December Highlights

December Highlights

Hello,

Thank you for participating in the Asahi Festival on Sunday. It was a fun day, with beautiful weather, and the students sang well.  Our high school students did a fantastic job at the Bingo stall, too.  All high school students must volunteer 50 hours of service to the community, and this was a way for our students to help the Asahi community.

The last month of the year is approaching, and there is a buzz of busy learning and preparations for upcoming activities.

Student-Led Parent & Teacher Meetings

This Friday, November 28, classes will be cancelled to have the annual student-led conferences. Please arrive on time, as the meetings are back-to-back. 

NLIS does one student-led conference a year. This is a great learning experience for the children, and this opportunity helps them feel more responsible for their work. Parents often comment that they are impressed with their children's presentation. Another plus for parents who don't speak English is that students can provide information in either English or Japanese.

Christmas Market

NLIS is planning another Christmas Market this year! We will start taking donations on December 8.  We ask parents and grandparents to donate gently used or handmade items to the school. Toys, games, electronic appliances, blankets, clothes, jewelry, and books are appreciated!   All proceeds will go toward the new building for the secondary students.  We have run out of classrooms and are in dire need of more! We are working hard as I write this to purchase a building in Shiobe. See the picture below.  Please give your donated goods to your child or bring them to your child's teacher.  We do not have a spare room at this time, so the items will remain in the classrooms until we can move them to the gym.

Shiobe Building

The Christmas Market will be held all day on December 16 to 18, Tuesday through Thursday, December 17 & 18, and the half day on December 19.  The student council will help with collecting and changing money. There will also be a donation box at the Christmas Market. If any of you have been thinking about donating to NLIS, we will gratefully accept any amount, small or large. There are a lot of needs – tables, chairs, bookcases, TV monitors, cabinets, PE goods, science goods, home economic goods – pots, pans, microwave, refrigerator, dishes, bowls, spoons, knives, forks, hot water heater, curtains, air conditioners (there are none in this building), cleaning goods, trash cans, clocks, etc.

Christmas Party date change

A few students must leave early and cannot attend school on December 19 for the last half-day. Therefore, we will have the party on Thursday, December 18, in the afternoon.  We will still have a half-day on Friday, December 19. We will have a library, cleaning, and some fun activities to finish the 2025 year on December 19.

Winter break is between December 20 and January 7.  School will start back on Thursday, January 8. We will have regular school hours.

School Uniforms

The junior high and high school students are thrilled with their selection of school uniforms. They have wanted to have a uniform for a while, but the expense put me off.  We have found a great solution with Uniqlo. The students decided on navy blazers and trousers for a very reasonable price of 11,000 yen. The girls can also choose a plaid skirt (the skirt has not been chosen yet), a tie for the boys, and a bow tie for the girls from Amazon for 600 yen, and a white shirt. Badges must be worn on the blazers at all times.

The elementary students must wear the school t-shirt every day. In the winter, they will also wear a sweater with their school badge on it. Please let me know what colors you prefer. I can order most t-shirt colors, but if there are only a few in specific colors, the price is much higher. I want to keep the colors to a minimum to keep the cost low. So far, we have blue, black, and white.

The Western Association of Schools and Colleges, our accrediting body, strongly recommended that we have uniforms. They said it strengthens school identity, reduces socioeconomic disparities, enhances focus, and that the uniforms serve as an advertisement to the community that there is an excellent school in Yamanashi called New Life International School. I hope you will support this decision.

If you have any questions, please ask your child's teacher, the staff, or me anytime.

Warmly,

Suzy Brown