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 the 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.
If your child attends a school that has not been reviewed on this site, please contact our Submissions Manager for the template.
CONTRIBUTED BY MAE MARTIN
Name of the school: Educare Montessori International Preschool
Address: 1427 Adaniya, Kitnakaguzuku, Nakagami-gun Okinawa Japan 901-2316
GPS Coordinates: 26.2934764, 127.78885650000007
Directions: It is 5 minutes from the Camp Foster Legion gate. When you come out from the Legion gate, go straight through the first stoplight. You will pass two more traffic lights and then the preschool will be on the right after the Panda Chinese restaurant.
Phone: 098-927-3076
Email: educaremontessoriokinawa@yahoo.com
Website: www.educaremontessorijp.com
Ages Accepted: 6 months to 5 years
Ages of Your Kid(s) in this School: Two Years
Admissions/Enrollment
What is the current number of students? 23
Is enrollment open/year-round enrollment or per semester? Enrollment is all year-round
Does my child have to be potty-trained to attend? No. When my son started at the school, he wasn’t potty trained. The school was very helpful and helped me when it came time to potty train, my son. They start potty training kids at the age of 2 at the school.
Can I bring my child in for a pre-enrollment visit? Yes. The staff is very friendly and informative. I visited the school multiple times before I enrolled my son in the class.
Days and Hours
What are the school’s hours? They are open Monday through Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Is the school on a Japanese or American schedule? The school observes American holidays.
How flexible is the school with pickup and drop-off times? They prefer kids to be dropped off and picked up during the schedule kids are enrolled in, although they are flexible with parents’ schedules. They prefer to be informed about changes to schedule ahead of time. From my experience, they are always available and willing to work around my schedule.
Costs
What are the registration fees?
One – time payment of ¥ 5,000 for the registration
What are the tuition fees?
They are currently ruining a promotion which will continue until the class size has reached 30.
(Full Time) Promo Price Regular
Plan A 6AM – 6PM ¥ 40,000 ¥ 47,000
Plan B 7AM – 5PM ¥ 38,000 ¥ 45,000
Plan C 9AM – 3PM ¥ 28,000 ¥ 35,000
(Part Time- 3 days a week)
Plan A 6AM – 6PM ¥ 30,000 ¥ 36,000
Plan B 7AM – 5PM ¥ 28,000 ¥ 34,000
Plan C 6AM – 3PM ¥ 25,000 ¥ 30,000
If any, what are the assessment and school supplies fees?
Baby Class (Happy Class) – Free supply fee
Toddler Class (Faith Class) – Full-time ¥ 15,000 Part-time, ¥ 10,000
Preschool 1 and 2 (Hope and Love Class) – Full-time ¥ 20,000, Part-time ¥ 16,000
Are any discounts offered for referrals, siblings, volunteering, working there, etc.? They give discounts on siblings and referrals. Also I know that staff and teachers are given discounts for their children.
Is there a late-pickup fee? 15 minutes beyond your contract time will be a charge of ¥ 500.
How and when does the school require payment (in yen, dollars, etc.)? Payments are made in yen; however, dollars are also acceptable. The dollar amount depends on the exchange rate on the day tuition is paid. Tuition is due between the 1st – 5th of the month.
Parent Involvement and Interaction
Does the school encourage spontaneous visits from parents? Yes.
How do you communicate with parents? They provide daily report diary, weekly behavioral management report, and monthly calendar of activities. They encourage a dialogue between parents and teachers upon parents’ preferable time.
Is there a daily report or other process for informing parents of what children did during the day (naps, BMs, snacks, etc.)? Yes. The daily report diary is included activities, notes for parents, potty time schedule, meal record, and more.
Are there parent/teacher conferences? Yes. They always give a notification and an update one month before the conference, but they are available for one on one meetings. They are very good with communication. I always talk to teachers every day when I pick my son up. They make us feel like a family.
Classroom Structure and Size
How are the kids grouped? Kids are grouped according to their age.
What’s the teacher-child ratio in each group?
Baby room (Happy Room): 6 children to 1 teacher/ 1 assistant
Toddler room (Faith Room): 12 children to 1 teacher/ 1 assistant
Preschool 1 (Hope Room): 16 children to 1 teacher/ 1 assistant
Preschool 2 (Love Room): 20 children to 1 teacher/ 1 assistant (soon to open)
How many full-time teachers do you have? How many assistants? Currently, they have 4 full time teachers and 3 assistants.
What is the school’s educational philosophy? Educare Montessori International Preschool provides a home-like setting and learning environment filled with developmentally appropriate materials to provide experience that contributes to the growth of self-motivated, independent learners.
Is the school program developmentally-based or does it have an academic focus? Montessori based curriculum is provided; however, children are given diverse activities where they may explore and learn.
Is there a playground for the children to play on? The big vacant blue room is their playroom, but there is a playground behind the school building where they hold their Friday Fun-day at the park.
What do the children do on any given day? They have structured Montessori curriculum with various activities on each subject. Curriculum involves Language and Arts, Mathematics, Geography, Sensorial and Practical Life Exercises where they do lots of activities.
Are there extracurricular activities or field trips? Yes. They offer varieties of activities for parents to choose from. This month, they offer a swimming program which I signed my son up for. For this year’s summer program, they provided activities such as karate class and Eisa dance class.
How does the school discipline children? Children are free to do anything appropriate within the ground rules of the school community, but are redirected promptly and firmly if they cross over the line. Adult intervention is done immediately and they remove the child from the situation. If the child is out of control and is unable to respond to redirection, the teacher chooses to have the child to sit quietly in “time-out” which does not last more than 5 minutes. Maximum punishment for misdemeanor is a “NO PLAYROOM/ NO PARK” policy.
How does the school comfort children? They give a lot of hugs, talk to the child, and give children eye-to-eye contact to regain self-esteem. Another unique approach is making the child a classroom helper for the day.
Final Comments or Observations about the School:
Since my son has started going to Educare Montessori International Preschool, we have seen a lot of improvement. He now wants to help with chores and shows me new skills he’s learned from the school. Every time we drive past the school, he will ask if he can go. I am thankful my son enjoys his time at the school and I also like how the teachers and staff communicate with parents. They listen to my needs and requests and they always fulfill them. I am fully satisfied with the care my son receives. Most importantly, they never make me feel like I have missed out on my son’s daily activities.
Directions: It is 5 minutes from the Camp Foster Legion gate. When you come out from the Legion gate, go straight through the first stoplight. You will pass two more traffic lights and then the preschool will be on the right after the Panda Chinese restaurant.
Address: 1427 Adaniya, Kitnakaguzuku, Nakagami-gun Okinawa Japan 901-2316.
Educare Montessori is awesome! The entire staff is kind hearted, extremely patient and focused on creating the greatest possible learning environment for the children. We checked out several schools and settled on this one because of the small student to teacher ratio, the cost is fair and the school is located right outside Camp Foster near the Legion and SgtMaj gate.
Our daughter has attended the school for over one year now and we are so impressed with her progress. She was a little shy at first but she quickly adapted to her surroundings and with the help of the excellent teachers, she is gaining self confidence, great manners and overall social skills. She is advanincg in all math, reading and basic Japanese.
The school also has several extra curricular activities so we decided on the swimming lessons. Our daughter loves the swimming lessons and she attends once a week with several of her classmates. Overall, we could not be more happier with our daughters progress in her education and social skills. She is much more advanced then her older siblings when they were her age. So if your looking for a great school go to Educare Montessori.
THis review is about Rainbow Montessori by baba park. It was very nice at first but everyone hides important information from parents! They are very flexible but when something happens to your child they just don’t care. One of our friends had their child in that school and her 14mont old fell off of the high chair and broke two teeth and they didn’t even have the courtesy to call when it happened but like 5 min before picking up the child. So their child was probably in pain for over 6 hours! Then accidents that happen to my own children were never reported to me. luckily my children tell me about their day so I find out about the bad things that happened to them. Rainbow loves to cover uo their mistakes. Oh and another thing it’s not really a preschool it’s more of a daycare because my kids would come home knowing about Wonder Woman, super girl, spongebob (which I can’t stand), and tv shoes I would never show my kids. Oh And they give kids candy everyday for them to learn a special dance or song! And they only comfort the pretty kids not all kids, so if your kid is a good looking kid he/she will be ok if not they let them scream all day. Another thing the price difference for the highest level room which is the green room is a rip off because all they do is color the entire year and not work on writing. The level below that is the orange room, they do way more homework than in the room that they are suppose to learn more. Also each classroom is consisted of 40+ students. They have packed students in their like never before. They only have two or sometimes three teachers in that room which is still more than 10kids that an inexperienced teacher brought from the Philippians can handle. Don’t waste your time like I have. Plus all the fees are ridiculous! They say supply fee and registration fee are required for every school year! And snack days, don’t get me started with that. It’s a joke! You have to bring in snacks for all children or now half of the children once a month, it has to include juice and utensils. Ridiculous because some parents bring candy bags as a snack or junk food even though the school had a policy of non healthy food allowed. Don’t waste your money or time. This school is a hazard for children to be there. Oh and one last thing, this summer they painted the school and the owner was too cheap to hire people to paint so they made the teachers paint while children were in the school! My children did not attend while they were painting but when we returned from break we heard about it that there was painting involved during school hours there was a teacher that was confronted about it and she admitted to it. I would have been irate if my children attended because of the fumes that are so dangerous for anyone! I shame on this school. Teachers are exploited and the quality of it has really downgraded from before. I also noticed they removed the comment option so people won’t review. But yes the extended care children do not learn anything but are only put in front of a television to sit quiet and not bother anyone while watching any cartoon that is available at that time. These issues were addressed but nothing was never done. ;(
I have had the most amazing experience with having my daughter enrolled at Educare. The whole staff (especially Ms. Beth) loves and cares for my daughter in ways I feel you could only get from family. My daughter started there back in June 2015. We moved from Camp Foster out to Yomitan in November. Educare cared enough to work out a shuttle service that would meet me at Kadena Gate 1 (because I worked there) for drop off and pick up. Keeley has blossomed under the care and teaching of this wonderful school. She feels free to express herself and surprises me with all that she learns each day. She is already reading basic words and understanding how to put sounds together. My expectations have been surpassed in the best of ways! I truly am so happy to have my daughter attend. It is wonderful to know she loves her teachers just as much! Thank you Educare!!!
When we moved on island, about 3 months ago, one of our top priorities was to enroll our 2.5 year old daughter into some type of toddler school that offered fun playtime as well as structured learning. I researched all of the potential schools within a 10 mile radius of Camp Foster, spoke with several parents who had insight, and visited 6 different schools. Educare Montessori was the clear choice for our family’s needs.
I am happy to report, after 2 months of our daughter attending a fulltime schedule from 9AM to 3PM, that we made the right choice. Everyday when I drop her off, we are greeted by smiles and enthusiatic “good mornings.” Our daughter loves her teachers and the staff–everyday I witness how much they genuinely care about her too. We like that the school is small and has a very personal feel. We receive daily reports keeping us informed on her activities, eating, potty-training, behavior, etc. The facility is extremely clean and safe. It is also a very bright and happy environment with everything inside, from the flooring to the furniture, looking brand new. Everyday I have peace of mind that our daughter is in a safe and fun learning environment where she is thriving.
My criteria for selecting a daycare/preschool were:
1. A place that offers a balanced combination of free unstructured playtime as well as learning educational activities.
2. A friendly environment with professional-capable-trustworthy staff.
3. Clean, safe, and central location.
When I decided to visit the school to get more information, first thing I noticed was the place was clean and everything inside was brand new. I was pleasantly surprised by how friendly and patient the staff was with me when answering all my questions, which was a lot of them.
My daughter attends the school part time, Tuesday to Thursday. She is in the Happy Class (up to 2 years old) with Ms. Gutierrez (Ms. Gucci), and is about to transition to the Faith Class (2 to 3.5 years old). Ms. Gucci is a very loving, genuine and diligent teacher. When she has to offer advice concerning my daughter, she does in a very tactful and respectful way.
Ms. Beth, the School Principal, is very professional and is always available for when a parent has any questions or concerns.
Three things I like the most about Educare Montessori are:
1. They offer lunch and snack for an extra fee, and the menu consist of Japanese and Okinawan food. I find it great because my daughter gets to experience that side of the culture, which I see it as part of her learning experience.
2. The daily feedback provided by the staff on her daily activities, and the genuine interests they exhibit in seeing her thrive.
3. They always receive my daughter and I with a big smile and warm greetings.
Overall, the Staff of Educare Montessori International School maintains good balance academic and social activities for a daycare/pre-school child. I am very pleased with how my daughter is well cared for, and how she is learning and developing new skills. It feels like I am leaving her with family every morning. I have seen my child blossom.
Denise Suris