The Comet

The New sletter of K. International School Tokyo
Volume 20 | Issue 1 | September 2016

In this issue...
02...Message from the Board President

08...Changes in K1 and K2

03...Welcome to New Staff

09...Grade 5 Art Excursion

04...IB Diploma Results—July 2016

14...Secondary Class Officers

05...Founders’ Awards

16...Lilya in Italy

05...Artificial Turf Safety

17...Secondary SRC

07...Elementary Intern

21...Summer Internship at Keio

From the Head of School

DATES TO REMEMBER

Welcome back from what I hope was a very restful and enjoyable summer
vacation. It was wonderful to welcome all the students back to another year
and to see how much some of them had changed over the summer. It was also
wonderful to welcome back parents and guardians through our Parent
Welcome Nights. This year was a hot one in the gym for all three nights but I
hope that you enjoyed catching up with other parents, meeting your child(ren)’s
teachers, and hearing about our successful year last year.
As you may know, the 2016-17 school year marks our 20th year of operation at
KIST. What started as a small kindergarten with more staff than students 20
years ago has grown into a well-reputed international school of over 600
students representing over 50 nationalities. As a three-programme IB school
consistently producing respectable DP results (we had the highest DP averagein Japan for 2015), KIST is quickly becoming known as an institution ofacademic excellence. Our entire community of students, parents and staff haveworked very hard to grow our school and it is the strength of this communitythat brings such pride to all of us working with you to attain our mission toprovide the best learning experiences for your child(ren).
As announced at the Parent Welcome Nights, the KIST Board reviewed andslightly revised our mission statement for 2016-17. While only one wordchanged, ‘highly motivated students’ was changed to ‘academically motivatedstudents’, we feel that this change better and more clearly communicates thegoals and vision of the school.
Although the school is officially closed during July, the summer break is aperiod of great anticipation for the school as we await the official IB
announcement of DP results for the school year just ended. Last year, at 35.92
we came very close to attaining our goal of a 36 point DP average by 2018.
This year, with great pleasure we announced that our 2016 graduating classattained an impressive 36.64 points, thereby making us an official 37 point IB
school. Well above both the global IB DP average of 30 points and the Asia
Pacific DP average of 33 points, KIST is very proud to have attained such highDP scores. As less than 10% of IB students globally attain 40 points or above,
KIST is also extremely proud to have had one third, 12 students, of our 2016
graduating class attain 40 points or above and thereby qualify for the KIST
Founder’s University Scholarship award. These results contribute significantly
to the reputation of the school and as such benefit future graduates in securingadmissions to the universities of their dreams.
Continued on next page

KIST Learning for Life KIST Learning for Life KIST Learning for Life

September 2016
12 MYP information session for G6parents and new parents
17 (G9-G12) High school drama
festival (Hosted@Saint Maur)
17 Staff development day (Noschool for students)
18-25 Silver Week vacation
26-27 School photographs
27 PYP information session for newparents (*Evening)

October 2016
1 SAT@KIST
3 (W) Free dress day (Arranged bySecondary SRC)
10 School day
10 (G1-G5) Field Day
10 (G10) MYP Personal Project
information session (*Afternoon)
13-14 (G5) Tech day camp
15 School explanation day (forprospective parents)
17 2017-2018 enrollment
applications open
19 (G10) PSAT tests
21 KISTival preparation day(K1-G5) No school for students(S) School day
22 KISTival 201623-30 Autumn vacation
31 School resumes for all students

KIST is an
IB World
School
PYP | MYP | DP2

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Continued from previous page

Also related to our DP results, close to 70% of thestudents attaining 40 points or more, and close to 55%
of all graduates, have been at KIST since the PYP
years. In the transient context of international
education, such numbers reflect strongly on thestability and commitment of our school community, andalso on the quality of education provided at KIST fromthe early years of schooling.

far and in doing so further increasing opportunities forour students. Once again, thank you
for all of your support and please dolet us know your thoughts or concerns
by contacting the school, or me,
directly.
Jeffrey Jones
Head of School

Congratulations to all of our 2016 graduates on a job
well done and thank you to everyone in our community
for your support in attaining our school goal. Whileeach of our graduates worked very hard to produce
these results, supporting them through the PYP and
the MYP and preparing them for success in the DP
was a whole community effort and something that weshould all be very proud of.
In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to thankall of our community members who contribute to The
Comet newsletter over the year. And thank you to all of
our readers for your support as well.
We look forward to working with you again this year
towards sustaining, and building on, our progress thus

Message from the Board President
Preparing for an IB education
As you may be aware, one of the components of the school’s mission is “todevelop competent and moral individuals”. We adopted the IB programs as
being the most suitable curriculum frameworks to achieve this mission. One
main focus of IB programs is to develop and enhance cognitive skills, and webelieve this is an important ability that is required for students to become
leaders in the real world. Memorizing facts is very important to increaseknowledge (by increasing the sources we use to think); however, knowledge
can only be used effectively when we have the skills necessary to connect it inmeaningful ways. Without being able to connect knowledge in real-life settings or for practical
purposes, it will not be fully utilized and the ability to “think” will not develop appropriately.
I sometimes hear of students who believe that going through past exam papers (to memorize thepattern of problems) is an effective way to achieve good scores, and so they tend to focus on doing
this. Unfortunately, however, this will not help develop the “ability to think”. By focusing on thismethod, they will not be able to deal with a completely new set of problems or issues and will
therefore not be able to fully appreciate the true “fruit” of an IB education.
As we are at the start of a new school year, I sincerely hope that students will focus
on gaining meaningful learning experiences.
Yoshishige Komaki
Board President

“ T h e Co m et ”

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Welcome to New Staff
We would like to introduce you to our new staff for 2016-2017. Please join us in welcoming them to KIST!

Teachers

Kimberley Biggs
MYP Science /DP Biology

Pamela Chan
MYP Science, Math /DP ESS

Ciaran Downey
MYP Design /Tech. Integration

Louise Green
MYP Mathematics

Mai Inagaki
KIPS P0, P1

Jade Jagroo
MYP/DP English

Luke Jones
MYP/DP Visual Art

Yugo Nakamura
MYP/DP Mathematics,
Economics

Tatsuya Sakuma
MYP Japanese

Hitomi Shimizu
KIPS P0, P1

Instructional Support Staff

Jessica BouchardBelanger
ELS Instructor(Secondary)

Clifford GreenELS Instructor G3

Office Staff

Sookhee (Stephanie) Pae
School Nurse

Emma Moulder
Teaching Assistant
K1A

Yuko Tanahashi
Teaching Assistant
K2A

Justin (Jay) Wilson
ELS Instructor G43

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IB Diploma Results—July 2016
During the summer vacation, IB Diploma results were issued to the “KIST Class of 2016”. The table below
summarizes the performance of the candidates and also KIST graduates from 2014-2016.

Year of
Graduation

Number of
Grade 12Students

Number of
students
awarded the
IB Diploma(for fullDP)

Mean points ofstudents
awarded the IB
DiplomaGlobal IB
averagepointsHighestKIST score

2016

38*

36

97%

36.6

30.1

43

2015

29

26

93%

35.9

30.2

45

2014

37

33

94%

33.4

30.1

43

Pass
rate

(max 45)*For 2016, 37 students enrolled in the IB Full Diploma and 1 student enrolled in the IB DP Certificate pathway.

As shown in the table above, our Class of 2016 improved the KIST mean point average above our target of 36
points by 2018. Also, 37 students in the year group challenged themselves by going for the award of the full IB
Diploma with 36 students (97%) being successful in achieving this goal. The school compares favorably to world
statistics released by the IB: the world average for May 2016 was 30.07 and our KIST average was 36.64 (rounded
up to 37); globally, just under 50% of IB Diploma candidates go for the full IB Diploma and of those that do,
approximately 80% are successful in this goal (we had 97% of our students take the full Diploma with a pass rate of97%).
As you can see from the table on theright, nearly all subjects offered at KIST
had course averages above the IB world
averages, with thirteen subjects morethan 1 point (on the IB 7-point scale)above the world averages, and two
subjects more than 2 points above theworld averages.
Also significant for KIST was that amongst
the Class of 2016, twelve students
achieved scores of 40 points or more:
Tyson and Keun Woo scored 40 points,
Pranita, Raghav and Saya scored 41
points, Angela and Misol scored 42
points, and a special mention to five
students who scored 43 points: Jiaying,Anisha, Ji Ye, Motoi and Sara.
Overall, 34 out of our 37 DP students(92%) attained the IB Diploma with 30 ormore points (a minimum of 24 points isrequired). Eight students were also
awarded the Bilingual Diploma inrecognition of studying two “first”
languages.
Parents who would like more general information on IB Diploma results should go to:
http://www.ibo.org/en/programmes/diploma-programme/assessment-and-exams/getting-results/. The IB
publishes a “Statistical Bulletin” summarizing IB Diploma results, a link to which is on this webpage. The “Statistical
Bulletin” for the May 2016 Examination Session should be published in October/November.
Congratulations to all of our graduates on their individual successes in the external DP
assessments, and thanks to all the Grade 12 teachers from last year for all their hard work inmaking KIST a 37-point average IB school!
John Rose
DP Coordinator“ T h e Co m et ”

V o l u me 2 0 | I s s u e 1 | S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 6Founders’ Awards

KIST University Support Scholarships

The KIST University Support Scholarships recognize hardworking students who achieve high scores in their
final year of the DP and are awarded to students who attain 40 points or higher. In this year’s round of awards, a
total of 12 graduates from the “Class of 2016” have received scholarships—the largest number in KIST’s history.
Congratulations to you all! We look forward to hearing of your successes in your studies in the coming years.

Silver Awards

Jiaying

AnishaMotoi

Bronze Awards

Ji Ye

Sara

AngelaPranita

Saya

Misol

Keun Woo

RaghavTyson

Reminder: The deadline for applications for the separate KIST Study Scholarships is Thursday, September
14 at 4:00 p.m. Late applications will not be accepted for any reason. For more information, please review ECommunications No. 329 from 2015-2016 or check the school website Support >> Founders’ Awards page.

Artificial Turf Safety
Some of you may have read an article claiming that materials (rubber chips)
made from waste tires that are used as filling for artificial turf in America may
cause cancer. As rubber chips are also used in the artificial turf at KIST, werequested the artificial turf company (Sekisuijushi) and the rubber chipcompany (Toyo Rubber Chips) to conduct an investigation into the matter. We
would like to share with you the results of the investigation.
Rubber chip material
The rubber chips used in the artificial turf at KIST are not made of waste tires;
they are made from recycled materials from factories such as automobile
window frames, vibration proof-pads and hoses.
Rubber chip testing
As per the Soil Contamination Countermeasures Act, testing by a third party
organization is conducted on the rubber chips and all materials used for
artificial turf prior to shipping.
Investigation results
Maintenance is performed on the turf
 As based on the Soil Contamination Countermeasures Act, a dissolution
each year during the summer vacation.
analysis test to detect the presence of 26 malicious items upon dissolution
was conducted. Result: None of the items was found.
 As based on the Soil Contamination Countermeasures Act, a content analysis test to check the presence of 9
malicious materials was conducted. Result: None of the materials was found.
If you are interested in reading more about the results of the investigation, please visit the school office. Please
note, however, that the reports prepared by the organization responsible are only available in Japanese.

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Elementary School News
I hope you all had a fun, enjoyable and relaxing
summer holiday.
During the summer, I always find myself relaxing therules and boundaries we have set at home for ourchildren. My boys will stay up later, they watch a little
more TV, and they definitely get more ice cream andsnacks than normal! Going back to school, I find it isvery important for me to ensure that our family rules
and boundaries are reset as I believe in the importanceof routines, a regular schedule and consistency.
Being a parent is not always easy and sometimes we
don’t know if we are doing it right. There are many
nicknames for parents and their various parenting
styles.
First there is the helicopter parent. Parents Magazine
explains that helicopter parents are those who
constantly shadow their children, ensuring they receivea certain teacher or coach, choosing their friends, andproviding too much assistance with homework. Then
there is the over parenting parent who, according topopsugar.com, offer too much praise for tasks children
should be able to do, give too many material rewards,
help their children without being asked, and try to
prevent all of their children’s mistakes. Anotherinteresting metaphor is the snowplow parent. Today’s
Parent defines snowplow parents as those who
constantly force obstacles out of their children’s path toensure their success. It has been explained that someparents will do almost anything to avoid from having
their children experience even mild discomfort, anxiety,or disappointment; feelings which are not pleasant, butnecessary for social development.
As my children go back to school, and we return to ournormal routines, I am reflecting on my own parenting
style. I can say with absolute certainty that I have been
guilty of many of the examples listed above! However, I
need to remind myself that my children need to failfrom time to time, they need to learn from their
mistakes, they need to fall and get up on their own, andthey need to learn to be independent. I also know thatthey need to feel loved, they need to feel cared for, andthey need to know that home is a safe place. Although
not always easy, I know it is my responsibility as aparent to establish this balance.

I will end this with two quotes which help to guide me
as a parent:

It is not what you do for your children,
but what you have taught them to do
for themselves that will make themsuccessful human beings.
—Ann Landers

Prepare your child for the road, not theroad for the child.
—Karl Kampakis

I look forward to working with all of you
and your children during the 20162017 school year!
Kevin Yoshihara
Elementary School Principal
Anne-Tom, P. (2016, July 07). 7 signs you’re overparenting.
Retrieved August 03, 2016, from http://www.popsugar.com/moms/
Doing-Too-Much-Kids-29467686
Bayless, K. (2015). What is helicopter parenting? Retrieved August
02, 2016, from http://www.parents.com/parenting/betterparenting/what-is-helicopter-parenting/
Kampakis, K. K. (2015, August 25). 10 common mistakes parents
today make (me included). Retrieved August 02, 2016, from http://
www.huffingtonpost.com/kari-kubiszyn-kampakis/10-commonmistakes-parents-today-make-me-included_b_4753451.html
Waverman, E. (2015, January 14). Snowplow parenting: The latest
controversial technique - Today's Parent. Retrieved August 02, 2016,
from http://www.todaysparent.com/blogs/on-our-minds/
snowplow-parenting-the-latest-controversial-technique/V o l u me 2 0 | I s s u e 1 | S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 6

Elementary Intern
A new intern in the Elementary School
In an effort to continue to provide opportunities forteacher trainees from around the world, this year wehave again hired an intern from Malaysia. Ms Amanda
Lee, who is working towards a Bachelor of Education
degree from Taylor’s University in Malaysia, will join us
in September. During her seven-month stay with us, shewill be working with various grade levels in the
Elementary School and providing support in various
classrooms.
Ms Lee decided to become an educator as she believesin children and their ability to be world changers.
Please welcome Ms Lee to our school community!

PYP News
Thinking about the beginning of school used to be achance for teachers to bring out their stencils of leaves
and the buckets of red and yellow paint. These past
couple of weeks haven’t extended that chance to us here
at K. International School Tokyo, but rather typhoon andflood warnings seem to be the mainstay of everyone’s
thoughts. Though looking through the clouds of rain andholding on to our umbrellas hasn’t dampened the spirits ofour children who have returned from their summer
pilgrimages and travels. Instead, we have all lined up forour new classes and have brought with us a sense ofwonder and excitement that you would expect fromstudents at the beginning of a new year.
This year we are happy to say that there are quite a few
new faces that have come from the KIPS campus. These
children have slipped into the classes and started theirstudies almost seamlessly, adjusting quickly to the newrhythm and movement in the school. Not only have wewelcomed new students within these walls but looking
around you might see a few physical changes as well.
We’ve added two new classrooms (K1B and K2B) alongwith three new computer carts for laptops that will be usedin the classroom for furthering students’ abilities to explore
the world of learning.
All in all, these new faces and physical changes will serve
us better to make new friends, come to new conclusions,and set our minds to new challenges as we make our way
through the year. Here’s hoping everyone has a
successful and fulfilling year here at KIST.
Clay Bradley
PYP Coordinator / Elementary School
Vice Principal“ T h e Co m et ”

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Changes in K1 and K2
I think you may have already noticed some changes in the earlychildhood area. From this school year, we have two K1 and K2classes just like the other Elementary classes. K1A and K1B are
located on the first floor near the kindergarten playground, andK2A and K2B are on the second floor next to the K3 classes.
With the increase in the number of classes, we have made anumber of changes as follows:

Drop-off timeK1 and K2 parents/caregivers, please arrange yourschedule to arrive at school no later than 8:40 a.m. and waitwith your child in the breezeway in front of the MPR. All K1 and K2 students are to line up in the elementary
foyer at 8:40 and move to the classrooms with their classroom staff. K3 students spend their before school timein the kindergarten playground. Please take your child directly to the kindergarten playground via the outside
path way along the main field in front of the West Building. Please refrain from using the hallway in front of theK1 classrooms as the K1s use this area to get ready for their classes.

Pick-up time
After school, K1 to K3 students are brought to the foyer area around 3:20 p.m. in order to ensure a smoothschool-to-home transition time for all Elementary students. Please pick up your child from their classroom
teacher in the foyer.

Before care and after care
Before care
The before care service for K1 and K2 students is provided in the library. The before care teacher will wait until
all students coming to school by bus have arrived. If you arrive at school just after 8:00 a.m., please wait for theteacher to pick up all the children from the buses around the breezeway in front of the MPR. If you arrive withyour child after all the buses have arrived, please take your child directly to the library.
After care
K1 to Grade 2 students registered for after care normally spend their time with their duty teachers either in thelibrary or the kindergarten playground until 5:00 p.m. They then move to the MPR where they are supervised
until they go home.

Special request to all early childhood
lunch helpers
We would like to ask for the support of parent
lunch helpers in assisting us to maintain a clean
environment within our early childhoodclassrooms. We have purchased mops for eachclassroom that are used with wet paper wipes.
When the students are finished eating theirlunches, they should clean up any mess they may
have made by themselves, such as picking up
food that they dropped on the floor or wiping off
the mess that they made on the floor. When they
are all finished, please then use the mop to mop
the floor in addition to your other duties.

K2: ‘Who We Are’ unit—
Learning about their fivesenses through asensory walk.

Thank you for your continued support.
Eri Ozawa
Early Childhood Coordinator (K1, K2) /Preschool Coordinator

K1: ‘Who We Are’
unit—Learning about
our responsibilities atschool—We areresponsible!

V o l u me 2 0 | I s s u e 1 | S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 6

Grade 5 Art Excursion
Grade 5 began the second week of their adventures in art,with an excursion to the Sompo Museum of Art in
Shinjuku on Friday, August 26.
Students were entranced by some of the kinetic artworks
on show, and interacted with the hands-on digitalprojections with enthusiasm and curiosity. The exhibitions’interactive element encouraged students to reflect on the
powerful use of the senses that can be used in an art
piece to stimulate a connection or response towards theartwork.
The excursion also provided an opportunity to provoke
inquiry in the launch of their classroom UOI, How we
express ourselves.
We hope that this invaluable experience will help students
be open minded to the range of methods, tools andmaterials that can be used as a means to explore creative
expression, and inspire our students to want to learn, andexperience more of the wonderful world of art.
Thank you students for your enthusiastic engagement. I
would also like to express thanks to Mr Archibald, Mr
Grant and Ms Rachel for their support and enthusiasm!
Please enjoy the following photos, a small glimpse of the
excursion which I hope will incite morequestions from the students, and evoke
feelings and fond memories of the fun
event.
Helen Campbell
PYP Art Teacher“ T h e Co m et ”

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LEAP News
Hello KIST Community! Please allow me to introduce
myself. My name is Amber Guarente and I will be the
LEAP Coordinator for the 2016-2017 school year. I
am very excited to be in such a position to help the
KIST Elementary students in their academic journey
through English and mathematics.
The LEAP homepage has moved! All LEAP
information can now be found on the KIST website
under the Support tab. If you have any questions,please refer to the LEAP FAQ page, also found under
the Support tab.

After School MathSupport will beoffered to G1 to
G5 students only.
Starting this year, we are determining who is requiredor recommended to take LEAP courses by the
diagnostic testing taken at the beginning of the year.
Another policy we are strictly enforcing is that any
students who have been recommended or requiredby the school in any capacity to attend the Before
School English Support course are not eligible toenroll in the After School English Extension course.
From this year, we will be closely monitoring
attendance and homework. If a student regularly istardy or absent from a LEAP class, parents will be
notified by e-mail.
To support your child’s independence, we do ask thatyou have your child pack their own backpack with the
supplies they need for that day. Learning
responsibility at a young age is an invaluable skill thatwill benefit children throughout their lives.

There have also been a few changes to the LEAP
schedule. We no longer offer K1 and K2 morning
LEAP as the regular school day for these grades has
been extended to match the rest of the Elementary
School. From this year, Before School English
Support classes will be offered to K3 to G5 students
only, and After School English Extension as well as

As always, we thank you for your continued support. If
you have any further questions, please do nothesitate to contact me at leap@kist.ed.jp. Let’s learn
together!
Amber Guarente
LEAP Coordinator“ T h e Co m et ”

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Elementary ELS
Using those important PYP words
To start off this column for 2016-17, I’d like tointroduce the elementary English Language Support(ELS) department for those of you who are new to
KIST, then mention something about all that PYP
vocabulary that we use at school each day.
Each grade in elementary has either one (upper
grades) or two (lower grades) English Language
Support Instructors who join in unit planning andlessons to assist the class teacher with two mainthings: helping the students understand the content
and concepts of the PYP, and helping to expand theirlanguage knowledge and skills. There is no separate
language curriculum that ELS instructors use; our work
is completely integrated into the PYP curriculum. (Formore information about this, go to: http://
www.kist.ed.jp/node/77.)
Indeed the PYP is such a language-rich curriculumthat it is the ideal context for language learning. The
high-level vocabulary of each Unit of Inquiry students
engage in is one aspect of the PYP that drives thestudents’ language development, but on top of that is
all the transdisciplinary vocabulary of the PYP. The
PYP’s eight concepts, ten Learner Profile attributes,
twelve attitudes and five sets of transdisciplinary skills
involve a whole host of words that all grades take up
step by step and then keep going back to again andagain.

G2B students areencouraged to makeconnections to the PYP
Learner Profile and
PYP attitudes as partof the tracking notes
they write while reading
independently. Aina
(G2B) shows the
tracking notes she took
while reading The
Miraculous Journey of
Edward Tulane. She
noticed that “Abilene
and her grandmotherare caring people.”

You can help at home to reinforce your child’s
understanding of all this vocabulary which is so key totheir overall learning. Using these words in your homelanguage is very helpful, when you’re discussing
schoolwork, for example, or in other situations, too.
The KIST website has Japanese and English
explanations of the Learner Profile (see http://
www.kist.ed.jp/ja/node/141), but if you would likehelp finding more of the PYP vocabulary in anotherlanguage, I would love to try and help
you locate the resources. Pleasecontact me anytime atrachel.parkinson@kist.ed.jp.
Rachel Parkinson
Elementary ELS Coordinator /G5 ELS Instructor
G5 wall display
showing that during
the current UoI, How
we express
ourselves, thetransdisciplinary skill
focus is oncommunication
skills.

This chapter in Bonnie Campbell Hill’s book explains theimportant cognitive benefits of children talking at home in theirother language(s) about what they learned in English at school.
This article will be available in Japanese, Korean and English
on your grade’s Moodle page.

Developing Community Connections
We sincerely appreciate the support and contributions from our KIST community inbuilding a network with local companies and organizations. In addition to community
members presenting in classes, another significant result of your support was that
we were able to launch the KIST Career Experience program last school year. We
have compiled a booklet of student reflections on the experiences that you canaccess by click on the image on the right. (Click here to access more information
about our community connections development program).

YOU CAN HELP us grow this program. If you or your company, or a company that you knowof, may be able to support KIST in increasing opportunities for our students, please contact
Development Manager, Yukinori Honda in the school office at yukinori.honda@kist.ed.jp.

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KIPS News

Form No. 11

New KIPS opening October 17!
Hello, KIST community. I’m sure you have heard by
now that our KIPS Hamacho campus has closed its
doors and we will be re-opening KIPS version 2 near Morishita
station (1F Green Plaza Fukagawa Tokiwa, 2-9-7 Tokiwa, Koto-ku)
from this school year! The new KIPS has now been officiallyaccredited as an in-house daycare center by the Japanese
government’s Cabinet Office.
For those of you who are new to the KIST community, KIPS (K.
International Preschool) is open to our youngest learners from 6
months to 2 years old. It is mainly an in-house daycare center where
the priority is on providing daycare for children of KIST staff;
however, families wishing to send younger siblings of KIST students
to KIPS are also eligible to apply, and members of the public arealso more than welcome to apply for their child in the appropriateclass.

Application No. 11
September 5, 2016
To School Foundation K. International School

Public Interest Incorporated Foundation
Child Rearing Association, President

Announcement for the 2016 In-house Day Care Business(Construction and Maintenance Fee) Subsidy

Approval is hereby granted for the subsidy applied for the 2016
(1st round) In-house Day Care Business.

The details of the said business are as outlined in the application
for the 2016 (1st round) In-house Day Care Business subsidy.

We believe that each individual child is unique. As an early childhood educator, it is important to see each child asa different person, and to provide appropriate support for their growth that matches their developmental stage. All
our staff love young learners and are very patient and caring. By the end of P2 (preschool class for 2-year-olds),
the children will have developed appropriate skills that will enable them to have a smooth transition to the KIST K1
class.
We will include some photos of the new KIPS in the next issue of The Comet once the campus has opened.
Eri Ozawa
Preschool Coordinator / Early Childhood Coordinator (K1, K2)
Daily schedule (tentative)

New KIPS opening October 17!

Homepage addition: KIST ACADEMIC PERFORMANCEKIST is proud of our students’ performance on externally evaluated academic educational
assessments. You can now view KIST’s performance results on DP exams, ISA testing and PSAT
testing through our webpage (under the ‘LEARNING’ tab or click here).

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COMMUNITY
REMINDER
CIS Accreditation Visit andIB 5-year Evaluation Visit

NOVEMBER 26 to
DECEMBER 2, 2016
During this week at the end of November, a 12-member
team will visit KIST to determine how well we aremeeting the published standards of the IB and CIS.
While the team will mostly be meeting with staff andobserving the school and classes, there may be sometimes where we ask parents to get involved as well.

Explanation Day 2016
For the 2017 - 2018 school year
KIST will hold an Explanation Day for parents
interested in enrolling children for the 2017 2018 school year.
Administration and teaching staff will beavailable to answer questions regarding
admissions procedures, the school
curriculum, progression to universities, andgeneral features of the school. Visitors will
also be able to view the school facilities.
Date:
October 15, 2016 (Saturday)
Session times:(1) English: 9:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
(2) Japanese: 1:15 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Reservations close:
October 14, 2016 (Friday)

Thank you in advance for your support and cooperation
with this important event!

Reservations essential!

www.kist.ed.jp

KIST Amazon Wish Lists
Would you like to further support learning through our KIST libraries?
As reading is such an integral part of learning, we are continually updating our library collection.
Our KIST library team has created wish lists on Amazon Japan which contain books we wish topurchase for our libraries. If you are interested in making a donation to one of our libraries, links
to our Amazon wish lists are below.

Thank you for your generous support!
Elementary Library Wish List
LMC Wish List

http://amzn.to/2bGt3FB
http://amzn.to/2bX7x11

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Secondary School News

Secondary Class Officers

GRIT and parent information sessions

Starting this school year, a new system of “Class
Officers” has been introduced in the Secondary
School. Class officers have been elected from all
Grade 6 to Grade 12 homerooms. Separate from theStudent Representative Council (SRC) that runs thestudent government, the class officers aim topromote “Responsibility, a Caring Environment
and Respect” among students at the classroom
level. This long-term MYP Service commitment also
provides an opportunity for the officers to learn about
student leadership and time management.

I hope that the year has started well for your child; thatthey are enjoying learning and feeling comfortable inthe school environment. I want to take this opportunity
in the community forum of the newsletter to write aboutsomething I presented on briefly at our first Secondary
Assembly on August 26 and also emphasize a goal that
I have for this year regarding parent information
sessions.
The concept of “Grit” is something I
am personally interested in. I alsopresented on it to students two years
ago. I am coming back to it now due
to one of the educational books I wasable to read in the summer which is
pictured on the left. Some of you in
the KIST community may be familiar
with it as the research is related tomany professional organizations andnot just schools. The research thathas gone towards this book argues that in manydifferent life contexts one characteristic emerges whichis the best predictor of human success; the concept of“Grit”. One phrase that I mentioned to the students fromthe book that stands out to me is “Life is a marathon,
not a sprint!” and I asked students to consider what willbe their “marathon” goal for the entire year if notbeyond. The above book was published within the lastyear but there is a six-minute online TED Talk that
Duckworth delivered in 2013 that introduces GRIT thatyou may be interested in looking at.
Secondly, one of my goals for this year is to continue totry and make our Secondary information events
engaging and possibly more interactive for parents.
Some of our sessions will have more of a workshop
format than a presentation format, starting with the
MYP Information Evening for new parents on
Monday, September 12 starting at 6 p.m. in the MPR
and I would encourage relevant parents to sign up andcome along.
To finish, I hope that you found the Secondary Parent
Welcome Night informative and useful and look out fora small number of E-Communications
from me in September linking toinitiatives mentioned at this event. As
usual, please don’t hesitate to contact
me with any questions!
Mark Cowe
Secondary School Principal

Most importantly, the officers will be the “agents” of
the Student Conduct Coordinator in ensuring thatstudents are aware of the KIST Student Code of
Conduct found in our Student
Homework Diary to make ourschool a safe environment and a
conducive place to student learning.
Andi Licuanan
Student Conduct Coordinator

Class

Class Officer

6A

Jessie

6B
7A
7B
8A
8B
9A

Sara
Anna
Yuzu
Sujin
Thilo
Ewan

9B

Lilya

10A

Natasha

10B

Emiri

11A

Aska

11B

Sarah A.

12A

Akira

12B

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MYP News
New secondary students get an early start
to the school year
The last Friday before the start of school, new KIST
secondary students arrived in the afternoon for a
program designed to ease their transition to a newenvironment. Organized by the new executive of theSRC, the event included a mix of information andactivities focused on building community.
The new students, joined by many SRC classrepresentatives from last year, heard from a group ofteachers and administrators. The teachers offeredinsights into some of the school-wide experiences
secondary students can take advantage of.

Workshop forparents new to the
MYP to be held
September 12
Each year there is agroup of KIST parents
Student-led conferences are onepart of the reporting process in the
who have to help theirchildren deal with being Secondary School.
in the IB’s Middle Years Programme for the first time.
Whether this is the result of students moving from the
PYP in the Elementary School or new families arriving
at KIST for the first time, there are always questions
and challenges that arise with this type of change.
Mr Rob White, the school’s MYP Coordinator, and Mr
Mark Cowe, the Secondary School Principal, have
prepared a workshop-style session to allow parents
new to the MYP to engage with some of the essential
elements on the program.
Working in either English or Japanese, parents will
have the opportunity to explore how students in the
MYP are assessed by teachers. They’ll see howteachers use a set of criteria to form judgements
regarding student progress.

Photo taken from the teacher presentation on experiences forsecondary students.

To help get experienced and new students mixing
together, the group worked on a few icebreakeractivities.

Mr Cowe will lead a session involving the school
reporting process. By comparing the information
available in an Elementary report to a Secondary
report, parents will be better prepared to see how they
can support their son or daughter’s work.
The evening will finish with a focus on Service in the
MYP. Parents often have questions about the details of
this essential element of the MYP.

New students and SRC members working on an icebreaker activity.

Following a detailed tour of the school, the SRC
members highlighted a few rules students need to beaware of and answered questions from the newstudents.
The day wrapped up with a session by Mr Whittakerfrom the school’s IT office about essential information
regarding the use of the school’s IT systems.
All in all, it was a good day and helped to get the KIST
journey off on the right foot.

Parents, students and teachers working on understanding Service
in the MYP.

An E-Communication notice will go home shortly
inviting new parents to sign-up for the workshop.
Because of the nature of the workshop space will belimited so be sure to sign-up early.
Robert WhiteMYP Coordinator

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Lilya in Italy
Earth is a ball. Football drives the planet!
I still wonder if being able to visit
Italy was all a dream. When school
was nearly over, with summer
holiday just around the corner,
suddenly, I had the opportunity tospend four days in Milan toparticipate in the Football for
Friendship program as a young
journalist. My task was to interview
fellow players or other country’s
young journalists and write anarticle about the experience as wellas provide verbal translations forthe team. Although I was a little
hesitant on whether or not I could
fulfill my duties, my mind was
focused on Milan so as to not waste
my once in a lifetime chance to put
my 8th grade journalism unit skills
to practical use.
Football for Friendship (F4F) is aninternational children’s social
program which hosts events held in
different countries around the globe.
It gathers 12- to 14-year-old players
from top international clubs tobroaden their horizons, teach them
the nine core values—friendship,equality, fairness, health, peace,devotion, victory, tradition andhonor—and of course, have amatch against each other. This
year, the program was hosted in
Milan, Italy and 32 countries acrossfour continents—Africa, Asia,
Europe and South America—shared their passion for football.
Accompanied by eight football
players all under the age of 15,
coaches, media journalists and acoordinator, I traveled over 9,700
kilometers on a direct 12-hour flight.
As soon as I arrived, I could feel the“football fever” the city was feeling,from the excitement of the UEFAChampionships League Final.
On the first day of events, we had a
Street Soccer Tournament where
teams had their first chance tocompete. With my heart beating
fast, I interviewed UEFA champion
footballers Max Meyer, Leon
Goretzka, Domenico Criscito,Michel Salgado and the legendary
Franz Beckenbauer—the program’s

global ambassador. At night, we
had a Pin Race Party where
each country got a box full of
their country’s flag pins and wentaround trading their pins withother countries to collect all 32
country’s pins. This ended in an
intriguing situation as mostparticipants didn’t speak English but
still tried to communicate withothers to collect their pins.
I woke up the next day, thrilled tostart a new day full of excitement.
We watched the final competition
match of the Street Soccer
Tournament between Hungary andSlovenia held at the exquisite
Sforza Castle. We also had a forum
where I was one of the 3 journalists
picked from the 32 journalists
participating to interview the global
ambassador, Franz Beckenbaur.
Interviewing Beckenbaur seemedbeyond my wildest dream. I asked
him what he would do if he had any
superpower to which he replied tobring world peace and friendship.
To the delight of all, we attended
the UEFA Championships League
Final after the forum where Real
Madrid beat Atletico Madrid. We
were treated as if we werecelebrities on our way to San Siro.
Police motorcycles escorted every
bus, surrounding us on both sides
and right through the traffic lights!
The supporters and fans were all
passionate about their teamwinning, screaming when a goal
was scored, mourning when theother team scored. To this day, I
can still hear the delightful screams
from the supporters.

It was a once in a lifetime
experience that touched my heart. I
made many friends, notably the
football players from Japan as well
as young journalists from othercountries such as Algeria, Bulgaria,
Serbia, Russia, Armenia andTurkey. I still Skype with some ofthem. The bonds we created will
never be broken, the memories andexperiences never forgotten.
Unfortunately, despite being myhome team, Japan failed to leave agood result, losing in 2 of the 3
matches played at the Street
Soccer Tournament. When theteam was devastated from the loss,
the coach’s message to the players
stayed with me. “Tough times will
make you stronger. Just keep
moving forward.”
Football for Friendship is a great
program to expand one’s horizons.
Even if we speak different
languages, have different beliefs orcultures or have different racial
backgrounds, this program showed
how sports could unite the world.
The experience I had, memories I
made and bonds I created in Milan
will stay with me forever. I now truly
believe that we can change theworld through sport and friendship!
Lilya (G9B)

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17

Secondary SRC
With the start of the new year, we, theSRC executive team for the year
2016—consisting of Rachel(President), Nina (Vice President),
Krisha (Treasurer), Sara (Secretary)
and Akiko (Public Relations Officer)—have started
promoting class representative elections to get the
SRC fully started and going. The elections will takeplace in the first few weeks of school and call for ashort campaigning period by candidates so they canpersuade their classmates for votes. The classrepresentatives are to go to the weekly general
assembly meetings and convey messages to theirclasses, along with write and implement new proposals
which will help better the students’ lives at KIST.
The new year also calls for the continuation of thesuccessful events carried out last year. An occurrence
we particularly look forward to is one created late lastyear: Open Field Day. This is a weekly event in whichsports are prohibited during lunch break. This allows all-student inclusive running games to be played in thegym which are particular favored by the middle school
students, and a majority high school students to be out
socializing on the turf. It is also common to see
students lying down or reading books when theweather is particularly nice! The printing services
started by the SRC two years ago will also continue.
The printer is for emergency situations only andrequires a small fee, but has come in handy forstudents who either forgot to print a document, or had atechnological malfunction at home. A service we would
like to further promote this year is the student fund. The
student fund is a budget the SRC puts forth speciallyfor the students; the budget allows a maximum of¥15,000 to be used for a group or single student tofund a project which will improve the lives of thestudents in some way. Last year the budget was used
for providing food along with refreshments for thegraduation ceremony and DP art exhibition, purchasing

T-shirts and dyes for a tie dye booth which ran during
family day for the organization TASSEL, and providing
pizza for the winning house prefect for the team colors.
There has also been a change in the executive terms
put in place by the school administration. Previously,
the executives served for the duration of a school year
(Late August to June), but this has been changed tothe calendar year (January – December). The reason
for this is to ease the transition seeing the previous
system had a 2-month summer break in between, andto further prioritize academics seeing the Grade 12s
must prepare for exams from January. Since we are
currently undergoing the transition phase to thecalendar system, the president and treasurer are on a
1.5-year term, and the secretary, public relations
officer, and vice president are on a 6-month term,
meaning an executive election for the three positions
will take place in December.
The SRC hopes for a productive year with the classrepresentatives and specialized committees, andhopes to maintain great relations with the school
administration and CA. It has always been our main
goal to improve the students’ lives to the greatest
extent, and would like to encourage all students tocontinue sharing their voice!
Nina (G12A)
Vice President

Executive Officers 2016-2017
President

Vice President

Treasurer

Secretary

PR Officer

Rachel (G11A)

Nina (G12A)

Krisha (G10A)

Sara (G11B)

Akiko (G12A)

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Staff 10!

Office Updates

In this month’s Staff 10!, we arepleased to present Christopher
Carufel who joined us in March2014 as an ELS Instructor in the
Elementary School before
becoming a Grade 3 classroom
teacher in 2015-2016. He is now
teaching MYP Science in theSecondary School.

Absences, late arrivals, early departures

 Tell us something interesting
about your hometown.
Mr Carufel—
Often when people think of the”Born in the USA”
state of Minnesota, images ofharsh cold winters filled withsnowy scenery come to mind. They would be correct!
However, after the snow and ice thaw, a world of lush
greenery quickly replaces it. Minnesotans are hearty inthe face of winter; but as a result, they rarely take thewarm months for granted. Outdoor activities such as
hiking, canoeing, camping and various sports areenjoyed throughout the spring, summer and autumn
months.
 What is your favorite place in the world?
On a certain hill, beneath a forest of pine, listening to
the wind pass through the trees.
 Who would you like to meet if you had the chance
and why?
Ms Levinski, my junior high school science teacher, who
passed away from cancer while I was in high school. It
was during her classes that I developed my deep love
for science that ultimately led me to becoming ateacher. I would love to share with her the impact that
she had on my life.
 Do you have any special skills or talents?
The ability to freely fall asleep when there is work to be
done. Yet, unable to fall asleep when there is a need towake up early in the morning. A very unfortunate talent!
 Please share a little known fact about yourself.
I earned an Associate in Arts degree prior to receiving
my high school diploma.
 What is your most prized possession?
Zippity (stuffed toy). The Siberian Husky that I always
wanted, but never actually got. Currently faithfully
guarding my room where I grew up.
 What words would you use to describe yourself?
Serious, silly and contradictory!
 If you could live your life again, would you doanything differently?
Generally, it is not good to dwell on things you cannotchange; however, learning Japanese more actively
when I was younger would reap great benefits now!
 Is there anything you are trying to learn/improveabout yourself at the moment?
I am always trying to improve in everything I do – how
successfully, that is another matter. Perhaps someday,
the majority of kanji will not elude me as they do now.
 Do you have any special message for your fans?
Carpe diem!

Community resources

All instances of student absence, late arrival andearly departure must be reported directly to theschool office (not to individual teachers) by e-mailat info@kist.ed.jp. Absences and late arrivals
should be reported before the start of school.
Where notification is not received, we will contact
you by e-mail at your Office 365 account to verify
your child’s attendance.

This is a reminder to families that various resources
are available in the Community section of theschool website. Some of the resources available
include: Family Handbook
Provides a guide to the school’s policies,
procedures and expectations. Also includes theProgression Criteria and Graduation
Requirements document that outlines therequirements for students to advance to higher
grades and programs.
 Faculty Directory
A list of classroom and subject teachers andtheir direct e-mail addresses.
 KIST DP Handbook
Contains information about the IB Diploma andhow it is organized at KIST.
Online sign ups for various activities (e.g. schoolsupport program duties, student health checks, KIST
Community Association committee participation etc.)
are also conducted here.
As the Community section contains information thatis designed for the KIST community only, it ispassword protected. To access the information, youwill therefore need to log in to your Office 365 school
online account.

School closures
There may be times during the year when the school
is forced to close due to inclement weather
conditions (e.g. typhoons, heavy snowfall), medical
epidemics and the like. At such times, the schoolcommunity is notified as early as possible by e-mailthrough E-Communications and also on the top pageof the school website. We understand that closures
may create difficulties for some families; however,
we ask for yourunderstanding that thesesituations are beyond theschool’s control andcannot be foreseen. We
therefore ask for yourcooperation in making
alternative arrangements
for your children on thesedays.

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Library NewsThe KIST Library Team would like to welcome you back to school for 20162017! We hope you enjoyed your summer holidays and had a chance to readsome excellent books!

Library programs
The 2016-2017 school year will see the return of your favorite library programs:
DEAR, Sakura Medal Books, and World Cultures Day in its 6th year of
promoting a “love for reading”, intercultural-awareness and the available
educational resources in our school.
This November, get ready to Drop
Everything And Read again! The DEAR
character dress-up parade will be held at theend of the month (November 25), wrapping
up our reading promotion. This way, youhave a whole month to work on yourcostumes. G4 and G5 students andelementary faculty and staff, take note: there
will be an opportunity to enter our Creative
Book Character Costume contest and win
great prizes! Please see the KIST Calendar
for Families for more details.
The Sakura Medal Book program will continue at KIST. G1 to G12 students
can vote for their favorites to win the coveted Sakura Medal. G6 students andolder can promote their favorite books through the book trailer competition bothin English and Japanese, and G4 to G5 students can join the Sakura Medal
Book Bowl club to compete against other schools in a trivia contest. Ask yourlibrarian if you’re interested in participating.
In February 2017, we’ll be celebrating World Cultures Day – a KIST tradition!
Stay tuned for more information in forthcoming Comet articles…

Library QuickLinks on Moodle
Did you know, you can access library materials 24/7, 365 days a year? It’s true!
Although library staff has to go home sometimes, Moodle never sleeps.
Log in with your school e-mail and password to explore the Library Media
Center and Elementary Library pages. Check out classic resources like
Britannica School Edition (for elementary and secondary), BrainPOP, Kids
Infobits, World Almanac for Kids (elementary), and Infobase Database, Science
Online, Active History (secondary). For new additions this year, check out The
Day, Scientific American and The Economist (secondary) and The Day
Explorer (elementary) for daily world news. For more information about theseschool subscriptions, visit the Library Moodle pages.

Interactive whiteboard in the LMC
We are fortunate in the library to have the first interactive board in our school.
The school recently purchased Ubi software that turns an ordinary whiteboard
into an interactive surface. This new technology will serve as a pilot test forpossible integration to other classrooms in the
future. The teacher-librarian will use thistechnology to promote more engaging
presentations in the G5 Exhibition, personal
projects and extended essays. All teachers arewelcome to come and try out the new interactive
board in the LMC.
KIST Library Team

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Nurse’s Notes
Hello everyone. My name is Stephanie Pae and I am
the new school nurse from this school year. I am very
excited about the new school year and look forward tomeeting you. Here is a little bit about myself: I have a
Bachelor’s degree in nursing (BSN) and am aregistered nurse (RN) in Ohio, USA. I also received a
Master’s degree in family nursing (MSN) at the
University of Tokyo. I am a mother of four children andwas born in Korea. It is a privilege to be a school
nurse at KIST and I hope to expand my experience innursing and look forward to getting to know yourchildren.

been prescribed totake three times aday, please arrange
the afternoon doseto be taken after
school and theevening dose
before bedtime. If
your child is
required to take medicine during school hours,
parents/guardians may come to school to administer
the medicine themselves.

This is my first year at KIST but previously I have had
nursing experience at international schools for about 6
years. My heart always lies with young children and I
am very happy to be around them. I welcome you
all—students, parents and teachers—to visit the
Nurse’s Room. If you wish to visit, please note that I
will be present from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on
Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

If parents/guardians are not able to come to school,
the Permission to Administer Medication form
(available on the school website) must be submitted to
the Nurse’s Room in advance. If approved, themedicine will be kept in the Nurse’s Room. Students
are not permitted to keep medicine in their bags.
Students may visit the Nurse’s Room at theappropriate time to take the medicine. Permission will
be granted for students to keep emergency medicines
such as inhalers for asthma or EpiPens in their bags
after obtaining pre-authorization from the school.

I would like to ask parents to cooperate with ourprocedures for ensuring student safety.

1. Updating your child’s health issues
Please be sure to keep the school informed of any
changes to your child’s health status and othermedical issues that may affect his/her performance atschool. Furthermore, if any of your contact details or
emergency contacts change, please notify the school
immediately. Updating your child’s health issues will
help keep your child safe and will help us to provide
the proper care in a timely manner.

If you have any questions about the above or otherprocedures, please feel free to contact me atsookhee.pae@kist.ed.jp.
Thank you for your support andcooperation!
Stephanie Pae
School Nurse

2. Administering medication at school
As a general policy, students should not bring
medicine to school as there is a danger of otherstudents using it accidentally. We ask parents tocooperate in asking doctors to prescribe the medicine
twice a day (morning and evening). If medicine has

Our previous school nurse, Mrs Whittaker,
will be moving to the new KIPS campus
when it opens in October, so you will still see
her around school from time to time.

Donating to KIST

With thanks

KIST welcomes donations from both individuals and corporations from the school andwider communities. Donations are used to improve and expand the quality of ourfacilities and services in order to enrich the educational experiences of our students.

Araki Family (K1B)
Ogawa Family (K1B)
Fukuhara Family (K2A)
Aoki Family (K3B)

In order to acknowledge those who support the school through donations, with theconsent of the donating families, we will be including the names of those who have made recent donations in The
Comet.
To families of newly enrolled students who indicated on their initial application for admission their willingness tomake a donation to the school, but have not yet done so, please use the Donation Form available on the school
website for this purpose.
Thank you for your kind generosity. We sincerely appreciate your support.

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University Guidance News“Class of 2016” final destinations

Summer internship at SIT

For many members of our Class of 2016, university life
is about to commence in the coming weeks. Those
applying for universities on alternate calendars are still
making decisions about where to attend.

Once again this year, Shibaura Institute Technology(SIT) invited our students to apply to their two-weeksummer internship for international school students.
Seven KIST students: Atharva (G12A), Hana (G12B),
Nikita (G11A), Shouheng (G11B), Chae Min (G11A),
Hyunjeong (G11B) and Sara (G11B) enjoyed theprogram in the university’s lab where they completed
their own project and received a certificate from SIT.
Congratulations!

This year, Japan became the most popular university
destination for KIST graduates, followed by the UK insecond and the USA in third. Only one student appliedand enrolled in a Canadian university this year,
although Canada had been very popular among ourstudents.
Please see the list of college and university
acceptances and offers for the “Class of 2016” on thenext page. It is noteworthy that one student was
accepted to the medical program at St. George’s
University of London in UK for the first time. Entrance
to St. Georges is highly competitive, especially forinternational students wishing to enter a medical
program in any country as there are very limited spots
available for international students.
Another admissions highlight is that we sent our first
graduate to the very unique and international
university, New York University Abu Dhabi which
recruits the brightest, globally minded young men andwomen from all over the world. Admission was grantedwith a full four year scholarship plus generous annual
allowances.

Atharva

Hana

NikitaShouheng

Chae Min

Hyunjeong

Sara

These are just a couple of examples of our placements
this year; we are proud of the achievements of all our
graduates. Congratulations and enjoy your new life
after KIST!

Two graduates admitted to Okayama
University Medical SchoolMore happy news from the Class of 2016. During thissummer, two of our students who graduated in May
applied to Okayama University, one of the top
Japanese national universities, and both were
accepted to the medical programs which commencefrom April 2017.
Both students applied through the special entrance
examination for IB Diploma students. Under thismethod, applicants do not need to take the “Center
Shiken” (the Japanese standardized university
entrance examination) or the “EJU” (the Japanesestandardized university entrance examination forinternational students) which are usually required forthe regular programs taught in Japanese in major
Japanese universities, especially national universities.
Although there are some conditions regarding IB DP
subject choices and scores for eligibility to apply, an
increasing number of universities have introduced or
and are planning to launch this system. This trend will
provide more opportunities for our students to get into
the Japanese regular programs if they are confident intaking all classes taught in Japanese.

University guidance calendar
A number of events, university presentations at KIST,
college fairs and information sessions are scheduledaround Tokyo in autumn. Please check the University
Guidance Calendar to obtain updated schedules anddetailed information about the events and universities.

Mrs Keiko Okude
Career and University GuidanceCounselor
Office hours: Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri
10:00-17:00
keiko.okude@kist.ed.jp

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V ol u me 20 | I s s ue 1 | S ept em b er 20 16“ T h e Co m e t ”

Summer Internship at Keio University
Arjun (G12A) and Mirabelle (G12B) spent three weeks in July pursuing their own research projects at theGraduate School of Media Design, Keio University. Please see a report from Mirabelle below.

During summer break in July, a fellow KIST student and I participated in aninternship program by Keio Media Design (KMD) and the experience wasdefinitely an irreplaceable one. Having no knowledge whatsoever about media
design, I came out of the internship realizing that media design is so much morethan computer animations, but it’s also about being creative and expanding it onto
available resources and linking it to different fields of technology such as virtual andaugmented reality.
In the 3 weeks of the internship, I was exposed to many skills that were taught
outside of high school curricula such as using game development software, coding,
3D printing, soldering and so on.
At the end of the internship, we were required to complete a project of our own andmy final project was inspired by my experiences as a DP student, especially in thesubject of Biology. The prototype that I created was a virtual simulator of brain
surgery, where my main goal was to provide a realistic dissection experience which
would lead to enhanced understanding of parts of the brain. The prototype wasunlike anything I’ve ever done before as it required me to apply new skills in a fieldthat I was not familiar with, making the process evenmore interesting.
The entire internship experience was very eyeopening for me and has sparked my interest incoding, a skill that I would like to apply in the future.
Mirabelle (G12B)

Mirabelle giving her final presentation.

Arjun explains his prototype.

Arjun and Mirabelle with supervisor, Professor Minamizawa,and mentors at KMD.

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V o l u me 2 0 | I s s u e 1 | S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 6

College and University Acceptances and Offers
KIST Class of 2016
( )=Number of students accepted | *=Scholarship offered#=Matriculate from autumn 2016 | As of September 6, 2016

UK
Brunel University London
City University London
Imperial College#
King’s College London (2)London School of Economics and Political Science#
Queen Mary, University of London
Royal Holloway, University of London#
Royal Veterinary College, University of London
St. Georges, University of London# (2)University of Bath (3)University of Birmingham
University of Bristol (2)University College London (3)University of Edinburgh (3)University of Essex
University of Exeter# (2)University of Kent (2)University of Lancaster
University of Leeds
University of Nottingham
University of Reading# (2)University of Strathclyde (2)University of St. Andrews (3)University of Warwick (3) (2#)
University of West London
University of YorkUSA
Bard College
Bentley University (3)California State University East Bay
Fordham University*
Georgia State University
Hofstra University
Indiana University
Maryland Institute College of Art
Millsaps University
New York University#
Northeastern University
Ohio State University
Pace University (2)Parsons School of Design
Philadelphia University
Rutgers University#
Sacramento State University
San Diego State University# (2)
SCAD Savannah#
School of Visual Art
SUNY Buffalo
SUNY New Paltz

SUNY Stony Brook University (2)Syracuse University
UC Riverside
UC Santa Cruz
University of Alabama*
University of Oregon*
University of Illinois# (3)University of Minnesota
University of Nebraska*
University of San Francisco#
Virginia Commonwealth University

CANADA
Algonquin College
Sheridan College#

JAPANInternational Christian University (ICU) (6) (4#)
Keio University PEARL (3)Meiji University#
Nagoya University# (2)Okayama University Medical School (2)Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University#
Sophia University#
Tokyo International University
Waseda University SILS#
Waseda University Social Science#
Waseda University Political Science# (2)

HONG KONG
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology* (2)UAE
New York University Abu Dhabi*#23