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Admissions Policy

St. Mary’s International School serves the educational needs of the international and globally-minded community of Tokyo, Japan. St. Mary’s is an all-boys Catholic international school that embraces and celebrates diversity and therefore does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, sexual orientation, religion, or national and ethnic origin in our admission policies, educational policies, scholarships, and other school-administered programs.

To enroll, applicants and parents or guardians are expected to support our mission, vision and belief statements, and demonstrate the potential to succeed within our English-based curriculum. Parents or guardians must also demonstrate a willingness to work in partnership with the school in support of their son’s learning and development.

While the admissions process at St. Mary’s is guided by an inclusive philosophy, the needs of each applicant are considered based on the ability of the school to deliver equitable access to all students. This includes consideration of the applicant’s readiness to access the curriculum, the extent to which individualized support may be necessary, and the applicant’s family’s alignment to the mission, vision and belief statements of the school.

The final decision to accept or deny an applicant for admission rests solely with the school’s administration. Further, the school is not obligated to release admission test results to applicants, nor to elaborate beyond the initial written communication in the event applicants are unsuccessful in gaining admission. Also, given the fact that our admissions committee reviews all pertinent documents prior to making a final decision, we do not offer re-tests or re-considerations for that school year.

Parents/guardians must fully complete the application process to be considered for admission, including submission of all required documents, and agree to the terms and conditions listed under the Parent Enrollment Agreement which indicates their understanding of and agreement with the expectations of families at St. Mary’s. Applicants who are offered a place at St. Mary’s will be invited to proceed to registration and enrollment provided that all financial obligations are met.

Application Deadlines

St. Mary’s accepts applications for enrollment at all times of the year (depending on seat availability) with the following exceptions:

  • Applications for RP are not accepted for enrollment later than the beginning of the second semester in January.
  • Applications are not accepted for students intending to enroll in grade 12. To complete the IB Diploma Program, high school students must enroll no later than the beginning of grade 11 and must complete their last two full years at St. Mary’s.

Grade Placement

Students are placed with their age level peers and must be the appropriate age for the given grade level by September 1. St. Mary’s reserves the right to review a student’s academic, social, and emotional readiness to ensure appropriate placement at any time. Note: Aside from the age requirement, the applicant must have successfully completed a full year of the prior grade to the one they hope to enter.

For all years, the student must reach the minimum age requirement by September 1st.

Grade Age
RP 5
1 6
2 7
3 8
4 9
5 10
6 11
7 12
8 13
9 14
10 15
11 16

Waitlist

When a given grade level is full, students may be waitlisted. Waitlisted students are expected to continue their education while on the waitlist and not simply wait at home hoping for a seat to become available. Waitlisted students will be considered for enrollment when a seat opens at their specific grade level. The waitlisted status is valid only until the designated date as set forth by Admissions.

Please note that waitlisted students are not admitted based on a first come, first served basis but rather based upon their individual screening results.

Applicant Prerequisites

The applicant:

  • is an English speaking student from an accredited school in which English is the medium of instruction;
  • provides two years of school records with no indication of academic concerns or current standardized testing in the average to above average range;
  • has received no special educational services;
  • has submitted all required documents;
  • has paid the application fee

Students accepted under the terms of Provisional Acceptance are officially admitted in their class/grade for that school year. Enrollment after their first year will depend on their academic performance. In the case that Provisional Acceptance is not granted, both the Application Fee and Registration Fee are non-refundable.

English Language Support (ESL/EAL)

Please enquire about our support for students who are ESL/EAL.

Note: Due to the nature of the IB Diploma Program, there is no ESL/EAL support for students entering grade 11, and only limited support for students entering grades 9 or 10.

Learning Differences

We believe that each and every student is a unique learner and has individual learning needs. To ensure all students have the opportunity to succeed, we look at each application individually to determine whether our teachers and learning support staff can support the child’s learning differences in the mainstream classes. However, while we try to be as inclusive as possible, due to limited specialized resources within the school and outside the school community we are not able to support ALL students with ALL learning needs.

Admissions into St. Mary’s expects parents to be honest and forthcoming with all information regarding the physical, emotional, social, academic, and any other special needs of their child. Should it be found that parents have not been forthcoming, the student may be asked to leave the school.

Progress Review

Continued attendance at St. Mary’s is dependent upon several factors, including academic progress, attitude, attendance, and behavior. Satisfactory progress must be maintained in order to continue to be enrolled. Admitted students are evaluated throughout the year, and, if satisfactory progress is not being maintained, the school may not offer a seat for the following year or may retain the student in his current grade.

Re-applying

Any student who is denied acceptance into St. Mary’s may reapply the following school year.

Acceptance of Japanese citizens

Article 1 of the School Education Law stipulates that it is the duty of Japanese parents to send their children to Article 1 schools during the compulsory period which covers the nine years from grade 1 to grade 9. Japanese parents must give full consideration to the legal implication before applying to St. Mary’s as it does not hold the status of Article 1 school.

St. Mary’s may consider qualified Japanese citizens who meet academic entrance requirements for admission if they satisfy one of the following:

  • Children whose most recent educational experience was in a school wherein the medium of instruction was English for at least a year in elementary/middle school and two years in high school.
  • Children of an expatriate parent who speaks English.

Special considerations

Children of faculty and administration, brothers of currently enrolled students, children of alumni and Catholic students will be given priority for admission if they meet our standards of admission.

In cases of students with limited English proficiency, priority will be given to students who have no other educational options locally.