Highlighted on this page are some of the major events held and milestones reached since the school’s founding in 1997.
1997
April
| K. English College opened at Higashisuna, Koto-ku as an English language school |
| Early childhood program began |
September
| Official foundation as an international kindergarten |
| Name changed to K. International College |
1998
September
| Elementary School opened for Grades 1 and 2 |
| Name changed to K. International School Tokyo |
1999
September
| Elementary School expanded to Grade 5 |
2000
July
| Recognized as an educational foundation by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government |
September
| Secondary School opened for Grades 6 to 9 |
2002
January
| IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) authorization received |
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2003
June
| IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) authorization received |
| Affiliated with the Council of International Schools (CIS) as a regular member |
September
2004
June
| IB Diploma Programme (DP) authorization received |
September
2005
September
2006
June
| Inaugural Grade 12 graduation ceremony held |
September
| Campus relocated to Shirakawa, Koto-ku |
2007
April
| 10th anniversary celebration held |
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2008
October, November
| IB PYP, MYP and DP Workshops in Tokyo held at KIST |
November
| Construction of West Building began |
2009
August
October
| KIST’s official newsletter became known as The Comet |
2010
January
| Artificial turf installed on main playground |
September
| LEAP (Learning Enhancement Academic Program) began |
| KIST Scholars’ Awards first awarded (for the 2010–11 school year) |
2011
April
| Visited the Tohoku region to support those affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake |
2012
April
| EIC (English Intensive Class) began for Grades 6 to 8 |
June
| Inaugural performance of the school song, “For Tomorrow” |
September
| KIST ‘Learning for Life’ University Support Scholarships first awarded (for the 2011–12 school year) |
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2013
May
| Granted approval as an International GCSE examinations center by Pearson Edexcel |
2014
August
| K. International Preschool (KIPS) opened at Nihonbashi-Hamacho, Chuo-ku for 2- to 4-year-olds |
2015
January
| Granted candidate status for accreditation by the Council of International Schools (CIS) |
July
| Graduates from the “Class of 2015” achieved an average DP score of 36 points, making KIST the highest ranking DP school in Japan for the first time |
2016
October
| K. International Preschool (KIPS) relocated to Morishita, Koto-ku and re-opened for 0- to 2-year-olds |
2017
February
| Granted full accreditation by the Council of International Schools (CIS) |
October
| 20th anniversary celebration held (“K.20 Celebration”) |
November
| Granted membership of the East Asia Regional Council of Schools (EARCOS) |
2018
August
| Granted membership of the Japan Council of International Schools (JCIS) |
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2019
May
| Granted approval as a Cambridge International School by Cambridge Assessment International Education |
August
| IGCSE curriculum introduced for Grades 9 and 10 |
| Teacher Development Scheme commenced |
October
| Ranked in the Global Top 50 IB Schools by IB-Schools.com for the first time (at #12) |
December
| KIST Facebook page opened |
2020
February
| KIST Instagram and Twitter pages opened |
March–June
| Distance learning program implemented during COVID-19 pandemic |
December
| Ranked at #13 in the Global Top 100 IB Schools by IB-Schools.com |
2021
October
| Ranked at #7 in the Global Top 100 IB Schools by IB-Schools.com |
2022
August
| 25th anniversary celebration held |
| KIST Lower Secondary Programme (LSP) introduced for Grades 6 to 8 |
