Aoba-Japan International School
2020-21 Annual Report
Our Approach to leading Positive Change
GLOBAL LEADERS
CIS and NEASC saw “evidence of the school’s mission for students to ‘lead change in the world’ in practice”.
CIS see alignment between the accreditation standards, the school’s vision statement and the school’s “desire to continue to be a leading international school by providing students with a rigorous international education in a safe and supportive environment.”
CIS and NEASC agree “that A-JIS has the necessary ethical framework in order to provide for the learning and well-being of students in line with the guiding statements”.
CIS and NEASC found Aoba’s “Global Leadership Diploma curriculum is highly personalized and yet follows a structured plan through which students’ learning goals are met. It strengthens student participation in community projects that affect change.
Global Leadership In Action
Facilities that Enable
In order to prepare our students to think outside the box we are expanding and renovating our facilities, putting our students in highly collaborative spaces with cutting edge tools for creation and problem solving. This expansion also increases the capacity of our K – 12 programmes.
We will be moving into the newly renovated Bunkyo Campus. The move will enable Aoba to:
- Use spaces at Hikarigaoka more efficiently for our K-G9 students. The Hikarigaoka Campus will complete its renovation, making all classrooms flexible learning spaces, with more opportunities for teamwork and collaboration.
- The Bunkyo Campus will be located in the campus of Bunkyo Gakuin University Girls’ Junior and High School. The building will be fully renovated, equipped with cutting edge technology, spacious office-like classrooms, and multiple exhibition areas.
ENTREPRENEURS & INNOVATORS
CIS and NEASC describe “A-JIS as a highly collaborative and innovative environment, teachers expressed appreciation of a transparent and dynamic workplace.”
CIS and NEASC noted that “A-JIS is motivated, directed, and empowered to develop entrepreneurs and innovators, effective communicators, wise risk-takers, and effective problem solvers, for its students.”
CIS and NEASC mentioned "The school’s core values really define the continuation of the school's intercultural leadership as a whole."
Innovation All Around Us
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATORS
In discussions with secondary students, CIS and NEASC found them to be “eloquent and very supportive of the school’s approach, which they said, ‘Lets us have free decisions which help us with future jobs which need communication skills”.
CIS and NEASC found the school “is a positive place to work, with transparent communication at all levels, clearly affects staff attitudes and promotes a supportive environment for student learning.”
CIS and NEASC noticed the school “uses both formative and summative assessment, and informs parents of their children's progress via regular literacy reports, end of semester reports, and parent-teacher-student conferences”.
The Ways We Communicate
The Living Planner
Instructure, one of the leading global providers of online learning software including Canvas LMS, specifically chose our Aoba Inquiry Cycle course template from many other entries submitted as part of an online course design contest.
Aoba has consistently worked to create the highest quality online learning experiences for our students and we are thrilled to be recognized as a leader in this field.
Aoba was recently featured in an online article highlighting our high quality online course design.
WISE RISK TAKERS
CIS and NEASC noted senior students were engaged and articulate when talking about experiences in the GLD when one student “commented that she used to work a lot outside the school in orphanages and was able to work for them in-school with her group, ”these are the things that GLD offers you.”
CIS noted school leadership “clearly demonstrated that the school was embracing the philosophy that drives school accreditation process that helps to improve the school’s learning environments”.
Bold and Thoughtful
was our approach to risk taking this year.
EFFECTIVE PROBLEM SOLVERS
CIS and NEASC agrees with the school’s “assessment that the school’s guiding statements drive strategic planning and strategic decision-making.”
Teacher-parents are “happy with the education their own children were receiving at A-JIS, and the teachers were particularly grateful for how the school leadership was handling the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
CIS and NEASC noted “that all school buildings, including the recently renovated learning spaces, the sports fields, the medical facility, the cafeteria, and finally the school security CCTV security system are conducive to providing a healthy and safe physical environment for all stakeholders.”
