Ladies and gentlemen, we are in the home stretch.  In just a few short weeks, ISN Middle School will be back in action!  I hope you have enjoyed following along with the development of the PIC, the Project-based, Inquiry-based, Concept-based Program.  It has been my pleasure to share the updates with you throughout the year, but I will be passing the baton on to the head of our Middle School program, Mr. Igor.

For those of you just joining us, a quick summary of what we’ve made:  our IB-based Middle School program, the PIC Program, will cover school years 6-9.  We have designed a bilingual syllabus built around taking advantage of the stunning nature of the Shinshu area along with the strength and opportunities provided by local businesses.  We are excited to show you what we’ll be doing, and if you’d like more information please check out our earlier entries in this blog or our website here!

Speaking of those local businesses, last month I talked in general about our plans to work with local businesses to integrate entrepreneurial opportunities into our syllabus.  This month, I would like to specifically announce our first official partnership!

For the first six months of the upcoming school year, our students will have the opportunity to work alongside Storyhouse Cafe in Matsumoto.  They will learn about the hospitality industry, running a cafe, and try their hand at creating their own offerings for the store.  We are thrilled at this opportunity for our students!

We do not want the amazing things our students will be doing to be done in a vacuum.  We hope for everyone to see the shining future these students are starting to build.  To that end, there will be Open Campus days where we hope everyone interested can come get a glimpse of that future and the students who will be building it.  Please come visit us on the following dates:  June 6, June 13, and August 27.

This may be goodbye from me in terms of writing for you on this blog, but we are saying hello to a new era for the students of ISN.  We will have many more things in the future to share with you about what the students and staff of the ISN MS Program are accomplishing, so we hope you will continue to follow and support us.

From all of us here at ISN Gojo Campus, thank you!

–Josh