Keio Academy of New York, one of the High Schools affiliated with the entire Keio educational system, was founded in 1990. It is a high school authorized by New York State and is a member of NYSAIS (The New York State Association of Independent Schools).

It is also authorized as an "overseas educational institution" by the Ministry of Education in Japan. With the collapse of the "bubble economy," most secondary education Japanese schools overseas were shut down, our school has its special significance.

About seventy per cent of classes at our school are conducted in English. In other words, education is almost entirely done by 'immersion' program. 'Immersion' education is an educational program aimed to let the learners naturally acquire the second language through teaching ordinary subjects in the second language.

It was first introduced in the state of Quebec, Canada to teach French to English native speaker children in 1965. It is generally said that the learning of the second language has the positive transfer in the study of other ordinary subjects and that the knowledge of a subject acquired through the second language is applicable to deal with the subject in the native language.

I think it very important to let the students directly from Japan or from overseas Japanese schools shift to this immersion program as smoothly as possible. As our students are living in the United States, they will naturally acquire 'frontier spirit," which then leads to the enterprising spirit of our founder, Yukichi Fukuzawa, who came over here for the first time on a ship called Kanrin-maru in 1860 and experienced various cultural differences.

At the same time, our students will get direct contact with the basis of democracy. I would especially like them to learn the fairness and the acknowledgment of excellence. There seems to be extreme egalitarianism in the primary education in Japan as symbolized by giving everyone the first prize in 50 meter dash. I believe, however, that seeing excellence in others will lead to finding one's own excellence. In the age of Yukichi Fukuzawa, it was of foremost priority for Japan to adopt civilization of the advanced countries.

At present, it is time that Japan let the world know what it has accomplished. I strongly hope that our students with their excellent communication competence and international mind will one day contribute to the well-being of the world.

Sumio Sakomura
Headmaster