There's a fair and flea market on 27 May at The American School in Japan.

Things wrap up around 14:00 so get there early!

1-1-1 Nomizu, Chofu-shi, Tokyo 182-0031
Tel: 0422-34-5300, ext. 721, or 0422-34-5310
Fax: 0422-34-5304, 5308

If someone currently has or in the past has had children at ASIJ, I would appreciate hearing your comments -- do you recommend the school or should I avoid it? I'm looking for a school for my two kids (7 and 10) in the Tokyo area, and would like to hear some input from someone who has actual experience with the school.
Thanks.
tlindsey@qwest.net

Tad-
Couple of general comments.

Bear in mind that you may or may not have your choice of where to go. Although things seem to be loosening up in the middle & upper grades, the 7-year old is still at a level where there are more applicants than places. If you are talking about next fall, you should be applying everywhere now.

In the course of doing this, you should be visiting each one yourself and asking questions that are pertinent to your family's values. I continue to be amazed at how variable this is.

As you hear "opinions", try to figure out if the speaker shares your values or if you understand from what point of view the comments are coming from.

It might help to stimulate comments if you provide a bit more information. How long are you planning on staying in Japan?
How important is Japanese language study in the future? Is location important? Etc.
FWIW

Scott

The new campus of ASIJ Early Learning Center (3, 4 & 5 years old) on the edge of the Roppongi Hills Complex is having an open house on Tuesday, 6 April from 9:00 - 10:30 with a presentation by Judy Beneventi, the Director at that location. All interested parents are invited.

woah. ppl haven't posted here in a long time.. but the best way to find out about a school is VISIT..

hi,

My daugther has expressed her desire to study science subject in ASIJ. However, due to my own financial difficulties I am forced to look for a scholarship for this study. She is 16 and going to study in XITH garde. Can some body help me or through some information on this.

Dear Zecko,
Basically, you have to complete the application process (this goes for any international school pretty much). After you have an acceptance letter, you can then discuss financing options. Many of the schools do have some tuition support funds, which are very carefully allocated, and itfs kept very low profile. They won't tell you in advance what your chances are of getting the support. Unfortunately completing the application alone costs money, so the lack of information makes planning difficult and you have to put more resources into working on a variety of options. However, if you have a high-caliber student with fluent English skills, then you could have a chance. If you turn down the acceptance, your application fee is forfeited. ASIJ application fee is pretty steep.

You are entitled to a free visit/tour of a school that you are considering applying to, and during such a tour you can ask questions, and get a feel for the attitude through the answers given. That might be a good time to ask about tuition support programs. Usually the first answer is that there is a a staggered payment option (as opposed to paying the entire year's tuition in advance). Then you can ask the question you really want answered, and see if any hope is offered in the answer. Asking over the telephone almost never gets a useful answer, I've found.

ASIJ is a U.S. school in Japan, and when you go into that building it's as if you have changed countries. Everything about it including the administrative approaches can be a culture shock (if you did not grow up in the U.S.A. in a relatively affluent school district).

You might also apply to an alternative school. For example, http://www.kaischool.com/ is significantly cheaper, and is very rigorous academically, but does not have the huge facilities that ASIJ has. It DOES have extremely low student/teacher ratios, and kids are almost as good as individually tutored in some subjects depending on their level in it.

Bigger, richer schools are more likely to have some sort of tuition support programs. Smaller schools generally operate on far more narrow margins.