Student
All they do is the filter through students. They just kick the dumb ones out and keep the smart ones. Not a good option for your children.
↳ Reply from K. International School Tokyo 
Dear TURDBOI1427,
Thank you for taking the time to give us your feedback and for this opportunity for us to further clarify the points you have raised.
You are correct that academics may be emphasized more than at other international schools. We are proud of our mission to 'provide academically motivated children from diverse cultural and social backgrounds with a high-quality education in a safe and supportive environment' so that they can reach for their goals and gain access to quality universities around the world.
One of our guiding beliefs is that 'setting high academic expectations supports the development of strong academic skills which increase the chances for future academic success'. We believe that the systems we have in place support our students in attaining their personal best academically. We reflect on past progress and continue to do our best to further improve the support we provide. Our most recent graduating class attained a DP average score of 42.3 points (out of a maximum of 45 points)! According to IB statistics available through their website, less than 10% of students worldwide attain 40 points or more - for our most recent graduating class, 90% of KIST students attained scores of 40 or more, with almost 10% of the graduating class obtaining perfect scores of 45 points.
Such success requires hard work from the entire school community and a commitment to our beliefs and our mission. Through our thorough admissions process, we do work hard to make sure that KIST is the best school for our admitted students and families; however, we have had students in the past who have a different perception of 'hard work' from that of the school.
You claim that KIST is not a good option for your children. Perhaps that is so for YOUR family; however, I encourage you and other readers to compare our academic performance with that of other schools before making a decision about quality of education. Our recent performance results are all posted on our webpage at https://www.kist.ed.jp/node/1151 (scroll down below the DP results for IGCSE and PSAT, and other results). From the information there, you will see that KIST has attained the top IB DP average score in Japan since 2015, and we were recently ranked as the 7th highest performing DP school in the world (by IB-SCHOOLS.com).
Every school has different expectations and approaches. KIST delivers a solid academic program that produces exceptional results. We are a mission driven school and all school decisions are made based on our guiding beliefs, which are clearly stated on our webpage. Nonetheless, we do recognize that KIST's beliefs and priorities do not align with those of all families. There are other international schools in Tokyo that will better meet those families' needs and we encourage them to explore those options.
Thank you once again for sharing your perspective. We hope that you have found a school that better aligns with your expectations.
Sincerely,
KIST
4 other reviews for K. International School Tokyo - (Reviews aren't verified )
Showing 3 reviews by parents and students.
Parent
The value for the money is at a major deficit. While K. International School charges fees similar to those at other International schools in the same area, there are no facilities for sports, drama or any activities other than studying. While this may appeal to some parents of older students, it is detrimental to learning and ignores the whole child/social emotional learning needs of all students. We are moving our child to another school with more opportunities and facilities as soon as possible.
The administration may respond with a "we are building new facilities" line, but like the "Past Teacher" review insinuated here, the school may not want to commit to that in writing. Construction has lagged over a decade and the kids are hurting for it. As there is no transparency as to how money is spent and the administration is fighting an external audit, we do not hold any hope in anything changing. Terrible value for money.
↳ Reply from K. International School Tokyo
Parent
Our daughter has been at KIST for over 9 years now and has benefited immensely from the support that she has been provided by her teachers and from the support programs in place at the school. Academic expectations are clear, performance against them is measured regularly and efforts are made to support students before it is too late.
KIST prioritizes academics and that is attractive to us as a family. As university admission is becoming more and more competitive, we are confident that the excellent education she will have upon completion of the IB Diploma at KIST will give her access to top-tier universities.
The secondary building and the gym are old, but students have ample opportunities to participate in athletic and academic curricular activities.
I have read reviews that criticize the school for holding families and students accountable for their learning. As a parent, I ... read full review
↳ Reply from K. International School Tokyo
Parent
An academic focus school.
Con1: Grading process
School applies a bell curve to force-grade students into higher or standard grade subject courses for final year exit exams - no choice. (This helps ensure the school achieves higher ave ratings which it evidently does achieve - benefits school mostly not the children).
This grading starts from an early age (10-11) grade 6 (MYP) onward (specifically science subjects).
Issue 1: This pre-defines and so limits career options from an early age (10-11) since certain universities require science subjects to pass on the higher grade.
Issue 2: This has an undue early age morale confidence hit on kids at 10-11 y.o. (read why below)
Issue 2: This grading process, separate from the assessment process, appears flawed. External past year UK SAT test papers are used to grade (Diagnostic test) of which ~60% of the papers content is not cove... read full review
