, also known as The Greenwich Japanese School (GJS), is a Japanese elementary and junior high school,"Japanese School In U.S. 'Relaxed'". The New York Times News Service at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Tuesday December 20, 1983. 6C. Retrieved from Google News (52 of 76) on January 9, 2012. located in Riverside, Greenwich, Connecticut, near New York City.
As of 1992 the Ministry of Education of Japan funds the school,. (Archive) Bloomberg Businessweek. January 27, 1992. Retrieved on January 9, 2012. which is one of the two Japanese day schools of the Japanese Educational Institute of New York (JEI; ニューヨーク日本人教育審議会 Nyūyōku Nihonjin Kyōiku Shingi Kai), a nonprofit organization which also operates two Japanese weekend schools in the New York City area."学校案内" (Archive). Japanese Educational Institute of New York (ニューヨーク日本人教育審議会). Retrieved on April 15, 2015. The names of the weekend schools as stated on the pages should be "The Japanese Weekend School of New York" and "The Japanese Weekend School of New Jersey" - note that the Japanese names between the day and weekend schools are different. Before 1991 the Japanese School of New York was located in Queens, New York City, and for one year it was located in Yonkers, New York.
History On April 25, 1975,"The Greenwich Japanese School". (Outline) () The Japanese School of New York. February 28, 2001. Retrieved on July 12, 2013. a group of Japanese parents,Chamoff, Lisa. "Greenwich Japanese School celebrates its 35th anniversary ." Greenwich Time. Thursday September 2, 2010. Retrieved on January 9, 2012. under the Japanese Educational Institute of New York, founded the school. The school, which opened on September 2, 1975 in Queens, New York City,Lyman, Rick. "The Japanese Way in a Quiet New York School, 463 Children of Japan's Corporate Elite Get a Proper Education" (Archive). The Philadelphia Inquirer. April 22, 1988. C01 Features Daily Magazine. Retrieved on January 9, 2012. Profile page was New York City's first Japanese language day school.The Encyclopedia of New York City Second Edition. Yale University Press, 2nd Edition. Fresh Meadows (page # not stated). Retrieved from Google Books on January 9, 2012. , . The school was established because several Japanese parents were concerned with their children's education in the U.S., and all parties at the school emphasized re-integration into the Japanese educational system when the students return to their home countries.Kunieda, p. 136.
Due to an increasing student population, the school moved to a new location in Queens in December 1980. On August 18, 1991, the school moved to Yonkers in Westchester County, New York."本校の歩み" (). The Japanese School of New York. Retrieved on January 10, 2012. "1975.9.2. Jamaica Queensにて「ニューヨーク日本人学校」開校。" and "1980.12.22 Queens Flushing校に移転。" and "1991.8.18. Westchester Yonkers校へ移転。" and "1992.9.1 Connecticut Greenwich校へ移転。 授業開始。" and "1992． 4． 1 New Jersey分校開校。1年～4年 各1学級設置。" and "1999． 4． 1 New Jersey分校独立。" The school used the ex-Walt Whitman Junior High School on a temporary basis until the Greenwich facility was ready. In exchange, the JEI paid for renovations of the building.
After one year in Yonkers, the school moved to Connecticut. On September 1, 1992, classes began at its first location in Greenwich. The Greenwich property was the former Daycroft School, acquired by the JEI in 1989. The JEI had paid $9,800,000 to purchase it. The JEI decided to preserve the historic buildings. Groups of area residents had initially opposed the relocation of the Japanese school, and there were disputes over the motivations of the groups. Because Daycroft had unknowingly violated town code by selling land and having too high of a building/land ratio, the Japanese school faced a possibility of demolishing historic buildings, but ultimately did not do so after an agreement with the town government was made.
Grades 1 through 3 were added in 1996, allowing the school to have a continuous grades 1-9 education program. Since the move, the school had been called the "Greenwich Japanese School" in English, while among the Japanese, it is still known as "The Japanese School of New York". In 1994, the administrators had plans to admit American students. That year, the school had 420 students. As of 1994 80% of those students were on temporary stays in the United States of five or fewer years. As of that year, the ratio of boys to girls was almost 3 to 1.Park, Andrew. "The ABCs of Asian schools." Transpacific, Transpacific Media, Inc.. 9.4 (June 1994): p46+. Available on General OneFile, Gale Group, Document ID: GALE|A15239827
On April 1, 1992, the school opened a branch campus in New Jersey with grades 1 through to 4. On April 1, 1999, the New Jersey campus became its own institution, the New Jersey Japanese School.
By 2002, due to a decrease of Japanese families in Westchester County, the school's population decreased. The school had concerns about remaining financially solvent due to fewer tuition dollars collected.Zhao, Yilu. "In Business – Japanese Presence Shrinks." The New York Times. December 8, 2002. 3. Retrieved on January 9, 2012.
In 2010 the school celebrated its 35th anniversary.
In 2022 the school moved to its current location in Riverside. The Carmel Academy, which owned the previous Greenwich site, had closed its school facility, and the Brunswick School, which was scheduled to be the new owner, planned to convert the former Greenwich site into housing for employees.
Campus The current campus is located in the Riverside census-designated place, in Greenwich, Connecticut. It was previously used as the Father Vincent J. O'Connor Center, of the St. Catherine of Siena Church.
The previous Greenwich campus was in the Greenwich census-designated place."アクセスマップ ." The Japanese School of New York. Retrieved on January 10, 2012. "住所：15 The Ridgeway, Greenwich, CT. 06831 U.S.A." and "※本校の正式住所は，上記の通りですが，お越しの際は 270 Lake Avenue, Greenwich, CT. 06830 側（Main Gate）より，お入りください。" This campus, the former Rosemary Hall school for girls, had of space and over 15 buildings.Berger, Joseph. "Connecticut Journal – A Kinder, Gentler, More Kosher Greenwich". The New York Times. June 18, 2006. Retrieved on January 9, 2012. The campus, situated along Lake Avenue, shared its facilities with the Carmel Academy (formerly the Westchester Fairfield Hebrew Academy). The campus includes the St. Bedes Chapel."Weddings/Celebrations – Carol Pursley, Donald McGuire". The New York Times. November 30, 2003.
Originally it was located at 187-90 Grand Central Parkway.Kulers, Brian G. "Queens Neighborhoods – Queens Closeup – East Meets West in School For Japanese in America". Newsday. November 12, 1986. News, Start Page 31. Retrieved on January 9, 2012. "The Fresh Meadows school at 196-25 Peck Ave.,[...]" - Clipping at Newspapers.com. in Jamaica Estates, Queens,Buckley, Tom. "Pride and Pleasure Evident Beneath Usual Restraint; Japanese Here Prepare for Imperial Visit". The New York Times. September 23, 1975. Page 39. Retrieved on January 9, 2012. "Students from the Japanese School of New York in Jamaica Estates[...]" near Jamaica. On December 22, 1980, The first location was the former Parkway School Building, purchased by the Japanese school.The Long Island Historical Journal, Volumes 5-6. Department of History, State University of New York at Stony Brook, 1992. 82. Retrieved from Google Books on January 10, 2012.
It moved to 196-25 Peck Avenue in Fresh Meadows, Queens, near Flushing. The second Queens location was the former P.S. 179,Pomfret, John. "Old city school becomes second home for Japanese kids". Associated Press at The Telegraph (Nashua, New Hampshire). Thursday September 10, 1987. 30. Retrieved from Google News (30 of 68) on January 9, 2012. which the school leased from the New York City Board of Education. Rick Lyman of the Philadelphia Inquirer said in 1988 that the red brick building had been covered in graffiti. The school moved to Yonkers on August 18, 1991, and to Greenwich on September 1, 1992.
By the 2000s, several buildings in the Greenwich campus were vacant due to the decreased student population. In 2006 the Westchester Fairfield Hebrew Academy (which later became Carmel Academy) purchased the Rosemary Hall campus from the Japanese Education Alliance for $20 million,Hagey, Keach. "Jewish School Gains Its Own Place". Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel. September 18, 2006. 6A. Retrieved on January 9, 2012. - Clipping from Newspapers.com. and classes for that school began there in September 2006. The Japanese school classes remained on the Rosemary Hall campus; the Hebrew school leased several buildings on the campus to the Japanese school for up to eight years. The classes of each school are held in separate buildings, while both schools share the fieldstone gymnasium.
In 2005 an arson incident occurred on the school campus. An office building was destroyed as a result of the arson.Borsuk, Ken. "At Greenwich Japanese School Arson destroys building". Greenwich Post. February 24, 2005. 1A, continued on 10A. Retrieved on January 10, 2012. The building had a kitchen and two offices on the first floor, and a one bedroom apartment, which was not occupied at the time of the fire, on the second floor. The Japanese Educational Institute of New York occupied the building.Falco, Christopher. "Arson Cause of School Blaze". Greenwich Citizen. February 25, 2005. Local/Regional Section. Retrieved on January 10, 2012.
Curriculum The school uses the Japanese educational system curriculum. As of 1983, aspects of the Japanese curriculum offered at the school included art, English, Japanese, music, physical education, and social studies. In addition to the Japanese curriculum, students also take American social studies and extra English lessons. In 2021, the school continued having a similar curriculum with both English and Japanese classes.
The total amount of English instruction per week per student, as of 1988, was five hours per week, while each student took one hour of American social studies instruction per week. The school does not have electives. As of 1987 it offered a "morals" class which teaches children how to work in groups and following the mores of Japanese society. As of 2002, with the exception of English, all classes were taught in the Japanese language.
In 1987 Torao Endo, the principal, said that in this school students are encouraged to volunteer their own answers to questions and to directly say what they think, in keeping with American culture; Endo said that such behaviors are discouraged in Japanese schools.
In 1986 the school had 16 American teachers; these teachers give English and American social studies classes. As of 1986 the school arranges one day exchanges with local American schools so that the students attending The Japanese School of New York do not become too isolated from the United States.
As of 1988 the school was certified by the New York state government, so graduates are eligible to attend American high schools.
Student body the students attending the school tended to be the children of bankers, businesspeople, and diplomats. most students were in the United States due to parents being sojourners due to employment reasons.