For the safety and security of our school community, all cars used by NIS families to come to NIS should be registered with NIS. Drivers should display an official sign showing that their car is registered at all times when entering NIS property.

Parents are requested to submit a registration form for a sign using THIS FORM. Plese contact operations@nis.ac.jp if you have any questions.

Read the Pick Up and Drop Off Information

The purpose of this NIS Parent-Student Handbook is to provide students and parents with the necessary information regarding school expectations, policies, and practices. This handbook is reviewed annually in order to remain current and may also be updated during the school year should the need arise.

It is advised that you always refer to the handbook from the NIS Parent Portal or the NIS website rather than a downloaded copy to ensure you are viewing the most recent version.

Download the Handbook

NIS does not require students to wear a school uniform. Rather, we expect students to exercise appropriate discretion with regard to attire. Clothing should be comfortable, appropriate to conditions, and not offensive to others.

Students:

The school campus is open to students from 8:05 AM each day

The campus is closed, with the exception of special events, from 18:00 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday and 16:30 on Wednesday.

Depending upon the age of the student, there are various times after which students are not permitted on campus, or are not permitted unless supervised by a parent. Please refer to the community expectations for the Primary and Secondary Schools, as set out in the relevant sections below for details.

Parents:

Parents are welcome on campus provided that they are wearing their parent tag and have signed in.

Permitted areas for parents are the East Café/Lobby (from 8:05-15:00) and the commons/Elementary playground (from 15:00-16:30). Other areas and times are by invitation only, for example, ELC community time, special class presentations, events, meetings with staff, etc.

The NIS Little Dolphins Club is an after school program aimed at supporting NIS families with after school childcare needs, allowing parents the flexibility and peace of mind they need to both work and take care of their families.

Families must enroll their children quarterly, and students who sign-up for a full-week program are given higher priority for placement into the program. Note that this program is offered to parents who work and would otherwise find it difficult to collect their child at the end of the regular school day.

If you have questions please email littledolphins@nis.ac.jp.  

Learn More and Sign Up

The NIS community can purchase various NIS “Spirit Wear” clothing and other items at the Cezars East Cafe. Items are available for purchase using your child’s account.

Parents are encouraged to visit the campus during the day and can purchase food and drinks from the East Café in the East Building from 8:30 to 14:00. After 14:00, parents may purchase food from the Commons until the campus closes at 16:30 PM. Please use this opportunity to socialize with other parents while you supervise your child’s play.

Parents are asked to avoid using the Commons area until after 14:00.

At NIS, learning goes beyond the classroom. Our Co-Curricular Activities Program offers a wide range of opportunities for students to explore interests, develop leadership skills, and build lifelong friendships.

Learn More About Co-Curricular Activities

Strong collaboration between home and school is an important way that we can support students achieve our mission and communication is of course key to that parent-school partnership.

It is important to understand the ways we communicate within our community as well as the ways in which we ask parents to communicate with the school around your child's learning.

Learn More

NIS uses YouTube, Instagram and Facebook to share, collaborate and celebrate the learning in our community. Parents are encouraged to follow these social media networks as well to learn about the school and activities. Photos are uploaded onto our official photo galleries.

Parents (and students!) are also requested to read and understand out Social Media Policy.

NIS uses the full range of Google Workspace, including Gmail, Sites, Meets, drive, Calendar, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, etc.

Google Account for Students: All NIS students are provided with a Google account and issued a personal account name and password. Students are asked to set their own password in grades 5-12. Students will access their Google accounts when appropriate for their learning.

Google Drive for Students: Each student is allocated a personal Drive to store their school work. The Drive is cloud storage where y our child can keep and organize all their school work, giving them access to it on any device.

Within Drive, your child can create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, collaborate with peers and teachers in real-time, allowing them to share their work, get feedback, and make edits instantaneously.

We encourage parents to regularly monitor their child's digital footprint and online behavior in an age-appropriate manner.

ID Cards

Students:

I.D. cards are issued to students in grades 4-12 each year but do not need to be visible at all times.

However, registered bus riders are required to use their ID Cards to tag on/tag off the NIS bus as a condition of bus travel. Preschool-Grade 3 children are issued a ‘young rider tag’ which they attach to their backpacks and use to tap on and off the bus. Other students may find these cards useful to purchase discounted student rail passes or other discounted products or services for students in Japan. Replacements of lost cards can be made at the Academic Office for a nominal fee.

Adults:

All adults on the NIS campus must wear a school-issued ID card on a lanyard. Parents are issued ID cards on their child’s admission to NIS and are expected to wear the ID cards whenever on campus. Visitors

and parents who may have forgotten their cards should obtain their ID lanyard when signing in upon entering the campus. If you lose your lanyard/ID card please contact academicoffice@nis.ac.jp.

Signing In to School

In addition to wearing their lanyard ID, if parents are on campus during the school day when the gates are locked (after 8:20 and before 15:30) it is essential that they sign in and out at the front office. This is so that we can account for all community members in the case of an emergency. This requirement is waived when the gates are unlocked (e.g. weekend or evening events, learning conferences, etc).

Gate times are as follows:

• Main gate: closed 8:20 to 15:30 (14:00 on Wednesdays)
• Bus gate: open 8:05-8:20 (or after last bus arrives) and 15:30-15:40 (or after last bus leaves) (14:00-14:10 on Wednesdays)
• ELC gate: open 8:05-8:20 and 15:15-15:45 (14:00-14:30 on Wednesdays)
• Little Dolphins: pickup before 17:00, please enter through the main gate as usual; for pickup after 17:00, the Little Dolphins supervisor will provide details at the start of using the service.

ID Cards on the Bus

ID cards are created for all students in grades 4-12 (with their photo) which are to be used on the bus. Students in ELC to grade 3 get a specific bus card (without a photo). 

It is important that students have their ID card or bus card with them each time they travel and that they tap on and off the bus both in the morning and the afternoon. Young riders have their bus cards tucked into a tag color-coded for their bus; please make sure this is securely attached to their backpack.

How to Board the Bus

As students board the bus, the tap their Student ID card against the BusMinder unit which records their name, location, and boarding time. This tap will provide parents with the information that their student has boarded the bus via the BusMinder app notification. All  student "tap-on" and "tap-off" information is available in real time. If you have notifications enabled, it will alert you.

BusMinder App for Parents

Download the App for Android

Download the App for Apple iOS