For all you parents looking for a preschool that suits your kids, we’re hoping to add a little something to aid in your search. Parents of children who attend various preschools on island have filled out a series of questions about the schools for the benefit of the rest of us. We welcome more than one voice on each school since everyone has a different experience, so please feel free to add in your two cents in the comments.
CONTRIBUTED BY ALEXIS RUBENSTEIN
Name of the school: Santa Monica International Kids School
Ages of Your Kid(s) in this School: 2.5
Where is this school located? A couple of streets back from the Sunabe Seawall -- 210-6 Hamagawa, Chatan-Cho, Nakagami-Gun, Okinawa, 904-0116
Contact Information: 098-936-3656 www.santamonicaokinawa.com
Admissions/Enrollment:
What is the maximum number of students that your school has? Not sure
What is the current number of students? Not sure
Is enrollment open/year-round enrollment or per semester? Year round
Does my child have to be potty-trained to attend? I don't think they have to be potty trained until the 3 year old level
Can I bring my child in for a pre-enrollment visit? Yes
Days and hours:
What are the school’s hours? 9am-3pm are the school hours, and they also have before- and after-care 6am-6pm
Is the school on a Japanese or American schedule? I believe American...they celebrate American holidays, and it goes year round
How flexible is the school with pickup and drop-off times? I've never had a problem dropping off a bit early or late. I believe there is a fee for late pickup but they're flexible if you call
Costs:
What are the registration fees? 5000 yen
What are the tuition fees? 40000/month for full time (we pay 30000 for part time)
If any, what are the assessment and school supplies fees? If you want them to supply lunch, it's 6000/month
Are any discounts offered for referrals, siblings, volunteering, working there, etc.? Not sure
Is there a late-pickup fee? Yes
How and when does the school require payment (in yen, dollars, etc.)? Yen
Parent Involvement and Interaction:
Does the school encourage spontaneous visits from parents? I don't know that it's encouraged, but they haven't complained on the occasions when I popped in early to pick her up
How do you communicate with parents? They send notes in her backpack, and talk to me at pick-up and drop-off times
Is there a daily report or other process for informing parents of what children did during the day (naps, BMs, snacks, etc.)? No
Are there parent/teacher conferences? Yes, every January
Classroom Structure and Size:
How are the kids grouped? Mixed ages / grouped by age? By age. They take kids from 6 weeks to 6 years old
What's the teacher-child ratio in each group? Not sure
How many full-time teachers do you have? How many assistants? Not sure
What is the school's educational philosophy? Is the school program developmentally-based or does it have an academic focus? When we started they labeled it Montessori, but it appears to be much more structured. They begin with academics very early. When my daughter was in the 2 year class, they were doing ABCs, counting, shapes, colors. Now that she's in the 2.5 year class, they're starting basic math, Japanese words, and writing. I believe the 3 year class even starts doing multiplication and reading.
Is there a playground for the children to play on? Yes
What do the children do on any given day? There is a different schedule for each age group, but in the 2-2.5 year classes, they have singing, dancing, playtime, and academic time. It varies based on the day of the week
Are there extracurricular activities or field trips? They haven't had any field trips since I've been there, but they have about 4-5 performances a year centered around different holidays and they practice dances, etc. for those
How does the school discipline children? From what I've seen--taking away toys, stern voices, and a lot of structure
How does the school comfort children? When my daughter cried in the mornings when she first started there, they would immediately sweep her up and offer kind words and distractions. Her teachers appear to be very kind and affectionate with the children, and she's always happy when I pick her up
Final Comments or Observations about the School:
The location (right outside of Kadena Gate 1) and the availability of part-time enrollment were huge deciding factors for us in choosing this school. This information is just my experience with a 2-year old...people with different aged kids may have very different experiences with the school. My daughter seems extremely happy there. She talks excitedly about her day when we pick her up and seems to be learning a lot, even though she is only part time. The facility is very new and clean and organized. They feed the kids healthy lunches--a lot of fruits, veggies, and rice. Our only concern is the high level of academic structure for the pre-school age range. However, our daughter seems to be thriving there, so overall, we are very pleased with this school. 
EDITOR'S NOTE - August 2011: As you can see from the comments below, many parents appear to have mixed feelings and reviews about this school. Because we feel the comments have fairly represented both sides of the argument we are permanently closing this post for any further comments, positive or negative, though we are leaving all previous comments intact and unedited. It is our recommendation that if you have a question or concern about this school, its administration, or its teachers that you contact the school directly.
EDITOR'S NOTE - October 2011: We were contacted by the school administration and informed that the principal referred to in the comments is no longer employed at SMIKS. They are very interested in addressing any concerns a parent may have with the school. Please contact the school for more information.
I Agree to you Alexis, I am very Happy that I have my Daughter in Santa Monica International kids School,She been there almost 3 years, she started when she was 1.6 y.o and now she is still there.my daughter is now 4 years old. and she learned a lot in there she also love their extra Activities like Karate and Ballet. the benefit for me and my husband is, we always talk to the teacher every time we pick her up. aside to that they have Parent teachers conference twice a year that is January which we just had last week, and one is scheduled on June.we love Santa Monica their staff are Sweet and kind their
programs are well prepared like Christmas, Halloween,Thanksgiving,and they also have Garduation program they really impress us to their Programs Kids learn a lot in this school, as I experience to my child. if you have your child in Santa Monica can you share us also what can you say about this school. thanks
I would like to caution everyone AGAINST this school actually.
I agree that they have a lot of great programs, great academics, and such.
HOWEVER-they also employ corporal punishment for at least the 3 and 4 year old classrooms in the form of hitting the children on various body parts with rulers and possible blackboard pointer sticks.
My child seemed very happy there as well-but I just do not condone this at all. He attended from August 2009-Dec. 2009.
We pulled him out shortly after we found out about this-especially when the principal declared that they were just to busy to hold an immediate meeting with parents/teachers to discuss the issue.
At the same time my husband and I were making our complaint, we know of 2 other families that also had the same complaint.
Additionally, I know of one family that is well aware of this happening and is fine with it, and another whose child had just recently told her about the hitting.
I do not have any experience with any rooms younger than 3 years old, but one reason we decided to pull my older child was that there was NO WAY we felt comfortable with our younger child (currently 17 months) attending around age 2.
Thank you for the information N! My daughter is about to turn 3 and we’ve been debating whether to keep her there…this will likely be the deciding factor.
Just a note–I don’t think they use this type of punishment in the younger rooms. I was told they use time out and isolation when I asked about my daughters 2 year class discipline. Thanks again!
Alexis,
Just to let you know, when I enrolled my child, I asked specific questions about the type of discipline-I asked about spanking, hitting, etc and was told they only do time out. However, I was obviously not told the truth.
I have recently heard from another source that the babies are placed in high chairs when they “misbehave.” I have no idea on the validity of this-I just know I would not be comfortable with a younger child there either.
Oh. And the principal will definitely deny that this happens. She will tell you it’s not in their policy-but “maybe they did it when she was gone, etc, etc, etc”.
I got the distinct feeling when I complained that she was not at all surprised by what happened.
My daughter attended SM for 8mths. She was in the 1yr old room. I pulled her out due to the fact that I did a random visit and witnessed one of the teachers flicking a child on the back of the head when he would not lay down to sleep. I found that to be an inappropriate way to handle a 1yr old.
I had looked at the school in the fall when we first moved here. I was not at all impressed with the principal of the school and how she interacted with the children. It was obvious to me she was putting on her “good side” for me and yet I observed her scolding the children quietly for not respecting her. She literally shoved the children back into the classroom as they tried to escape and sternly said “Behave!” It seems she is more concerned with outward apperances instead of nuturing the children.
Granted, I came around lunch time so all of the classes I visited appeared caotic. However, I won’t forget how this principal flipped between hot and cold and that left a lasting negative impression for me.
My daughter attended this school for about six months and I pulled her out in December after she told me about her teacher hitting the students with rulers when they misbehave. There is no doubt that my daughters learned A LOT while they were there, but I could not get over the physical discipline. My daughter was in the 4 year old class. I also had a daughter in the two year old class, but I do not think they were using rulers to hit the children in there. However, my two year old was not quite able to tell me for sure and the principal was gave me a lot of run around. I was told at one point that they never use physical discipline, but I was also told by my four year old’s teacher that she does hit the students on the hands with a ruler.
I love how much my children learned while there and I wish we could find a school that has as much educational value without using hitting as a way to discipline the children.
I just want to say something to what N was saying that the principal refuse Parents Teachers coference I did not refuse the conference. what i was saying to you is we have schedule for conference on January not December because we are busy on the month of December. we do Conference twice a year and our schedule is already Fix.anyway thanks you for destroying our school but, what I can say is,we don’t hit the kids with stick. Have you seen with your two Eyes?. we only discipline kids in rigth way but not corporal punishment.as what you are saying. thanks
I don’t say your child is not telling the truth but sometimes kids tell lie.
I visited this school when I was looking for daycare for my 1-yr-old son. I had no knowledge of any physical punishment or otherwise so I’m not going to comment on that. For the most part, the facilities were clean and spacious. However, it was larger than what I was interested in and the teacher to student ratio was greater than what I wanted. The overall deciding factor for me was how my son reacted to the teachers and environment. For me, I know almost immediately if he’s comfortable or not. He is not usually shy and warms up to other children quickly. He is also quite active. So it did surprise me when he did not seem to ease up at all during our visit and was very clingy, unwilling to play with the other children. In fact, he actually got hurt by another child during our visit. Although the teacher reacted immediately (without physical punishment), I was just not comfortable with him there if he wasn’t comfortable. Santa Monica might be great for some, but I would suggest taking your child with you on a visit to any childcare and staying a little while to see how they warm up to the environment. Luckily we found a daycare that he quickly warmed up to.
I would like to say that it is very unfortunate that there are a few dissatisfied parents with the operation of SM. I have a 4yr that attends SM and he simply loves it. I can see a lot of improvement academically as well as socially. I recently heard of these rumors about the teachers hitting the kids with a ruler, and I investigated in my own way and found this not to be true. But let’s face it, we can’t let one rotten apple ruin the entire basket. I’m paying for my child to receive an education!! If he’s trying his best to adjust and learn , why should it be hindered by a kid who is misbehavin??
There are NO perfect schools and I have learned though, that Montessouri schools aren’t for all kids, because of the way they are structured. But seriously, kids will get harder punches in life than a click from a ruler even if so.
Great Job Santa Monica!!!
There seems to be a lot of talk about this Santa Monica school. I myself do have any children in preschool. However, a couple of days ago Okinawa Hai published a write-up by a preschool educator on criteria for choosing a preschool. She seemed to know her stuff and offered some good advice. One piece of advice she offered was not to rely solely on word-of-mouth when choosing a preschool. Visit the school and see if it feels like the place for your child.
And Karen, I’m glad that you trust the teachers at SM and are happy with your experience there. HOWEVER, hitting a child is never right- Even if you think they are a “rotten apple” which is a horrendous way to label any child. How dreadful that you would suggest some children are more worthy of love and understanding than other children. You have no idea what some kids have to endure in life that could make them act like “rotten apples”. How sad!
I had my child at this school too and pulled her out upon finding nice bruises on her back from the hitting she received for not sitting down. She is 2 years old and this was her first school experience. I spoke to legal on the base, Camp Foster and was basically told out in town you are on your own since this is not considered child abuse off base. I would highly discourage anyone from having their child attend school here. Maybe the next parent will have something much worse than what us on this message board have had happen.
@ Megan-
I am so sorry to hear of this! I had hoped that anything going on was not too terrible. I did not like hands being smacked by rulers/pointer sticks, or some of the verbal chastisement, but that just doesn’t seem nearly as bad as your situation.
I have heard that it is actually illegal in Japan to use corporal punishment, so you may want to look further into legal complaints. I honestly do not know the rules for sure though.
My husband and I decided against trying to pursue this legally due to two reasons-
1. Our child was not actually one of the children hit, as far as I can ascertain. Even so, I felt uncomfortable with him in an environment where he was even exposed to corporal punishment.
2. I, being completely unaware of how legal complaints, etc work with Japanese law did not wish to get entangled in another countries legal system, considering I found no evidence of gross abuse or maltreatment. Had I found something like bruises on my child, I would probably have reconsidered my stance.
I did however speak to Resource and Referral on Kadena AB about Santa Monica and my experiences there. Sadly, they were not surprised-I have a feeling they hear a lot of bad things about various places off-base.
Lastly, if other parents are interested, I would be interested in trying to persuade the bases to set up some sort of complaint systems that could be accessed by parents when trying to choose their schools.
I certainly hope this hasn’t negatively colored your daughter’s thoughts on school.
You are right Karen,
I realized too that kids needs to be discipline once in a while, specially if they misbehave at all times.how can the Teacher teach the kids if one of the kids keep bothering. so I think kids needs to be discipline in school because I know some “teachers” also know their limitations in giving punishment. because I also experienced to teach in state so, if one or two kids don’t behave it’s really hard to keep the kids on your attention they are bothered to those who don’t behaved. I know we love our kids but if they need to be discipline I accept it.so my kids can learn. that is why I am paying in oredr that my child learn. so how can a child learn if he/she don’t behave as well in the class. even bother other kids. what Santa Monica is doing is Accepted to me unless my child don’t tell me that she is hit all times. and I should also know the reason for that .Hope you understand my side and hope some parents also need to compare kinds of discipline to kids
Ana-
You are very, very mistaken. I worry about any parent who thinks it’s okay for someone outside of the family, such as a teacher or care provider, to hit their child. Hitting a preschooler is never okay, even if they are misbehaving. You never know why a child is acting out. Perhaps there is a larger problem going on that the preschool teacher cannot see. A child could have mild autism that has been undiagnosed or is having difficulty at home- or another serious problem for that matter. Young children don’t act up for the pure joy of being bad. There are other avenues besides hitting a child. This is completely unacceptable. I am shocked to read that any person would condone corporal punishment at the preschool level. These people obviously don’t know much about preschoolers.
yes I agree that some kids misbehave because of some reason but,there are some kids that how much you talk to them in good way they still don’t listen, they must be discipline and I am sad to say that Parents should also cooperate to discipline their own kids and don’t tolerate their kids if they don’t listen and should also give attention to our kids needs so our child won’t be put in trouble.
I don’t think that Santa Monica condone corporal punishment because I try to investigate my own child and she said she never had this punishment.
maybe some parents just too protective to their children. yes I understand that we love our kids but if they did something wrong, they must be correct.
I had a similar experience happen at Santa Monica. My daughter was in the 3 year old class and she came home and told me that the teacher was doing “slappy face” to the children when they weren’t listening. She also told me that the teacher hit 3 of the children ( she named names) on the back of the head for not sitting when they were told. I asked both the teacher and the director and I was pretty much given the run around, she told me all they do is Time out ( which is perfectly fine with me b/c kids do need some sort of punishment for actions requiring them. NOT HITTING) So now reading all of this I am concerned that I took a teacher/ principals word over my daughter. I’m having a really hard time deciding whether or not to pull her out. Yes she is learning a great amount of information but if in fact this abuse is happening to the children something needs to happen to the school. I don’t care whether or not they are “off-base”. ( And now since I’ve confronted them it seems to me that they go out of their way to put on a “show” for me.) And I think the ratio of children to teachers is a little much. When I first signed up they told me that the ratio was 1 teacher to every 10 kids and there were to be only 20 ( at the most) per class. Now my daughter has 23 kids in her class and most of the time it’s with only 1 teacher. Now I am truly starting to think they are there for the money.
@ Ana Morgan
Yes I do agree that when a child acts up they need to be punished. Santa Monica tell parents that they use time out, which is totally fine with me. BUT once you lay a finger/ ruler/ pointer on a child and you do not have the authority to and that child is not your child that’s when you run into problems. A parent should be the only person if anybody spanking or giving any kind of “physical” punishment. And I do believe that if this is truly happening Santa Monica will be “blackballed” by the parents of the children. They need to make sure the teachers know what punishment is exceptable and what has been told to the parents!
Nicole,
I don’t think Santa Monica do spanking, yes when my daughter was there I even tell them to do something to my girl because even me either have hard time to my child so I tell them to do punishment. beacuse I know my child bother many kids.. and I want my daughter to be discipline too. specially when a child is not listening so I accept yes the ratio is more than to what they said, but the principal explain to me that they can do until 22 specially when some kids are ready to move to the other room.I know they have a lot of kids but I admire how they teach and handle the kids.
even there are more kids in the class they can still teach the kids well. as my kids go she learn a much since she is there.
anyway it is your choice where to put your child but we can’t be sure that our kids are also safe to other school. maybe some off base school do more to what Santa Monica is doing.in my opinion Santa MOnica knows their limitations because they are one of the best school in Okinawa they teach good, clean and beautiful building.
anyway, it’s your choice.
I talk to one of the teacher there last week and I heard that one of the parents who withdraw her child there and put her child to other school . after a month the parents of the child came back to ask if her child can go back to Santa Monica because her child didn’t want the school she moved. so the parents have to return her child in Santa Monica because the child want Santa Monica. I think this is the child they where saying that hit by ruler.
I just wonder why the parents said that her child was hit with ruler and again put her child back to Santa MOnica? I think that some people just want to make some story but it depends on us parents to choose school for our kids. we should also consider some punishment.and understand our child behavior.
Nicole
I disagree that They only have one teacher in one class each class have always 2 taechers and even have extra teacher to help them if it’s needed. I know they have 18 Teachers in Santa MOnica.
Ana,
Yes I’m sure there are other schools on the island that do punish children by using spanking or hitting with the ruler. And if you want someone else to disipline your daughter in this way that’s your choice. You say that they know their “limitaions”? Well I’m not comfortable with that! When there are people on this forum saying that their child is coming home with bruises, yep sure sounds like limitations are known. That’s fine if you want the teachers to punish your child by spanking or whatever it is that you have told them to do BUT no one better lay a finger on my child! That is for a parent to do. Your child is there to have an education not to learn to fear adults that are supposed to be their role models.
Is this a Catholic school? Catholic schools have a long history of abusing children & denying it. To hit 1 year olds in the head is down right scary and can cause brain damage! This is really serious.
PJ
No this is not a Catholic School. It’s montessori. When I ask the pricipal of the school and the teachers they deny it. But I don’t understand where many children are complaining to parents about these situations and nothing is being done to look into it.
Parents: There is a big difference between “discipline” and “punishment”. Unfortunately, these two terms have come to be used synonomously. Discipline is a means of maintaining order in a classroom. The word punishment comes from the latin term “punire” which literally means ‘to cause pain’. Schools, especially preschools, should use discipline and NOT punishment to keep order in the classroom.
The main benefit of sending your child to preschool is socialization. Sure your student may be learning to read and write a bit and do a little bit of math but, despite what some parents may think, learning these subjects in preschool is just a perk and doesn’t usually make much of a difference in the long run. Studies have shown that children of at least average intelligence who don’t go to preschool at all are no worse off academically than children who attend preschool before beginning kindergarten. I taught several years of kindergarten and found that kids who started off the year academically behind their peers almost always finished at or above grade level, nand those who were still lagging behind typically had underlying learning disabilities. That being said, allow me to reiterate the point that preschool is most valuable for socializing your child and preparing them for negotiating social situations when it comes time for them to begin school. What does it teach children about social structures if a school is hitting children for doing something wrong? This is detrimental to both the child being hit and the onlooking children. Think about it.
I have been teaching for years at all grade levels but I’ve spent the majority of my life teaching early childhood. I’m not saying that I believe Santa Monica school is using corporal punishment on students because I have no personal proof that says they are. However, I find it very disheartening that parents would ever justify hitting a preschooler, whether the preschooler is your child or somebody else’s. Yelling at children and physical abuse are definite signs that the provider is out of control.
Oh my goodness. I’m absolutely sickened by reading about the issue of pure abuse taking place at this school! As the mother of a pre-schooler and the daughter of two 20+ year educators, I’m horrified by the thought of any parent actually believing that corporal punishment is acceptable! If you’re not familiar with the term, please google it and you will see that they are indeed partaking in this practice if they are hitting children! This doesn’t take place in the US (as it’s ILLEGAL), it doesn’t take place in the DOD schools. Why on earth are parents allowing it to take place here? I don’t care if the school is offbase or on. It’s not acceptable period! If it is happening, the parents of the children of this school have the responsibility of pulling their children and finding an alternative SAFE,learing environment for their children. What a shame. The DOD needs to step in if this is indeed happening and put them on the black list. Abuse is abuse, period.
Hello….
Just miss comments at Santa Monica School
is there any news about this school.
thanks
Two comments have been removed from this thread. Parenting topics can be some of the most difficult to discuss without losing your cool or attacking others opinions. But let’s continue to be constructive in our comments so that local parents will be helped in their preschool decisions.
Punishment and discipline are often used to mean the same thing, but they are totally different. Punishment means controlling a child’s behavior through fear. It makes the child behave because he is afraid of what might happen to them if they don’t.Punishment may lead to or reinforce their bad feelings about themselves.
Discipline means guiding and directing children toward acceptable behavior. It helps children control their own behavior.Self-control is not a skill children are born with. It is learned through daily interactions with other children and adults. Learning self-control takes a lot of time, but it is time well spent.
Maybe the Teachers at Santa Monica International School need more training, or did they ever had any????
I read lots of comments about Santa Monica I would like to thank everyone with good and bad comments about the school. this is a big help on Santa Monica, we appreciate all comments in order to improve the school thou some comments are not true specially hitting kids and corporal punishment as well. we assure you to be aware of these.
now that we have encounter this complains,I will work more in this matter to satisfy our Parents. again thank you for the big help.
I am certainly a little upset that the principal continues to insist that children were not being hit at Santa Monica. Several children told their parents about it-and a caregiver was once observed by a parent to be hitting a young child on the back of the head.
Furthermore, one of the 4 year old room teachers directly admitted that she did, in fact, use corporal punishment.
However, it is a good thing that SM is trying to make the school a better place.
I do think that choosing to not believe several children is a dangerous road to take.
I would like to add that if I could feel confident that SM did, in fact, fix the issues, I would consider sending my child back.
However, the insistence that this never happened tells me that I cannot ensure that it will not happen again.
And even sadder, my child refuses to go to “Japanese” schools-for fear of being hit.
To N,
sorry if you are upset because that is what you think. but I just want to let you know that the child you where saying hit by ruler is back to our school and the parents apologized for the wrong decision she did after all.Hope you will realize that your child can make stories w/o any proof.anyway thanks for all your comments it will help us to improve our services better. good luck and hope you can find best school for your child.
To N,I alredy
did action to the staff you are talking about in four year old class.to prove that I am not denying or insisting.anyway it depends on parents to choose which school they want to put their child how ever we are just looking forward to give our best for the good of our service.in addition to that I would like to thank all parents who understand our way of discipline. we accept criticizms in order to fix our wrong strategies.
Unfortunately, it was not just one child that told their parents that they were hit with rulers. I know of 5 children who told their parents this.
Secondly, as a staff member of the school, you should not release information about students/parents on a public forum.
Lastly, I find it very sad that you continue to accuse the children of lying. Young children (3 and 4 year olds) have nothing to gain by lying about this.
My child has never been hit with a ruler, or any object, at home. Where on earth would he have come up with a lie about hitting with rulers? As far as I knew, he didn’t even know what a ruler was.
I choose to believe my child. He may not be the calmest, best behaved child out there, but at this point in time, he does not make up malicious lies.
In my experience, if children as young as 3 and 4 are reporting abuse, it’s usually true. The fact remains that toddlers and preschoolers don’t typically understand the concept of lying. My niece attended a preschool not too long ago where children were going home and saying that either they or their classmates were being hit by a particular new teacher. At first the director refused to entertain the possibility. However, when the director finally investigated the accusations, she was horrified to discover that this teacher had a criminal background and had falsified information on her application.
Now, again, I am not saying that there is abuse going on at Santa Monica as I have no personal experience saying that there is or has been. My point is simply that I’m a little bit dismayed that an adult would accuse a preschooler of being a liar. Anyone who is qualified to work in the field of child education as either a teacher or a director should already know this from the highly concentrated area of study that is early childhood education.
I don’t think that Santa Monica accuses all kids maybe, they are just saying that some kids can lie. we should not trust our kids 100% I have my 2 girls and yes I admit sometimes they make stories until I found out that they do this just to escape from punishment.also I discover that they make story just to make us please them. yes we do love our young ones but we should also keep in mind that some preschooler can lie because of different consequences.
We are so pleased with Santa Monica. We have 2 boys in the 3 and 4 year old classes. We love the teachers. What an opportunity to have our kids be apart of a different culture, experience, academic excellence at such a young age, and the warmth of all the staff. We are continuely impressed with Santa Monica. My wife and I stop by at different times and always very encouraged with their progress and have never seen anything inappropriate take place. The teachers and administrators have always gone above and beyond with our questions and/or concerns. They have our full confidence, especially because our boys LOVE going to school everyday. In fact, on the weekends, they make us pretend we are their respective teachers and we play MORE SCHOOL. We can’t say enough wonderful things about Santa Monica.
“We should not trust our kids 100%”
What a horrible statement.
I can see a child lying to get out of punishment, or telling you they didn’t hit their sibling, or didn’t eat that last cookie.
But a child telling his or her mother that a teacher has abused/hit them, and you believe the teacher over the child?
How sad. The child has nothing to gain by lying, while the teacher has EVERYTHING to lose by the truth coming out.
I too am saddened by the comment about not trusting our own children. This is the belief shared by parents that allow their children to be abused at home by family members b/c they simply cannot fathom that such atrocities could be true, even when it’s happening right under their nose. If your kids can’t trust YOU to believe in them, then who can they turn to when something terrible is happening? What a sad, sad world some of these children unfortunately have to live in.
I had my child in SM and was pleased at first at her progress. But then she was coming home saying that the teacher in the 4 year old room was hitting the children on the head for not paying attention. She also said that the male teacher in the class was yelling at them because they were not being quite. I let her go back to the school and showed up unannounced and actualy hear him yelling very loudly at the children. But whenI walked in he immediatley lowered his voice to a “nice” tone. SO the fact that they are not being who they truly are when parents aren’t there leads me to believe they would be the ones lying about the abuse. And yes children will make a story up sometimes for their benefit, but what do they have to benefit in this situation? NOTHING! SM has a lot to loose if this all true. Also like the other parents said why are we not believing these children when they are saying a different form of punishment is being used on them at school that has never been used on them before. ( Slappyface, rulers, etc.) I think the fact that the principal comes on here and is defending her staff by saying the children are lying is just horrible. I think she really needs to take a look at her staff and how her program is run.
The people in here seems like having a competition of gossiping. To me these all comments are just funny. Giving suggestion is Good! My advise to parents, please go look and find out yourself about the school. To enroll your child to any pre-school is parents choice. BTW, Japanese government has twice a year inspection to every school. If SM had done any of these problem as you all mentioned, i’m sure that the government had closed down the center long time ago. There are parents who satisfied and not, please respect that, but not to make this blogs as an interesting gossip section. I forgot who mentioned this (In the State it’s Illegal), now my question is, outside state it’s LEGAL? LOL Even in the 3rd world country it is Illegal. However, i did visit the school. I don’t have any children to enroll, I was just concerned with the comments about the school. I walked in the school the other day, acting like i have a child to be enrolled there. I stayed there for 2 hours. I was staying in 3y.o class and 5y.o. YES, they have ruler, and they even have stick. They are using them for teaching, like pointing to lesson or picture or white board. While i was there everything was positive and totally acceptable. If there was a kid misbehaving, the teacher sometime raised their voice volume, but not screaming or yelling, just good enough to let the kids know that they were being bad.One more time, i’m suggesting everyone, don’t judge people from what you hear, but what you see with your own eyes. I hope my information can satisfy you. Thank You!
as you said, Ms. NY, you were there for two hours, of course, there will be no ‘misbehavior’ on the part of the teachers, no hitting and yelling because they know that you are watching every move they make!!!
NY, Yes, Japanese inspect each school twice a year, but not with the matter of how they discipline their students. They come and inspect to see if the facility is safe, clean, cautious from earthquake, has a firedrill, etc. They usually come after school and announced so school can be prepared on anything and by that time, most of the children are gone except for those who are in extended care (I worked in an office at a Japanese daycare so I know what they inspect.)
I also DO NOT agree on the statement on not to trust your child. Yes, they may lie about getting out of punishment, blaming their sibling, and all that good stuff of what In Disbelief commented, but they don’t constantly lie about being hit. Also, if you think about it this way, they’ve only have knowledge of 3,4 years on this earth. How can they have a knowledge of discourage and abuse? That’s not natural.
EVERY CHILD IS DIFFERENT, but what they all have in common is LOVE. They need NURTURE. Parents trust the school to give love to their children and also education so they pay expensive amount of money to expect that. Yes, I believe in discipline, but not abusing. I personally think a lot of military children act up because they are not stabled in life (especially with the situation of daddy or mommy PCSing, moving from place to place) so they act up. So it should be school’s responsibility to encourage them, love them, nurture them, and betteryet, give them confident in whatever they do. Be proud of them. That’s what they need. The smile on the child’s face is priceless. Yelling and hitting is not the solution of disciplining. Talk. “Why did you do this?” Some might say “I don’t know” and that’s the truth. They sometimes don’t know why they hurt their friends but again, it’s the teacher’s responsibility to understand their feeling. Maybe they were sad because daddy left this morning or mommy dropped them off at school and is at home with their little brother or sister. They are confused so isn’t it the teacher and parent’s teamwork to direct the child to the right direction??????
Kristin, Chris.
The statement i made just my personal point of view. I hope this would not against anyone. I believe SM trying to do the best they can. I’m hoping if there is some parents who satisfied with SM please give your comment. Sometime hearing something positive may cool down the situation.
The only complaint I have from this school is that when my child has an accident or is not feeling well, I never get any accident/incident report. I think I shouldn’t find out after I pick up my child that she hit her head. Besides that all the staff are nice and they acknowledge you. I have a suggestion to this school,you should look to replace your playground equipment, it is not age appropiate.
The comments by “NY” seem to closely match the typing by another poster above, “ana”.
As far as the comments, I would be surprised if she saw anything bad while she was there-of course they would behave during a parent visit.
I used to teach at a preschool. Even though we never hit children or yelled at them, we were always on our “best behavior” when there was a visitor present. (Especially if that visitor was someone who considering enrolling their child in our preschool). Teachers and children are always aware of visitors. Niether will behave the same exact way if they know they are being observed. And Chris is correct in saying that inspectors come to the preschools twice a year to check for safety and health issues, not for anything else.
To take Angel’s comment a step further-
I used to work at a CDC in the US. We not only were warned to be on our best behavior for inspections, but we suddenly would get new crayons, paint, construction paper, etc-right before an inspection.
The sad thing is, before one inspection (the NAEYC accreditation visit) we had been begging for new supplies for months. We had only brown/black construction paper left, nubs for crayons and had to thin the paint with water to have enough to go around.
We were always told there was no money for supplies-yet, as soon as we had an inspection date, select staff members were permitted to go shopping.
I do agree with “humm” that these 2 “ana” and NY do seem to be the same. (which I believe is the principal or owner of the school..lol) I WOULD ADVISE against this school and I can not say this enough. I was fortunate enough to have a job that allowed me to show up unexpectantly and I DID hear the male teacher YELLING (not exagerating) at the students to hurry up and finish their work. When I walked in the yelling stopped and his put on his “nice face”. I talked with the teachers and the “principal” of the school and I got the same old “we don’t yell or hit, we do time out” My child has complained about them poking her in the stomach with the “ruler” or “teaching stick” ( not ok) and she has also witnessed several children getting hit on the head for not listening. And I also find it ironic that the first words that my child said to me when I picked her up from her new school ( we pulled her from SM) was “I like it there, they don’t hit us”. And I also worked at the CDC here on base for 2 1/2 years and went through many “inspections” and accredidations and it is true that you are threatened with you job pretty much to be the best and use the best when inspectors are in the room. People can put on a great front for the parents who enter the room.
I read this post after receiving a call from a parent who knew I had my daughter in this school. She read these reviews and called me. My daughter is 3y/o and has been at SM for a few months during this time her teachers have been nothing but nice and caring and my daughter hasn’t said anything to me about getting hit smacked etc. My daughter is extremely smart and she understands that ONLY mommy and daddy can “spank” her. We’ve had the “good touch bad touch” conversation with her, she would have let me know immediately if a teacher hit her. I did have an incident where she told me her teacher pulled her hair, I immediately went to see the principle where she showed me that she had installed cameras in ALL of the classrooms so she could keep an eye on what the teachers were doing and we also had a meeting on the spot with the teacher. It turned out to be a misunderstanding (the teacher was trying to fix her hair and her barrette got stuck and the teacher was trying to pull it out) the teacher fixes my daughters hair for me daily so I believed her and have not had any complaints from my daughter since. I know they put the kids on time out as my daughter gets extremely excited to tell me “no time out today mommy!!” when I go pick her up. I was saddened by all the negative remarks about SM. If you are a parent go and check the school out for yourself. I am not a fool and I will be “popping up” from time to time to make sure all is well but I know my daughter would tell me if any harm was being done to her. And to be honest NO ONE is going to care for your children the way you would, the important thing is that you feel comfortable leaving your child there and going to work and I do.
To Concerned parent,
I just want to tell you that “ana”and NY are not me either the director! why can’t you accept that there are good comments for SMIKS is it because you can’t make anything against the school?
I just want to let you know that people have their own right to find school for their kids w/o your advice or what ever you want to do. people have their own principle w/o driving them! if you don’t want to put your kids at Santa MOnica find school for your child which you think better. w/o saying or blaming someone else.ok! good luck
concerned parent. we just discipline kids not hitting as what you think. and sometimes it’s just a misunderstanding matters that ‘s why I always tell our dear parents that if they have problems to our teacher please let me know. and I am so much thankful to all parents who understand us. thank you
I would advise against this school. At first our 2 boys were happy, but after my 4 yr old started getting stomach aches when we arrived at school I knew he was upset about returning. I found out that they were telling the 3-4 yr olds that bad kids go to hell. He asked me this everyday for a month, after we pulled him out.
As far as education, they dont teach. My oldest was so far behind when he started first grade due to there “teaching method”.
The owner does put on a good face. But ask her why she isnt a Montessori school anymore.
The only thing that she is interested in is money.
How disturbing Laurie. When my child went there, the teachers would threaten to call the police when the children misbehaved. My child did not believe me when I told him they were pretending-he tel me know of of the teachers pulled out her cell phone and “dialed”.
He STILL (months later) will mention calling the police…
To Laurie,
are you sure to what you are talking that Santa Monica Don’t teach? I am shock to what you said you are the first one who says that!
why don’t you evaluate your child if you said that he is far behind when he started first grade. maybe your child have the problem not Santa monica. either he don’t listen or cannot catch up that is why you said so that he is behind. because we start teaching from Toddlers and you said we don’t teach. do you know what are you talking? let me know who you are and I will tell you who your child is and what is his level. Santa monica Teachers are doing their job being teacher . And who told you we are not montessori anymore? you might misunderstood what the owner told you. we are still under montessori teaching. maybe what she told you is about the first grade we are putting up. and I regarding the making money. don’t you think that all school make money?everybody does but we are giving you back what you paid for. if you are not satisfied sorry. regarding learning?check your child level then you complain.
@R-
It is VERY sad that as the principal of Santa Monica, you continuously come on here and insinuate that the children are lying to their parents, and now, that someone’s child must just be stupid, or that their parent just doesn’t know what they are talking about? Exactly how does that show how much you value children?
Insinuating that the children attending your school who have had negative things to say (or their parents have reported negatives) are bad children, or stupid, or don’t listen is just not good teaching. I don’t care how you spin it, it’s not appropriate.
I fully regret that I did not call the Japanese authorities about your school when I first pulled my child out. Since then, I have had many parents mention bad experiences-all involving children being hit, yelled at, threatened with the police being called and other incidents that aren’t even mentioned on Okinawa Hai.
Parents, please think twice about this school. I agree, from the outside, the appearances are great-shiny new building, nice classrooms with lots of supplies, friendly staff…I fell for it. Unfortunately, for my son, it means that he is now afraid of Japanese schools, the police and he thought for some time that it was “normal” for teachers to hit children for misbehaving. I am deeply saddened that this is the preschool experience that Santa Monica decided to impart on my child.
Lastly, I am disappointed in myself. I am disappointed that as a parent, I failed to realize that this was occurring at the school. I am disappointed that I took the easy way out and simply dis-enrolled my son from the school, rather than reporting to the proper authorities. I hope that at least by making a statement on here, I can help other parents avoid the same mistake that I have made.
Correction- friendly staff should be “friendly-seeming staff”
To Nicolle,
Did I say Stupid to kids? you yourself say that. what I am saying is it’s the child problem not the school if they are behind
when they move to higher grades because Santa Monica Staff do the Teaching well.sorry to say this that parents should also give time to evaluate their kids because even the teachers do all their best to teach the child if there is no support or evaluation from parents the result is not good.specially when the child is poor in academic. Miss Nicole we do value kids. you are just to exagerated saying things don’t you? and you regret? it’s your fault. or just don’t have evidence?
and stop warning people against Santa MOnica because Parents have their own way of bringing up their kids not all people like your way. so stop pulling people who can’t go with you. why don’t you keep your time to discipline on your kids instead warn other people. thank you.
Rowena,
By posting on here, you are the best case against a child going to Santa Monica.
I cannot believe what kind of immaturity is being displayed on this string of comments. That a school’s director would contribute this kind of juvenile garbage speaks volumes about the school itself. I would never send my child to this school.
It is not generally our policy to close comments on a post, but it seems that we’ve had much said on both sides of the issue here and maybe that is enough for now. If you have anything new to add to the discussion, feel free to contact me at submissions@okinawahai.com and we can discuss the matter further.
Wow!!!! All the comments made about this school are very interesting. IS there anyone out there who has a more recent comment to post about this School. LAst comment was made in June 2010. Are the compaints pretty much the same? Has there been any recent improvements or personal experiences to report?
I have read the blogs and just wanted to add a perspective that is more recent than 2010. My child attends Santa Monica. I have been classified by some in the parental world as one who has OPP (over-protective parent). I gladly accept this position because society today warrants that I behave cautiously concerning the safety/well-being of my child.
Santa Monica, in my humble opinion, has lots of pros. One, I do believe my child is safe. I have peace of mind knowing that he will come home in one peace. I will say my child has come home with scratches (small) but because of the age group he’s in, I believe that just happens. My child has not been in Santa Monica that long but is learning so much already. I believe the curriculum they are using is really effective. My child is speaking Japenese words, has improved recognition of objects and is learning to trace. I like that my child gets homework to practice every weekend. I like the structure that the school provides. I can only speak regarding my child’s teacher and she is nice. She seems focused and kind. My child LOVES being there due to the friendships that have kindled and the teacher. I will say my little one does not always enjoy the lunches, but that’s not a biggy. The school celebrate’s the children’s b-day. They allow you to do parties. They celebrate major US holidays. My child has participated in Easter Egg hunts, done crafts for St. Patricks day, Mother’s Day and more. At the end of each month, you are given a roll of all the assignments your child has done in the class and for homework. This is one way to see what they are doing each day with your child. The school is truly International…kids from different ethinic groups attend and lots of military families have their kids enrolled here.
One negative is money. DO NOT PAY until the 20th because you will not get your money back, even if you decide to take your kid out,go on vacation,etc.
Also,ask the teacher daily about your child’s progress. I thought my child was behaving well. I was later told of some misbehaving moments which I think I should have been told on the day it happened.
I agree that the prinicpal can be go from Hot to Cold, but that doesn’t bother me. She can’t always looks happy, especially having this position. If I have any issue that concerns me, I take it to her and we both put on our serious face and work it out. Nothing that any adult can’t handle.
Lastly, I don’t know the woman who works extended care in the morning. She has no interaction with my child; however, I did hear her one morning yelling at the kids in a different age group. I said to myself “dag” and “glad that my kid isn’t in the group b/c I’d had to talk with her”.
In regards to the corporate punishment, my child (that I know of) has never been hit from a teacher. I did witness a parent just recently complaining of this issue happening to her child in another age group, but I really don’t have any more facts than that. I didn’t withdraw my kid and nor did any other parents that I know of.
The last negative, which I believe tops all, is the typhoon rule in place. If a typhoon occurs, you have 10 minutes to pick up your child before they evacuate to their designated safe haven which is farther away from the school. Being OPP, that worries me some because I know that I couldn’t make it there in 10 minutes.
So there are the pros and cons from my perspective.
One more consideration is accountability. I’ve heard that if anything should happen while your child attends an off-base school, the military will not help you. It becomes an international issue and you will have to go through the Japenese governement,etc. to resolve the problem. So, if that’s true, that something to consider no matter what school your child attends off base.
hope this helps.
-Fresh Perspective
I walk by the school on a regular basis, and have heard staff yelling at the kids on a regular basis. I paid a deposit here, but decided on another school. I just had a terrible feeling, later confirmed by the idiotic comments by staff at the school on this website. There are so many great off-base preschools (Okinawa Montessori, Sunshine, Rainbow, to name a few) I cannot imagine any reason to put your child here. After speaking with other former patrons, that lost deposit is the best one hundred dollars I’ve ever spent.
My children have been attending this school for awhile now and I have NO complaints. I like the fact my child will not disrespect an adult due to the dicipline/time out method the school uses. When I need to talk to a teacher, principal or the director they are always available and make time. When we were told we were coming here to Okinawa, one thing we were informed of was that the schools are not American and do dicipline. Well, to be honest I do not like hard punishment for my children, but if they need to be redirected then yes timeout and or dicipline is ok. I have not witnessed anything brutal from anyone. I have seen how some kids at this school behave and it is obvious that they get NO home training at home, so yes, you will not like the way your child is being treated. This is another country if you want your child treated a certain way take them back onbase. I have had my children onbase and well to be honest I want mine to stay at this school. Come on people, if I even felt that my child(ren) were being abused I would remove them from that facility. Tell me, you say you heard someone yell at the children, do you not raise your voice at your children? If you don’t want anyone else raising there voice at YOUR child take them out. It really is that easy.
I’d love to hear from other parents that have their child enrolled as of 2011.. Or maybe contact me? We checked out this school and me and my husband feel in love! Our daughter is bright and seemed to be on her level of education. But I am worried about the punishment. I don’t mind discipline since, they are kids and will not always be angels.. Lol
Tara,
If I were you, I would go with your parental instinct. NOT by what others are saying. If you fell in love with it then go with it. I have learned since being in Okinawa, that ALOT of people are not satisfied with ANYTHING. I am not saying that someone else punishing your child is right or wrong but that is solely up to that parent(s). The maturity of some of the people on this sight is saying alot. My children attend this school and have been for a little over two years and I am pleased. Yes, we have had some discipline issues, but I KNOW MY KIDS, they are not angels sometimes. It appears, and again it appears that people on hear have angels, lol lol. Here nor there, I have agreed with the form of punishment that my children have told me about. I have not had any problems with this school, I have found that the teachers love my children. When they first started they made it very easy to drop off without an ordeal. I have been nothing but pleased with there care at Santa Monica.
Sta. Monica and/or Rowena,
I am a SOFA status parent, thinking of sending my toddler to a school off-base..and I do like your academic and extra curricular program. I am also wondering if you would welcome a parent volunteer staff? To go from one class room to another to extend some assistance to teachers, and to obeserve..not just for a one-time visit but more like an actual school staff assistant, only you don’t have to pay me. I’d do it for free! You get a little help around in your school, and we
continuation..
*and we parents get a little “insider’s point of view” to add to our peace of mind for having our child go to your school..because naturally, I will be sharing my Sta. Monica experience daily with the public. Let me know if you welcome this idea, what requirements you need from me..like police records (SOFA and Jp), etc. Given the go, I will clear my schedule for this.
To Lynn,
I visited the school and wanted to enroll my child there. but while I was talking to the principal. I heard teacher from the first door yealing to the children. are the teachers there educated? or are they trained? they should be the one to teach manners to children.
I like the structure but discipline to children is not acceptable for me also when we get to the 3rd floor on bigger kids i saw 3 children standing at the hall with their head on the wall. the principal told me they are time out.and one of the kids tell the principal can he eat his lunch.if the child is time out are they not alowwed to eat their lunch? I heard also a male teacher the same thing yealing at the kids! I was impress when the principal wss telling me about the school programs and curriculum but I am not just happy that she can’t discipline Teachers on that school. or is that the way how they teach the children by yealing at them? i wanted my child to learn but when that is how teachers way to discipline the children I don’t think this is good for our kids.how can they concentrate if they are not comfortable to teacher.
Hi All,
I just visited the school yesterday and its hard to get a real sense of the place based off visiting the room and meeting the teachers for a few minutes, so I very much would like to speak to a parent who currently has their child in the 6 weeks to 18 months classroom or has had their child in that classroom.
Does anyone know if cameras are in the classrooms? I didn’t see monitors in the front office, and with the comments above, I assume not, but I will ask the next time I visit.
Please respond to this post, if you have any specific feedback about the newborn care at Santa Monica. Thanks.
Hello Jessica,
I am just concern about your child did you talk to anyone at the classroom?
my child was there for about 2 months but I did not like what is happening in the room every time I pick up my child, I see different teacher and can’t even talk well. they have teacher who can’t explain to me what ever i asked her. how come they put teacher in infant room that can’t speak to parents well. and why is it that they don’t have the same teacher in the room.
and there are so many children in the room.it’s your choice but for me that I had my child there and fulled her out I did not like much.I like the structure but the people seems like not fit to infants. hope this will help you. to decide.
Editor’s Note: As you can see from the comments above, many parents appear to have mixed feelings and reviews about this school. Because we feel the comments have fairly represented both sides of the argument we are permanently closing this post to any further comments, positive or negative, though we are leaving all previous comments intact and unedited. It is our recommendation that if you have a question or concern about this school, its administration, or its teachers that you contact the school directly. Thank you for your support in this matter.