Okinawa Christian School International

Terrible. Most teachers here aren't even licensed to teach at schools in the United States. If you don't believe me, just ask. Absolutely toxic environment and totally incompetent teachers, principal, and superintendent. Anywhere is better than here. They don't practice Christian values here at all. They're all talk but it's just a farce. You'll see.

Everything is good. Except, who bans the most popular sport in the world?

This is my 9th year at OCSI. The teachers are very nice and I have a lot of good friends here.

I am a recent alumnus at OCSI. There are about 400 students from K-12. For me it was a great experience, I do not think I appreciated how good of an environment it was at the time. It's the only international school. Although the new administration is making the environment worse by cutting down costs and implementing awful policies. In my opinion, high school principal and the superintendent are RUINING the events, purchasing unnecessary equipment such as personal Chromebooks, and "reforming" the school in a negative way. For DoD parents, this school is great for its diverse christian community, students are mostly friendly. Academically, it might not reach your DoDEA expectation. Education is good until their high school year. AP class costs about $400 if I remember correctly. There are only few AP classes. They only offer Japanese foreign language classes because of the lack of Spanish or other foreign teachers. They used to have one, but they had to get rid of it. Students score fairly good on the SAT. Some teachers are absolutely the worst at teaching. From what I've seen, most Asian kids automatically gets enrolled in honors classes from 7th grade. It's not based on race in anyway, but it just shows that their parents are really committed to sending their kids to prestigious schools through tutors/juku unlike most American parents. It receives American accreditation, so it's easy to transfer to US public/private schools like I did during my high school year. Some parents were impressed with the international environment and Japanese classes! REMEMBER, most American graduates do not receive in-state tuition, so parents tend to transfer their kids before 11th grade. (Unless your child is interested in further pursuing Japanese culture and language in Japan). Some graduates go to prestigious schools like UMass Amherst, ICU, Keio, Waseda, Tsukuba, but that has nothing to do with OCSI's education. Most go to juku or get tutors on their own. I applaud the college counselor for his analysis and great work though. There are more and more club activities each year, such as yearbook, photography, etc... just like on base. I felt like teachers that sponsor clubs and sports OR fresh out of school with their degree are more dedicated to teaching unlike other bratty middle-aged teachers who are rude and unprofessional. In terms of SPORTS, OCSI competes with DoDEA schools and Zion Academy weekly on base or at home and also participate in Far East Championships. Students are allowed to participate from 8th grade. The athletic department as a whole is very committed. I liked the teamwork and friendship I made through sports. Some high school students give effort to coach elementary students after-school or service week. Lunch time is fairly relaxed, they have about 30-40 minutes to eat and hangout. Now there are pop-up restaurants that serve food as school lunch because lunch ladies retired last year. There are Japanese vending machines as well :) It's a unique place to get to know Japanese parents and learn more about the culture while being stationed in Okinawa. There are several school events giving opportunities for middle and high school students to interact and work together with lower grade classes (K-5th). They have amazing yearly Christmas programs and choirs. There's service week where students are given opportunities to serve others in the local community. MY BIGGEST ADVICE IS, PARTICIPATE, PARTICIPATE, PARTICIPATE!! This applies to both the students and parents at OCSI. If you don't commit yourselves to the community by simply talking to other parents, plan dinners, or volunteering, nothing gets done! PTA also has a large voice in the administration if something goes wrong. If you want to see your child grow as a person, apply here. BUT I don't recommend OCSI high school for obv reasons

Very good school! I love it! So many friends!