https://padlet.com/yis/keepatYIS What do we want to keep at YIS? en-us 2021-11-07 20:27:00 UTC 2025-09-17 04:33:48 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-uploads.storage.googleapis.com/270001/97166ce535a9bb1398f099f12bcf5e6e/Screen_Shot_2021_11_08_at_5_19_24.png cliffords2_1 https://padlet.com/yis/keepatYIS/wish/1890314791 Please share your ideas about what aspects of YIS you would like to keep as we think of creating our new Strategic Plan.

]]> 2021-11-15 04:29:07 UTC https://padlet.com/yis/keepatYIS/wish/1890314791 cliffords2_1 https://padlet.com/yis/keepatYIS/wish/1890317016 You can double click anywhere on the screen and then start typing. You can include links and photos, or  write your ideas.]]> 2021-11-15 04:30:24 UTC https://padlet.com/yis/keepatYIS/wish/1890317016 https://padlet.com/yis/keepatYIS/wish/1913721550 The recent series of unfortunate events - COVID making the school go online for extended periods and forcing the parents out of the school grounds untill today, as well as the approaching move to the new campus (which is much appreciated by many, especially those living in the Honmoku area, but increases commuting time for a large group of students coming from Tokyo and is thus seen as more of a nuissance than source of pride for many Tokyo families) - created many tensions among the YIS community. I understand the school has no influence on the pandemic, but there's areas which can be worked on, eg. listening to parents.
Please don't get me wront, I fully subscribe to the view that if we look at academics, expecially of your family is focused on IB curriculum, this is the #1 choice. But not for all.
During the last AGM, the leadership mentioned that the school is struggling with filling in open spaces, expecially in lower grades, while there's waitlists in HS. Why? That's because for families with HS students, there's not much other choice, if they are looking for an IB school. Well, if they have HS girl, they could opt for Seisen (though it's a different culture), but if they have a boy in HS, YIS is the only choice. Thus even if they live in Tokyo, they will just have to put up with the longer commute and apply to YIS.
One the other hand, families with children in ES and MS have other choices. There's two schools in midtown Tokyo offering IB program, plus another out of the town, who provides a bus service. Thus many families in Tokyo, who have younger children, will choose either of those two options, instead of settling for a long (and soon to be even longer) commute to Tokyo. How long? Right now, my child leaves home not later than 7:40 to get on time to school (starting 9:00). Starting from January, he'll need to leave by 7:30, to board the 7:45 train, then transfer to a bus, to get to school before 9:00). Now he's back home at 5 pm if there's no ASA. So it's well over 2 hrs commuting time, which will soon turn to 3 hrs.
Thus, if the school wants to attract more students, it seems like offering a bus service would be a thing to consider. True, currently there's a bus service to be launched from midtown Tokyo, but it will only serve this part of the Tokyo community, while there's also large clusters around Meguro and Denenchofu.
Which brings me to the other topic - listening to parents.
Being a Tokyo parent myself, I did not feel that the school was listening to our needs. The bus service was offered as a "take it or leave it" option and it did not seem that the school made much effort into listening to the parents. If they did, a simple "stop in Denenchofu to pick up more kids" solution would be the first thing to pop up.
Therefore, my call is as follows: open your ears to parents, we're playing in the same team - we want the best school for our kids.]]> 2021-11-26 05:04:29 UTC https://padlet.com/yis/keepatYIS/wish/1913721550 https://padlet.com/yis/keepatYIS/wish/1917113538 2021-11-29 04:55:32 UTC https://padlet.com/yis/keepatYIS/wish/1917113538