About JCIS

JCIS exists to promote, support and sustain quality English medium schools serving the international community in Japan through an educational framework which is international in both style and substance.

The Japan Council of International Schools (JCIS) is a non-profit General Incorporated Association (ippan shadan hōjin) that includes thirty international schools operating in Japan. Although they collaborate and share common values, each school exists completely independently of the others.

Schools applying for membership to JCIS must meet a number of important criteria including stability, continuity, professionalism and an explicit commitment to internationalism. Education must be provided in English. Beyond that, however, there are no requirements concerning curriculum, ethos or ownership. Some schools offer programs of the International Baccalaureate Organization. Others offer an education rooted to a greater or lesser degree in a national curriculum. Some schools offer a full ‘Pre-K to Grade 12’ education while others specialize on certain age groups. The smallest JCIS member school has just over 120 students and the largest has more than 1,700.

The heads of member schools serve as JCIS Trustees. They meet twice a year at member schools – usually in October in the Tokyo region and in April elsewhere in Japan. Day to day governance is vested in the JCIS Board of Directors, which consists of four Executive Directors and up to five additional Directors elected from among the Trustees at the General Meeting of Members, plus the Chief Operating Officer, who serves as an ex-officio member of the Board without voting rights. An Auditor is also appointed at the General Meeting of Members. The Board of Directors is responsible for directing, protecting and enabling the operations of JCIS and is accountable to the General Meeting of Members.

JCIS organizes a variety of professional learning opportunities for member school heads and other staff, including the annual JCIS Leadership Conference for senior and middle leaders, as well as targeted online and in-person workshops with outside consultants in focus areas such as child protection/safeguarding, inclusion, and legal and regulatory issues. On a day-to-day basis, heads of JCIS schools communicate with each other regarding matters of common interest, such as changes in employment legislation, appropriate precautions to take against health emergencies, experience (good and bad) of service providers, and so on. JCIS has also proved to be an invaluable network during times of crisis, such as the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011 and the COVID 19 pandemic.

JCIS is a collegial and collaborative organization that exists for the betterment of all international schools in Japan to the benefit of the parents who choose them and the children who attend them.

2025-26 JCIS Board of Directors

Chair: Matthew Parr – Nagoya International School

Vice-Chair:: James Moore – Montessori School of Tokyo

Treasurer: Annette Levy – Saint Maur International School

Communications: Megan Roe – Okinawa Christian School International

Director: David Mawhinney – Christian Academy in Japan

Director: Kurt Mecklem – Osaka International School of Kwansei Gakuin

Director: Karen O’Neill – Nishimachi International School

Director: Colette Rogers – Seisen International School

Director: Matt Topliss – Kyoto International School