The final days of the 2009-2010 school year have come to an end, and what a great year it was!Throughout the year we enjoyed many successes and also confronted many challenges. It is difficult to remember now the flu season back in October that closed school and canceled the fall festival. The final days of school are a good time to remember the most important aspect of our work: the success of each of the students that attend HIS. We congratulate the Class of 2010 and wish them the best on their new journeys. In addition, we celebrate the graduation of our sixth grade students as they move from elementary to junior high. We hope all students have the opportunity to reflect on their successes and look forward to new opportunities.
During the 2009-2010 school year we brought into our classes the new Transdisciplinary Skills and Dispositions — the foundation of our curricular work. Further, teams of teachers worked on the language arts curriculum, language curriculum, and homeroom curriculum. I thank the teachers for time and expertise in this work as it affects the education of every student. Through the work of the Executive Board, HIS will purchase the campus land and secure its future. New administrative software was implemented to better report student progress and communicate with parents. HIS also piloted a new student testing program called MAP and will begin to evaluate the success of this powerful program for student data. The parents’ association developed a new format for its operation and still supported HIS with its service. At the elementary level, teachers implemented the new DRA test to monitor student growth in reading and improve instruction to individual students. Add all of this to our teachers’ professional growth and collaboration as well as our students’ successes in the classroom, in athletics, arts and outdoor experiences, and it was quite a year.
Still, I believe our greatest challenges are still ahead, and we must realize that we have much more work in front of us. Many of our initiatives are quite new and will need our attention and monitoring. Our teachers will continue their focus on the language arts curriculum and turn their attention toward mathematics. The administrative software needs to be fully realized. We need to examine the data that we have generated through the MAP test and use it to guide school improvement. We will look for improvement in writing assessment as well. The new PTA has great potential to improve communication and we will need parents to support that effort.
Beyond supporting these programs that we have begun, there are new opportunities. HIS needs to further develop its facility by upgrading the existing building and furnishings and developing new housing for its foreign hire teachers. HIS needs to embrace the opportunities of a changing student population and the challenges of English language development. We will need to improve communication throughout school and find ways to build a stronger school community. And we will need to continue to challenge ourselves to provide the best education for each student through our curriculum, teaching and assessment.
Next year I am looking forward to our new Early Years Program (Pre-K – 2) with a team of teachers working collaboratively to best meet the needs of students. The multi-age model we have used with our youngest children (ages 3 to kindergarten) has been very successful, and we will continue to look for ways to use the power of multi-age classes to best serve our students.
I thank all of our parents for their support of Hokkaido International School; I thank all of our parent volunteers; I thank the teachers and staff for their dedication; I thank all of our community supporters; I thank all of our members of the Executive Board and Board of Councilors for their commitment; and I thank our students who make HIS the community it is.
Mr. Branson