Message from the Principals 6/13/2025

School Account
6月13日
読了時間: 5分

Today's Topics:

1: Important Reminders

2: House Points

3: Learning Highlights!

Before we dig into the content, I just wanted to share a special message with our school community. This has been a wonderful year and we are honored that you have been a part of this learning journey. The school has consistently grown (from 38 students to the current 200!) since Mr. Brian and I joined as Principals and we are deeply appreciative of all the support from this community. If you take a look through the many blog posts you can see the incredible journey of learning and growth. Thank you to all of our amazing teachers that work so hard to provide rigorous challenges, projects, activities, and engaging learning. We face so many challenges as a school, but together, we place our focus first and foremost on the students' learning and I believe it shows.

Thank you to all of our support staff as well!

This will be the last Blog post for this school year. I look forward to seeing you all in August for the new school year! -Mr. Brandon

1: Important Reminders

Last day of school: June 19 (Dismissal at 13:00, Buses depart at 13:10)
Parent Teacher Conference: June 20
- Register HERE.
- Please remember to select June 20th and the correct teacher!
Summer Break: June 23-July 4
Summer School Program: July 7-Aug 1.
2025-26 Parent Orientation: Aug 8
First day of school: Aug 11

2: House Points

Dragon - 5378

Hydra - 4954

Basilisk - 4874

Phoenix - 4861

We have some final points to add next week and the winning house will be announced in the assembly to all students!

3: Learning Highlights!

Student Council and the Friends of Hope hosted our 2nd Talent show last week on June 6th.

Students from grade 2 to high school presented their talents in various ways, from dances, gymnastics, drums, singing, and more! It was a wonderful opportunity for students to challenge themselves as students practiced in their own time to prepare to perform in front of the whole school.

This was a fun event that allowed everyone to enjoy the various skills and talents of our students throughout the school.

Prep students brought their own toys for the research activity. They learned about push and pull by applying force to make their toys work or move. The students also gave a lot of examples of objects that requires pulling and pushing.

In the Grade 1 IPC lessons students were learning about the history of aviation,

with special focus on the wright brother and their contributions to flight. As part of their exciting unit the students are creating replicas of different airplanes from the past.

In ELA, the G2 has been working on making a book trailer for the past few days. This was their second attempt at editing a video and you can see how well they've done here!

The G2 students also prepared for the exit point on their final unit "Inventions that changed the world" (taking place today!)

The final IPC unit for Grade 3 this year was "Shake It!" This unit is linked to the three states of matter - solid, liquid and gas. The students were learning about the scientific phenomena of separating and attracting molecules through their pre-existing knowledge and understanding of dairy products - milk, cream, butter, whipped cream, milkshakes, ice cream and cheese. The Exit Point was an opportunity for the students explain what they've learnt about how the science of solids, liquids and gas applies to milk and other dairy products. The core of it all is the separation and attraction of molecules.

For their IPC unit, "Being a Historian," the Grade 4 class built a chariot using recyclable materials that can be driven by a Sphero Bolt. They explored the history of Rome, learning how chariots were utilized not only in the military but also in everyday life. They also dived deep into research for their upcoming presentations!

For our final unit, “Here and Now, There and Then”, the Grade 5 learners did wonderfully in their individual projects where they had to host a heritage booth celebrating one or more cultures of choice. They were also challenged to compare their culture to another one, exploring the similarities and differences. At their booths, you would have seen them apply their skills in analysing and interpreting historical primary and secondary sources, images, timelines, cultural dress, items and even food. I am very proud of the class as they took on the opportunity to also teach others how to be respectful and empathetic towards other cultures and religions, while advocating for diversity. Wonderful end to the Grade 5 year!

Grade 6 Exit Point is focused on "Consequences". The students created posters and models to display and explain consequences of poaching, the battle of Okinawa, the bombing of Hiroshima, noise pollution, marine pollution, and more!

The Grade 7s had their final exit point for their unit "Curiosity", their big idea was how the desire to know more drives exploration and aspiration. They put this in use by constantly being curious and asking questions and being eager to find out more information about topic they are interested in. For their exit points they presented topics they were interested in, that would probe other peoples interests, and would make other people curious. We had a range of interesting topics from magic, to food and senses, music, different genders and make up, family history, the history of Rubiks Cubes and mystery boxes all these topics really showcased the level of curiosity the grade 7s had and they did an outstanding job in connecting all these different topics to their unit and how they understood it

This week, 8th Grade students worked hard in building their own businesses as part of the Entrepreneurship Unit, with the Big Idea: “The ability to make money through the development of products and situations appropriate to different markets requires the application of certain skills.”

Throughout the unit, students reflected on knowledge and skills from multiple subjects, including the Sustainable Economic Model, Assembly line concepts, Art and Design, and Language Arts, all of which are applied during the exit point activity. The class then developed and created a company called The Eco Project, a student-led business initiative with a focus on sustainability and creativity that relates to the unit's Big Idea of making money based on the application of different skills learned from different subjects.

The Eco Project features three exciting branches:

Eco Island Café: Served up delicious waffles and chicken, this pop-up café combines cooking and design creativity.
Can Grow: Offering a unique art experience, visitors can paint on recycled PET bottles, transforming waste into personalized works of art.
Second Life: A mini-shop selling repurposed materials, showcasing how everyday items can be given a new lease on life.

Each business reflected the students' innovative thinking, teamwork, and commitment to making a positive impact on their community and the environment. All of these are connected to the Big Idea, and they earned 40,000 Yen as revenue that will be donated to Chura-mura Okinawa Coastal Conservation Agency to further support our local community.