Santa Monica International Kids School

For all you parents looking for a preschool that suits your kids, we’re hoping to add a little something to aid in your search. Parents of children who attend various preschools on island have filled out a series of questions about the schools for the benefit of the rest of us. We welcome more than one voice on each school since everyone has a different experience, so please feel free to add in your two cents in the comments. 

CONTRIBUTED BY ALEXIS RUBENSTEIN

Name of the school:  Santa Monica International Kids School

Ages of Your Kid(s) in this School:  2.5

Where is this school located? A couple of streets back from the Sunabe Seawall -- 210-6 Hamagawa, Chatan-Cho, Nakagami-Gun, Okinawa, 904-0116

Contact Information: 098-936-3656 www.santamonicaokinawa.com

Admissions/Enrollment: 

What is the maximum number of students that your school has?  Not sure

 What is the current number of students?  Not sure

 Is enrollment open/year-round enrollment or per semester?  Year round

Does my child have to be potty-trained to attend?  I don't think they have to be potty trained until the 3 year old level

Can I bring my child in for a pre-enrollment visit? Yes

Days and hours:

What are the school’s hours?  9am-3pm are the school hours, and they also have before- and after-care 6am-6pm

Is the school on a Japanese or American schedule?  I believe American...they celebrate American holidays, and it goes year round

How flexible is the school with pickup and drop-off times?  I've never had a problem dropping off a bit early or late.  I believe there is a fee for late pickup but they're flexible if you call

Costs:

What are the registration fees?  5000 yen

What are the tuition fees? 40000/month for full time (we pay 30000 for part time)

If any, what are the assessment and school supplies fees? If you want them to supply lunch, it's 6000/month

Are any discounts offered for referrals, siblings, volunteering, working there, etc.?  Not sure

Is there a late-pickup fee? Yes

How and when does the school require payment (in yen, dollars, etc.)?  Yen

Parent Involvement and Interaction:

Does the school encourage spontaneous visits from parents? I don't know that it's encouraged, but they haven't complained on the occasions when I popped in early  to pick her up

How do you communicate with parents?  They send notes in her backpack, and talk to me at pick-up and drop-off times

Is there a daily report or other process for informing parents of what children did during the day (naps, BMs, snacks, etc.)?  No

Are there parent/teacher conferences? Yes, every January

Classroom Structure and Size:

How are the kids grouped? Mixed ages / grouped by age? By age.  They take kids from 6 weeks to 6 years old

What's the teacher-child ratio in each group?  Not sure

How many full-time teachers do you have? How many assistants?  Not sure

What is the school's educational philosophy? Is the school program developmentally-based or does it have an academic focus? When we started they labeled it Montessori, but it appears to be much more structured.  They begin with academics very early.  When my daughter was in the 2 year class, they were doing ABCs, counting, shapes, colors.  Now that she's in the 2.5 year class, they're starting basic math, Japanese words, and writing.  I believe the 3 year class even starts doing multiplication and reading.

Is there a playground for the children to play on? Yes

What do the children do on any given day? There is a different schedule for each age group, but in the 2-2.5 year classes, they have singing, dancing, playtime, and academic time.  It varies based on the day of the week

Are there extracurricular activities or field trips? They haven't had any field trips since I've been there, but they have about 4-5 performances a year centered around different holidays and they practice dances, etc. for those

How does the school discipline children? From what I've seen--taking away toys, stern voices, and a lot of structure

How does the school comfort children? When my daughter cried in the mornings when she first started there, they would immediately sweep her up and offer kind words and distractions.  Her teachers appear to be very kind and affectionate with the children, and she's always happy when I pick her up

Final Comments or Observations about the School:

The location (right outside of Kadena Gate 1) and the availability of part-time enrollment were huge deciding factors for us in choosing this school.  This information is just my experience with a 2-year old...people with different aged kids may have very different experiences with the school.  My daughter seems extremely happy there.  She talks excitedly about her day when we pick her up and seems to be learning a lot, even though she is only part time.  The facility is very new and clean and organized.  They feed the kids healthy lunches--a lot of fruits, veggies, and rice.  Our only concern is the high level of academic structure for the pre-school age range.  However, our daughter seems to be thriving there, so overall, we are very pleased with this school. :)

Comments

[ana Morgan]

I Agree to you Alexis, I am very Happy that I have my Daughter in Santa Monica International kids School,She been there almost 3 years, she started when she was 1.6 y.o and now she is still there.my daughter is now 4 years old. and she learned a lot in there she also love their extra Activities like Karate and Ballet. the benefit for me and my husband is, we always talk to the teacher every time we pick her up. aside to that they have Parent teachers conference twice a year that is January which we just had last week, and one is scheduled on June.we love Santa Monica their staff are Sweet and kind their
programs are well prepared like Christmas, Halloween,Thanksgiving,and they also have Garduation program they really impress us to their Programs Kids learn a lot in this school, as I experience to my child. if you have your child in Santa Monica can you share us also what can you say about this school. thanks

[N]

I would like to caution everyone AGAINST this school actually.

I agree that they have a lot of great programs, great academics, and such.

HOWEVER-they also employ corporal punishment for at least the 3 and 4 year old classrooms in the form of hitting the children on various body parts with rulers and possible blackboard pointer sticks.

My child seemed very happy there as well-but I just do not condone this at all. He attended from August 2009-Dec. 2009.

We pulled him out shortly after we found out about this-especially when the principal declared that they were just to busy to hold an immediate meeting with parents/teachers to discuss the issue.

At the same time my husband and I were making our complaint, we know of 2 other families that also had the same complaint.
Additionally, I know of one family that is well aware of this happening and is fine with it, and another whose child had just recently told her about the hitting.

I do not have any experience with any rooms younger than 3 years old, but one reason we decided to pull my older child was that there was NO WAY we felt comfortable with our younger child (currently 17 months) attending around age 2.

[Alexis]

Thank you for the information N! My daughter is about to turn 3 and we've been debating whether to keep her there...this will likely be the deciding factor. :( Just a note--I don't think they use this type of punishment in the younger rooms. I was told they use time out and isolation when I asked about my daughters 2 year class discipline. Thanks again!

[N]

Alexis,

Just to let you know, when I enrolled my child, I asked specific questions about the type of discipline-I asked about spanking, hitting, etc and was told they only do time out. However, I was obviously not told the truth.

I have recently heard from another source that the babies are placed in high chairs when they "misbehave." I have no idea on the validity of this-I just know I would not be comfortable with a younger child there either.

Oh. And the principal will definitely deny that this happens. She will tell you it's not in their policy-but "maybe they did it when she was gone, etc, etc, etc".

I got the distinct feeling when I complained that she was not at all surprised by what happened. :(

[K]

My daughter attended SM for 8mths. She was in the 1yr old room. I pulled her out due to the fact that I did a random visit and witnessed one of the teachers flicking a child on the back of the head when he would not lay down to sleep. I found that to be an inappropriate way to handle a 1yr old.

[J]

I had looked at the school in the fall when we first moved here. I was not at all impressed with the principal of the school and how she interacted with the children. It was obvious to me she was putting on her "good side" for me and yet I observed her scolding the children quietly for not respecting her. She literally shoved the children back into the classroom as they tried to escape and sternly said "Behave!" It seems she is more concerned with outward apperances instead of nuturing the children.

Granted, I came around lunch time so all of the classes I visited appeared caotic. However, I won't forget how this principal flipped between hot and cold and that left a lasting negative impression for me.

[M]

My daughter attended this school for about six months and I pulled her out in December after she told me about her teacher hitting the students with rulers when they misbehave. There is no doubt that my daughters learned A LOT while they were there, but I could not get over the physical discipline. My daughter was in the 4 year old class. I also had a daughter in the two year old class, but I do not think they were using rulers to hit the children in there. However, my two year old was not quite able to tell me for sure and the principal was gave me a lot of run around. I was told at one point that they never use physical discipline, but I was also told by my four year old's teacher that she does hit the students on the hands with a ruler.

I love how much my children learned while there and I wish we could find a school that has as much educational value without using hitting as a way to discipline the children.

[R]

I just want to say something to what N was saying that the principal refuse Parents Teachers coference I did not refuse the conference. what i was saying to you is we have schedule for conference on January not December because we are busy on the month of December. we do Conference twice a year and our schedule is already Fix.anyway thanks you for destroying our school but, what I can say is,we don't hit the kids with stick. Have you seen with your two Eyes?. we only discipline kids in rigth way but not corporal punishment.as what you are saying. thanks
I don't say your child is not telling the truth but sometimes kids tell lie.

[Kristine]

I visited this school when I was looking for daycare for my 1-yr-old son. I had no knowledge of any physical punishment or otherwise so I'm not going to comment on that. For the most part, the facilities were clean and spacious. However, it was larger than what I was interested in and the teacher to student ratio was greater than what I wanted. The overall deciding factor for me was how my son reacted to the teachers and environment. For me, I know almost immediately if he's comfortable or not. He is not usually shy and warms up to other children quickly. He is also quite active. So it did surprise me when he did not seem to ease up at all during our visit and was very clingy, unwilling to play with the other children. In fact, he actually got hurt by another child during our visit. Although the teacher reacted immediately (without physical punishment), I was just not comfortable with him there if he wasn't comfortable. Santa Monica might be great for some, but I would suggest taking your child with you on a visit to any childcare and staying a little while to see how they warm up to the environment. Luckily we found a daycare that he quickly warmed up to.

[Karen]

I would like to say that it is very unfortunate that there are a few dissatisfied parents with the operation of SM. I have a 4yr that attends SM and he simply loves it. I can see a lot of improvement academically as well as socially. I recently heard of these rumors about the teachers hitting the kids with a ruler, and I investigated in my own way and found this not to be true. But let's face it, we can't let one rotten apple ruin the entire basket. I'm paying for my child to receive an education!! If he's trying his best to adjust and learn , why should it be hindered by a kid who is misbehavin??
There are NO perfect schools and I have learned though, that Montessouri schools aren't for all kids, because of the way they are structured. But seriously, kids will get harder punches in life than a click from a ruler even if so.

Great Job Santa Monica!!!

[Kristin]

There seems to be a lot of talk about this Santa Monica school. I myself do have any children in preschool. However, a couple of days ago Okinawa Hai published a write-up by a preschool educator on criteria for choosing a preschool. She seemed to know her stuff and offered some good advice. One piece of advice she offered was not to rely solely on word-of-mouth when choosing a preschool. Visit the school and see if it feels like the place for your child.

And Karen, I'm glad that you trust the teachers at SM and are happy with your experience there. HOWEVER, hitting a child is never right- Even if you think they are a "rotten apple" which is a horrendous way to label any child. How dreadful that you would suggest some children are more worthy of love and understanding than other children. You have no idea what some kids have to endure in life that could make them act like "rotten apples". How sad!

[Megan White]

I had my child at this school too and pulled her out upon finding nice bruises on her back from the hitting she received for not sitting down. She is 2 years old and this was her first school experience. I spoke to legal on the base, Camp Foster and was basically told out in town you are on your own since this is not considered child abuse off base. I would highly discourage anyone from having their child attend school here. Maybe the next parent will have something much worse than what us on this message board have had happen.

[N]

@ Megan-
I am so sorry to hear of this! I had hoped that anything going on was not too terrible. I did not like hands being smacked by rulers/pointer sticks, or some of the verbal chastisement, but that just doesn't seem nearly as bad as your situation.

I have heard that it is actually illegal in Japan to use corporal punishment, so you may want to look further into legal complaints. I honestly do not know the rules for sure though.

My husband and I decided against trying to pursue this legally due to two reasons-

1. Our child was not actually one of the children hit, as far as I can ascertain. Even so, I felt uncomfortable with him in an environment where he was even exposed to corporal punishment.

2. I, being completely unaware of how legal complaints, etc work with Japanese law did not wish to get entangled in another countries legal system, considering I found no evidence of gross abuse or maltreatment. Had I found something like bruises on my child, I would probably have reconsidered my stance.

I did however speak to Resource and Referral on Kadena AB about Santa Monica and my experiences there. Sadly, they were not surprised-I have a feeling they hear a lot of bad things about various places off-base.

Lastly, if other parents are interested, I would be interested in trying to persuade the bases to set up some sort of complaint systems that could be accessed by parents when trying to choose their schools.

I certainly hope this hasn't negatively colored your daughter's thoughts on school. :(

[ana morgan]

You are right Karen,
I realized too that kids needs to be discipline once in a while, specially if they misbehave at all times.how can the Teacher teach the kids if one of the kids keep bothering. so I think kids needs to be discipline in school because I know some "teachers" also know their limitations in giving punishment. because I also experienced to teach in state so, if one or two kids don't behave it's really hard to keep the kids on your attention they are bothered to those who don't behaved. I know we love our kids but if they need to be discipline I accept it.so my kids can learn. that is why I am paying in oredr that my child learn. so how can a child learn if he/she don't behave as well in the class. even bother other kids. what Santa Monica is doing is Accepted to me unless my child don't tell me that she is hit all times. and I should also know the reason for that .Hope you understand my side and hope some parents also need to compare kinds of discipline to kids

[Experienced Preschool Teacher]

Ana-
You are very, very mistaken. I worry about any parent who thinks it's okay for someone outside of the family, such as a teacher or care provider, to hit their child. Hitting a preschooler is never okay, even if they are misbehaving. You never know why a child is acting out. Perhaps there is a larger problem going on that the preschool teacher cannot see. A child could have mild autism that has been undiagnosed or is having difficulty at home- or another serious problem for that matter. Young children don't act up for the pure joy of being bad. There are other avenues besides hitting a child. This is completely unacceptable. I am shocked to read that any person would condone corporal punishment at the preschool level. These people obviously don't know much about preschoolers.

[ana morgan]

yes I agree that some kids misbehave because of some reason but,there are some kids that how much you talk to them in good way they still don't listen, they must be discipline and I am sad to say that Parents should also cooperate to discipline their own kids and don't tolerate their kids if they don't listen and should also give attention to our kids needs so our child won't be put in trouble.
I don't think that Santa Monica condone corporal punishment because I try to investigate my own child and she said she never had this punishment.
maybe some parents just too protective to their children. yes I understand that we love our kids but if they did something wrong, they must be correct.

[Nicole]

I had a similar experience happen at Santa Monica. My daughter was in the 3 year old class and she came home and told me that the teacher was doing "slappy face" to the children when they weren't listening. She also told me that the teacher hit 3 of the children ( she named names) on the back of the head for not sitting when they were told. I asked both the teacher and the director and I was pretty much given the run around, she told me all they do is Time out ( which is perfectly fine with me b/c kids do need some sort of punishment for actions requiring them. NOT HITTING) So now reading all of this I am concerned that I took a teacher/ principals word over my daughter. I'm having a really hard time deciding whether or not to pull her out. Yes she is learning a great amount of information but if in fact this abuse is happening to the children something needs to happen to the school. I don't care whether or not they are "off-base". ( And now since I've confronted them it seems to me that they go out of their way to put on a "show" for me.) And I think the ratio of children to teachers is a little much. When I first signed up they told me that the ratio was 1 teacher to every 10 kids and there were to be only 20 ( at the most) per class. Now my daughter has 23 kids in her class and most of the time it's with only 1 teacher. Now I am truly starting to think they are there for the money.

[Nicole]

@ Ana Morgan
Yes I do agree that when a child acts up they need to be punished. Santa Monica tell parents that they use time out, which is totally fine with me. BUT once you lay a finger/ ruler/ pointer on a child and you do not have the authority to and that child is not your child that's when you run into problems. A parent should be the only person if anybody spanking or giving any kind of "physical" punishment. And I do believe that if this is truly happening Santa Monica will be "blackballed" by the parents of the children. They need to make sure the teachers know what punishment is exceptable and what has been told to the parents!

[ana morgan]

Nicole,
I don't think Santa Monica do spanking, yes when my daughter was there I even tell them to do something to my girl because even me either have hard time to my child so I tell them to do punishment. beacuse I know my child bother many kids.. and I want my daughter to be discipline too. specially when a child is not listening so I accept yes the ratio is more than to what they said, but the principal explain to me that they can do until 22 specially when some kids are ready to move to the other room.I know they have a lot of kids but I admire how they teach and handle the kids.
even there are more kids in the class they can still teach the kids well. as my kids go she learn a much since she is there.
anyway it is your choice where to put your child but we can't be sure that our kids are also safe to other school. maybe some off base school do more to what Santa Monica is doing.in my opinion Santa MOnica knows their limitations because they are one of the best school in Okinawa they teach good, clean and beautiful building.
anyway, it's your choice.

[ana morgan]

I talk to one of the teacher there last week and I heard that one of the parents who withdraw her child there and put her child to other school . after a month the parents of the child came back to ask if her child can go back to Santa Monica because her child didn't want the school she moved. so the parents have to return her child in Santa Monica because the child want Santa Monica. I think this is the child they where saying that hit by ruler.
I just wonder why the parents said that her child was hit with ruler and again put her child back to Santa MOnica? I think that some people just want to make some story but it depends on us parents to choose school for our kids. we should also consider some punishment.and understand our child behavior.

[ana morgan]

Nicole
I disagree that They only have one teacher in one class each class have always 2 taechers and even have extra teacher to help them if it's needed. I know they have 18 Teachers in Santa MOnica.

[Nicole]

Ana,
Yes I'm sure there are other schools on the island that do punish children by using spanking or hitting with the ruler. And if you want someone else to disipline your daughter in this way that's your choice. You say that they know their "limitaions"? Well I'm not comfortable with that! When there are people on this forum saying that their child is coming home with bruises, yep sure sounds like limitations are known. That's fine if you want the teachers to punish your child by spanking or whatever it is that you have told them to do BUT no one better lay a finger on my child! That is for a parent to do. Your child is there to have an education not to learn to fear adults that are supposed to be their role models.

[PJ]

Is this a Catholic school? Catholic schools have a long history of abusing children & denying it. To hit 1 year olds in the head is down right scary and can cause brain damage! This is really serious.

[Nicole]

PJ
No this is not a Catholic School. It's montessori. When I ask the pricipal of the school and the teachers they deny it. But I don't understand where many children are complaining to parents about these situations and nothing is being done to look into it.

[Experienced Preschool Teacher]

Parents: There is a big difference between "discipline" and "punishment". Unfortunately, these two terms have come to be used synonomously. Discipline is a means of maintaining order in a classroom. The word punishment comes from the latin term "punire" which literally means 'to cause pain'. Schools, especially preschools, should use discipline and NOT punishment to keep order in the classroom.

The main benefit of sending your child to preschool is socialization. Sure your student may be learning to read and write a bit and do a little bit of math but, despite what some parents may think, learning these subjects in preschool is just a perk and doesn't usually make much of a difference in the long run. Studies have shown that children of at least average intelligence who don't go to preschool at all are no worse off academically than children who attend preschool before beginning kindergarten. I taught several years of kindergarten and found that kids who started off the year academically behind their peers almost always finished at or above grade level, nand those who were still lagging behind typically had underlying learning disabilities. That being said, allow me to reiterate the point that preschool is most valuable for socializing your child and preparing them for negotiating social situations when it comes time for them to begin school. What does it teach children about social structures if a school is hitting children for doing something wrong? This is detrimental to both the child being hit and the onlooking children. Think about it.

I have been teaching for years at all grade levels but I've spent the majority of my life teaching early childhood. I'm not saying that I believe Santa Monica school is using corporal punishment on students because I have no personal proof that says they are. However, I find it very disheartening that parents would ever justify hitting a preschooler, whether the preschooler is your child or somebody else's. Yelling at children and physical abuse are definite signs that the provider is out of control.

[Suzy]

Oh my goodness. I'm absolutely sickened by reading about the issue of pure abuse taking place at this school! As the mother of a pre-schooler and the daughter of two 20+ year educators, I'm horrified by the thought of any parent actually believing that corporal punishment is acceptable! If you're not familiar with the term, please google it and you will see that they are indeed partaking in this practice if they are hitting children! This doesn't take place in the US (as it's ILLEGAL), it doesn't take place in the DOD schools. Why on earth are parents allowing it to take place here? I don't care if the school is offbase or on. It's not acceptable period! If it is happening, the parents of the children of this school have the responsibility of pulling their children and finding an alternative SAFE,learing environment for their children. What a shame. The DOD needs to step in if this is indeed happening and put them on the black list. Abuse is abuse, period.