ISN Nakano Campus

Finland to Nakano city

～In 2024　ISN Nakano Campus open!～

WIP, a joint venture that provides International School of Nagano (ISN) preschool activities in Matsumoto, Nagano, and Ueda, has begun operating HUBLIC (publicnakano.com), a Nakano City childcare support center, as the designated manager in April 2023. *WIP is an acronym for “World International Preschool,” the name of ISN’s former preschool. The name of the school was changed from World International School to ISN, while the company name remained the same, in accordance with the rule that the name of the school must not contain “World”.

In April 2024, ISN Nakano Campus will open adjacent to HUBLIC. 2 to 5-year-olds (preschool) are eligible for admission to ISN Nakano Campus. It is anticipated that classrooms for other age groups will open eventually.
HUBLIC will continue to accept temporary care.

ISN Nakano Campus is preparing to open as FTTSJ: Finnish Teachers Training School in Japan, in partnership with one of the University from Finland. This unlicensed childcare facility (to be applied for) will not only introduce Finnish education but also provide “opportunities for adults to learn” in order to achieve ISN’s goal of “practicing children’s well-being”.

(Our ISN Nakano Campus page will be available soon)

With eight campuses in Nagano Prefecture, ISN is celebrating its 10th anniversary as an international school.
We feel that our knowledge, experience, and use of the International Baccalaureate system will help to promote Finnish education activities and create learning opportunities together with some comunity, which will help to realize children’s well-being. We are focusing on the initiative, love, and partnership of adults, as the ideal learning environment for children is greatly influenced by the way adults think and act.

Why in Nakano City..?
We were drawn to the facility as the complex allows us to be involved in supporting childcare while socializing with people in the community. The ability to develop the power to make one’s dreams come true = to realize the world that one desires. We chose to open our Nakano campus in April to match the timing of growth; the area around our campus is blessed with growing fruit, and beautiful natural terrain and is expected to provide an environment for spontaneous growth.

How does well-being affect the future of children..?
Well-being can be described and interpreted in many different ways, but ISN believes that the common denominator is the state of happiness of oneself and those around one’s self. The skills, knowledge, and methods to achieve happiness for oneself and those around us are cultivated in the daily process. A balanced state of mind, body, and spirit, with a broad perspective at a global level and multilingual activities in English, the official language of the world, is what we aim for in the present and future of our children.

Storytelling an HUBLIC

English Picture Book Storytime
English picture book reading sessions are held at HUBLIC facilities on the third Wednesday of every month.

Let’s have fun in English with the international staff of the ISN campus!
(Not available in August and March)

Age: 0 years old and up

ISN Nakano Contact: Takeda
TEL：0269-38-1197（HUBLIC内）

Visit to Finland

From 2023 to 2028, ISN plans to ① establish campus locations (English and world-class learning) in or near major cities in Nagano Prefecture, ② Sustainability: student-led fundraising, and ③ strengthen staff training. We will provide details of these plans through our website and other means.

　In this issue, we will report on our current efforts regarding ③ We have been working on this project for about 5 years through connections with the Embassy of Finland, Education Finland, and a psychology research professor at Nagoya University who was conducting a survey on the well-being of Finnish universities as well as Japanese children. Just before it was to be realized, Corona started and the project was suspended.

　In April 2023, the Nakano City Childcare Support Center HUBLIC (publicnakano.com) will begin operations, and the ISN childcare facility will open next to it in the following year. The possibility of operating this place in partnership with one of the Finland University was discussed online with the coordinator of the team and the president of Teacher Training School since around October 2022. I was invited to visit a University from Monday, February 6, 2023 to Friday, February 10, 2023 to see the schools in person.

Through this research, numerous interviews, meetings, and site visits, the direction of the project was clear: to start a “training school for adults that creates a state of understanding and teaching wellbeing” on the smallest scale and create a significant impact on the ISN school community in a short period of time. The details of the project will be announced in the near future. Details will be worked out with a team through monthly meetings. We will keep you updated on the progress of the project.