Katoh Kindergarten was founded in 1967 and is a Monbukagakkusho accredited private kindergarten accepting children for an April start who have had their third birthday by April 1st of the Japanese academic year.

The kindergarten immersion program started in 1994 and currently comprises 6 classes of about 25 children each. Each class has both a native Japanese and native English speaking teacher. The teachers work as a team to consider the development of the whole child.

Although they are in an immersion English program, we feel it is important for our children to obtain a full range of rich experiences. The immersion classes are therefore fully integrated into all whole school events such as Sports Day and our year end “Kobato Concert”. This is an opportunity for the immersion class children to interact with their peers and teachers in our regular Japanese program while still maintaining the English immersion experience.

Katoh Kindergarten

The normal kindergarten day begins at 10am and ends at 2pm. There is a staggered morning arrival time (0830-1000) and afternoon departure time (1400-1440). This is primarily to accommodate our 10 different bus routes that are run using our own 5 buses.

We also offer an after school program, “Panda,” for working parents and currently are able to offer after school soccer, rhythmic gymnastics and violin classes to our older children.