school in strong financial standing. The Annual
General Meeting was also a reminder of how well imbedded our mission and vision remains
throughout the school. I have been fortunate to have participated in some workgroups for our
school re-accreditations and privileged to learn of some initial feedback. This feedback shines,
and shows us that the ultimate objective of always improving learning for the students in an
environment where they can thrive remains at the very heart of our YIS culture.


One of the challenges that has evolved from the recent past is the change in opportunities
we’ve had to connect as a community at YIS. When I visited the parent and alumni ‘Farewell
Open House’ on November 20 (pictures below), I could see the energy in people meeting, chatting and catching up. It had been too long, and the beauty of this human element has truly been missed. It’s well
recognised that the lack of opportunities to connect on various levels for all different reasons
has had an impact, and the need to focus on rebuilding this connection as a community is so
important for YIS, as we move forward

As we await the relocation to the new campus, the facility is now in full preparation for day one
of classes. The Board and I have been very fortunate to support the overall development of this
project and have witnessed outstanding discussions, input and execution by true professionals
as they bring the project together; Kengo Kuma and his team, our school faculty with their
experience and input, the main contractor, the subcontractors and the consultants. This has
been an incredible team effort including long and deep discussions for the best outcome,
mostly under very tight deadlines. What has been compelling also, is the genuine focus for
learning and the passion that all the contributors have shared for the school’s long-term
success. The Board is fortunate to have had each and every person work on this project and to
be able to bring this new campus to life for the community. As change is upon us, we know this
move had to occur due to the expiring building life of the Yamate-cho campus and the
unfeasible option of re-creation on the same land with building restrictions, which leads to YIS’s
long-term survival.


On a final note of where we are today - the momentum continues and there will always be more
work to do to ensure we evolve for learning and take the legacy of YIS to the new campus for a
strong and sustainable future. I look forward to this together.