International private school in Yokohama, Japan

Saint Maur International School, Yokohama:
Established in 1872, Saint Maur International School in Yokohama is the oldest international school in Japan. The school, which is coeducational, caters to students of all nationalities and faiths from Pre-school through High School. Located 30 kilometers from Tokyo in eastern Japan, Saint Maur International School aims to provide an excellent curriculum for children of all nationalities and backgrounds. All students are guided toward understanding that the way to achieve peace and justice in the world is through cooperating, sharing, caring, and helping to build successful communities.

International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE)
IGCSE is a balanced, international curriculum which is designed to encourage high academic standards through a practical approach to teaching and learning. The curriculum consists of a two-year course of study, in Grades 9 and 10, leading to examinations which are taken at the end of Grade 10. Internal grades are shown on the report card, and those who have passed the IGCSE are awarded formal certificates at the beginning of the new school year. The curriculum is suitable for students of all nationalities and all levels of ability. It provides an ideal preparation for high level courses such as IB/AP and is also a preparation for SAT and other college entrance exams.

IGCSE certificates are awarded to students who receive one of the following passing grades: *A, A, B, C, D, E, F, and G.

The International Baccalaureate Program
The International Baccalaureate Program is a rigorous and comprehensive program which offers qualified students the opportunity to take college-level IB courses in Grades 11 and 12. Those courses are designed to prepare college-bound students for IB examinations which are given worldwide each year in May. Students have the option of taking one or more IB courses for certificates, or working toward obtaining the full IB Diploma. In Europe, the IB Diploma is an entry requirement into many universities. Some colleges and universities in the United States and Canada offer students advanced placement (as much as one full year) or course credits for above-average results on the IB examinations.

Presently, the IB program is offered in over 900 schools all over the world. One of the International Baccalaureate's main aims is to help international schools solve the educational problems of the growing number of students who find themselves being transferred to and from different schools in different countries.

Advanced Placement Courses
There is no full-fledged comprehensive Advanced Placement program, separate from the IB Program. At present, AP Psychology is the only separate AP course offered. Most of the IBHL subjects prepare students for the AP Exams for these subjects, though how much overlap there may be in the IB and AP syllabi depends on the subject. Many of the IBHL courses in Grade 12 are officially given the designation "IBHL/AP" on the school transcript. Traditionally most of the IBHL/AP Math students take the AP Calculus AB Exam, and preparation for the AP Exam is part of the course. The amount of time designated to AP preparation in an IBHL/AP course depends on the degree of overlap between the two syllabi and the number of students who wish to take AP Exams. Students do independent work on their own under the supervision of a subject teacher for topics/units which, schedule-wise, cannot be covered in the course or if they wish to prepare for AP Exams for which courses with comparable course content are not offered.

Advanced Placement courses offered in many U.S., Canadian, and international schools enable additional academic challenges for the student who requires such enhancement. They are considered to be college-level courses, and therefore, credit may be given advanced college based on exam results. In cases where students have taken advantage of the IB/AP courses offered at Saint Maur and have done additional preparation on their own to take other AP exams, they have been given sophomore standing in many U.S. colleges and universities upon entrance.

ESL
Language Skills (ESL) classes are arranged for those students who have special needs in English.

International Primary Curriculum
The IPC was implemented in the Elementary School during the 2004-2005 academic year. Saint Maur is the first international school in Japan to become a member of the IPC. It is a modern curriculum used by over 280 national and international schools throughout the world. The global nature and widespread use of this curriculum will allow IPC students to make a smooth transition into other international schools or to schools in their home countries.

IPC is a future-oriented, child-centered curriculum. It has a three-fold approach to facilitate learning: acquiring knowledge, acquiring abilities, and developing enhanced levels of understanding. In this way, it ensures that a child experiences consistency and balance in a primary education. Its international dimension helps children develop both a national and an international perspective. The key concepts of independence and interdependence have been developed as a result of a decade of research into the brain and the development of brain-friendly learning and teaching strategies.

It is based on a set of explicitly defined learning goals for every subject of the curriculum, for personal development and, uniquely, for the development of 'international mindedness'. The learning goals are defined for three distinct stages or 'mileposts' in children's education. Milepost 1 learning goals are for children aged 7 years old; Milepost 2 for children aged 9 years old; Milepost 3 for children aged 12 years old. The learning goals are also closely related to the development of knowledge, skills, and understanding. It is a curriculum that provides a structure for active learning where children engage in their own learning. For primary children, this means that learning which is relevant to the future must be placed in a context that is meaningful to their present lives.

Units of work are the 'action component' of the IPC and are what bring it to life in the classroom. Through the units, children engage in exciting work, achieve the appropriate learning targets and learn that themes can be best studies from multiple perspectives. At the same time children come to see how individual subjects of the curriculum are different from all of the others. Of vital importance, they also develop children's international perspective through specific and focused work which helps children think about relevant issues.

Pre-School Montessori Program
Introduction: Saint Maur Montessori School has specially prepared classrooms that have been created with the unique needs of children two and a half to six in mind. Each room is presented in an orderly and attractive manner. All the materials in the classroom are designed to cultivate children's natural curiosity and love for knowledge through working with their hands. Once motivated from within, the children would then continue their search for knowledge throughout their lifetime. At Saint Maur Montessori, we believe that children will learn naturally and happily as part of their normal growth.

While the curriculum in the Montessori School is vast, it is always developmentally appropriate for young children. They are individually guided through the program at their own pace and level. Along with the necessary skills for independence, the children are introduced - in a sequential and concrete way - to mathematics, language, phonetics, social studies, science, music, and art.

Classroom Divisions: Our classrooms are divided into five general areas:

Practical Life:
This area has been planned to make the transition from home to school a comfortable one for children . All the activities have been created to help them develop independence, concentration, coordination, and the skills necessary to care for themselves and the environment.

Sensorial:
This area has been designed to refine the children's visual and auditory skills as well as the sense of taste, smell, and touch.

Language:
This area is rich in activities such as storytelling, poems and rhymes, conversation, and question games. The language area is also designed to assist the children in pre-reading and pre-writing skills and lead to the actual development of reading and writing.

Mathematics:
This area gives the children an understanding of the number system as well as the skills to manipulate numbers and quantities.

Cultural:
Varied art media, music, drama, creative movement, physical sciences, geography, history, botany, and zoology are presented as vivid impressions to stimulate further study.
The Montessori Classroom:

The Montessori Classroom is indeed a child's world, geared to the size, pace, and interests of boys and girls between the ages of 2 1/2 and 6. Children in the mixed aged classroom are exposed to a wide range of learning possibilities. The younger children benefit from watching and imitating the older, more experienced children. The older children have an opportunity to reinforce their own knowledge by helping the younger children. All the children learn how to get along socially with a variety of other people.

Montessori at Saint Maur :
The child learns through :
* individual presentations given by the directress as a result of her observation of the child.
* the freedom to move around the specifically prepared classroom.
* manipulation of scientifically prepared materials that introduce the child to abstract concepts in a concrete way.
* the freedom to choose, explore, discover, make mistakes, and correct them.
* repetition.
* observation and imitation.
* interaction with other children in a mixed age (2 1/2 to 6 years old) classroom.

Parents and family members are offered workshops and discussion groups throughout the year to support them in developing a sense of community and understanding about the Montessori experience.