Boys in the summer school ‘hood
The number of boys attending the ISSH Summer School has doubled in 2015
On June 15, the International School of the Sacred Heart (ISSH) opened its yearly summer school. Everything started off as if it were a normal school day: girls from each grade gathered and talked. However, just one thing deviated from the daily feel of an all-girls school–the presence of boys.
Liam (left) is having some fun with science with Nicole and Emma (both right).
“It feels very different here,” said Matis (6) from the International French School in Tokyo.
“First, it was just kind of…weird [that I was in an all-girls school],” said Noah (6) from K. International School in Tokyo.
What a weird fire…Lou (left) and Noah (right) experimenting chemicals using a Bunsen burner.
This year, the ISSH Summer School provided an energetic program with fast-paced activities, crafty courses, and academic studies. Showing a 30% increase of students compared to last year, the summer school enrolled a total of 164 students. Out of these 164 students, 18 were boys.
The majority of boys were in the kindergarten programs, but boys in grades 4, 5, and 6 also enrolled in courses. There were no boys in high school courses, although this year’s program allowed high school boys to attend the ISSH Summer School. This is a huge difference compared to the previous years, when no high school boys were permitted to go to the summer school due to limited facilities.
Noah playing with dry ice in bubbles during Weird Science.
In the past years, the highest number of boys attending the ISSH Summer School only came up to 8 or 9 boys. This year the number of boys doubled compared to last year.
“You can do more things here than the other summer schools, and that’s more fun to do,” said Matis. “Also, I think the gymnasium is really nice here.”
“Everything is kind of big and convenient,” said Noah. “I’ve gone to other summer schools before, but this summer school is different and not really learning-based. It’s more activity-based.”
Both Matis and Noah would like to join the ISSH Summer School again.
“A few parents asked how many boys were here,” said Ms. Spentzos, Summer School Co-ordinator. “We’d really like to increase number of boys. If we lose some of the boys, then we might lose all of the boys.”
“We’d like to double the number of boys again next year,” said Mr. Nicholson, Summer School Co-ordinator.
To make the boys feel more comfortable, several bathrooms and a separate changing room were added in the Junior and Middle School areas.