Each morning this summer, screams and shouts of celebration surrounded the school as the Hitokoe Yokohama International School (HYIS) kids tested out their slick new mini-pool and mist cooling system on the natural grass lawn. It was truly a scene of refreshing gaiety!
This year’s HYIS Summer Extravaganza found students enjoying a fishing trip, bug hunting, volcano making, and watermelon bashing, as well as many other enjoyable theme-based discoveries. It was topped off with students and their guests dancing together in their lovely yukata, celebrating the end of the school year and the start of vacation. It was truly a celebration of summer at HYIS!
HYIS is proud to announce web cameras and extra child-safety features in each of the new rooms on the first floor. The school also has an enclosed garden with sandboxes and a beautiful green grass lawn where the HYIS students play when there’s no time to go to one of the many nearby parks. A two-minute walk from campus brings students to the HYIS vegetable garden, where they grow eggplants, potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, and other delicious vegetables for their families.
HYIS is now accepting applicants for fall-term registration, and is offering special programs for working parents as well as after-school English programs for those children attending Japanese nursery, elementary, or high schools. There are also evening classes for adults. Childcare is available at HYIS on a drop-in basis.
The Saturday program (from 10am–12:15pm) is open to children aged 3–15 years, and includes exploratory activities. Private and group lessons are also available. Most HYIS programs include learning how to play the piano and the steel drum. And the school is proud to include body percussion as part of its child-centred curriculum, along with Hip Hop Dance activities. See http://www.hyis.org for more information. — PATRICIA ALDANA
