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Accreditation

MST is fully accredited by
The International Montessori Council.

Membership

MST is a member of
The Japan Council of International Schools (JCIS).

Admissions Process

1. Initial Interest Form

The first step of our admissions process is to submit an on-line Initial Interest Form. After you have done this, please contact the school by telephone (03-5449-7067) or email to arrange a date for your tour.

Scheduled tours begin in October each year and take place weekly on Tuesday mornings. In certain circumstances it may be possible to arrange a tour on a different day, however, no tours can be given after 10:30 a.m. on any day.

For families outside Japan who are therefore unable to attend a school tour prior to arriving in Tokyo, please read section 9 below on Provisional Acceptance.

2. School Tour

The school tour is the next step of the application process and should be scheduled in advance. Tours last approximately one hour, during which you will see a presentation about Montessori learning and MST, and get to see various classrooms in session. It is hoped that both parents will attend the school tour when possible. The tour is for adults only so we ask that children do not accompany their parents.

3. Formal Application

Once you have attended a school tour and have decided to apply for admission to MST, the application process is as follows:

submit the Application Form including a passport size photo
submit a ¥20,000 application fee. This fee is non-refundable and is required in order for your application to be processed.
ensure that the confidential recommendation from the previous school is sent to MST.
ensure that the student’s current school year progress reports or report cards and year-end report from previous years are sent to MST.
arrange a screening day when your child will spend some time in a classroom with one of the faculty members.
arrange an interview for both parents with the Head of School.

Academic Year 2010/2011

All our elementary classes (age 6 and over) are fully enrolled for the 2010/2011 academic year. Currently there are still a limited number of openings in our Sunshine Programme. Due to our desire to balance each class according to the criteria listed below, availability depends on the ages of the students. Please complete an Initial Interest Form and contact the school for more information.

During the summer vacation, while every attempt will be made to ensure a timely processing of each application, unavoidably they may take longer to process than those submitted earlier.

4. Child Screening

At MST we accept students from many different cultures, backgrounds and nationalities. We attempt to balance the classes according to various criteria (see below). In order to make as accurate an assessment of the classroom make-up as possible, we invite students applying to come to the school to spend some time in the classroom with a faculty member.

There is no formal testing done, however students are observed interacting with either other children and/or faculty members. Older students (third year Sunshine or Elementary applicants) may also be asked to show their knowledge and capabilities in reading, writing and mathematics.

5. Acceptance

Applications for the current school year (09/10) are processed as received. Applications for the following school year will be processed according to the schedule and deadlines outlined in the Formal Application section above. Admissions decisions will be sent to families within ten days of the application deadlines. Successful applicants will be registered for the upcoming academic year.

6. Admissions Criteria

To maintain a balance in our student population, The Montessori School of Tokyo uses the following criteria for admitting students.

Age group – Due to the mixed ages in Montessori classrooms, it is very important to have an even distribution of ages.
Gender – MST strives to maintain a 50/50 balance of boys and girls (or as close as possible) in each class and throughout the school.
Social tendencies – Responsiveness, high/low energy, interaction with adults and/or peers
School of siblings – A family with children attending another school has lower priority in the admissions process (a family committed to Montessori principles would more likely send all their children to a Montessori school).
Developmental level – Language ability, academic knowledge, maturity.
Bathroom Independence– All students should be out of nappies/diapers before entering MST.
Native language – MST aims to have in each class a majority of children whose native language is English. As an international school we also accept children who have other languages (including Japanese) as their native language.
Special needs – MST classrooms can accommodate a limited number of children with relatively mild special needs (developmental, behavioural, academic). Currently we are not accepting new students with exceptionalities.
Montessori experience – Students with prior Montessori schooling do receive priority in the admissions process.
Current students – MST strives to be a school for families so siblings of current students receive admission priority.

7. Notification of Admissions Status

Within ten days of the admissions deadline, you will be notified of the decision by mail. To take up the offer of a place, you should submit the Registration Fee as described in the Fee Policy. This fee must be paid before the due date stated on the invoice accompanying the acceptance letter. The Registration Fee will not be refunded if you later elect not to enroll your child at MST.

8. Mid-year Admissions

Students arriving in Tokyo after the start of the academic year, may be admitted as openings become available. For mid-year admissions, the Registration Fee, Building Development Fee and the Tuition as described in the Fee Policy must be received before the child’s first day of school.

The Registration Fee will not be refunded if you later elect not to enroll your child at MST.

9. Provisional Acceptance

MST understands that when dealing with an international community, there can be occasions when a family is unable to physically be in Tokyo to complete the child screening process and interview with the Head of School. In certain cases, usually when the student is transferring from another Montessori school, a provisional acceptance can be granted.

To qualify for provisional acceptance, all other portions of the application process need to be completed before the due date. A telephone or video interview with one or both parents may be required. The application will be processed along with other applications received.

If provisional acceptance is granted, all fees are due by the regular dates and times. As soon as the family’s arrival dates in Tokyo are known, the screening and interview dates should be scheduled. Children will be eligible to start school two days after both the screening and the interview have been completed.

In the case of information obtained from the child screening or interview leading to the student not being granted full acceptance, the Tuition and Building Development Fees will be refunded.

The Initial Interest Form will start the application process.