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International School of the Sacred Heart

Japan, Tokyo

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The school at a glance
Instructs in English
Fees ¥2,640,000 - 2,940,000
Ages 3 - 18 years
Pupil numbers 585
Type Co-educational, Girls School
Opened 1908
Bus Service No
Availability Not shared by this school
Academic offering
Curriculum IPC (International Primary Curriculum), Advanced Placement (AP), Bespoke Curriculum, EYFS (Early years foundation stage)
Taught languages French, Japanese
Typical class size 22
Strengths Performing Arts, STEM, Academic Enrichment
Clubs Academic and Intellectual, Arts and Creative, Community and Service
Stages Kindergarten, Elementary, Middle School, High School
Introduction

International School of the Sacred Heart (ISSH) in Tokyo was founded in 1908 and is located in Shibuya-ku, about three minutes from Hiroo Station. The school enrolls approximately 585 students and is co-educational in Kindergarten (ages 3–5), then girls-only from Grade 1 through Grade 12. ISSH describes its programme as an in-house curriculum and uses the Early Years Foundation Stage in Kindergarten and the International Primary Curriculum in Junior School. In Grades 11–12, students can take Advanced Placement courses. ISSH lists 22 AP subjects including sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Physics), Computer Science A and languages (French and Japanese). Outside class, the school offers competitive sporting teams through the Kanto Plain Association of Secondary Schools (KPASS) and participates in arts and academic activities through KPASS such as Model United Nations, Debate, and Artscape (an annual exhibition event). Particularly of note are Sacred Heart's award-winning orchestras and choirs, which routine receive top scores at domestic and international competitions.

www.issh.ac.jp

4 Chome-3-1 Hiroo, Shibuya, Tokyo 150-0012, Japan

Vibes and Culture
The school has not added this information
The Essentials

International School of the Sacred Heart has 585 pupils, typical class sizes of 22, instruction in English.

Location
International School of the Sacred Heart is located at 4-3-1 Hiroo, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0012, Japan. The Hiroo district is a residential part of Tokyo with convenient access to central Tokyo by subway. The campus is a short walk from Hiroo Station on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line, and the area offers safe off-street drop-off and pick-up.

Stages
The school comprises Kindergarten (K3–K5), a Junior School (Grade 1–4), a Middle School (Grade 5–8), and a High School (Grade 9–12). Kindergarten is coeducational, while the Junior School, Middle School, and High School serve girls only.

Type
Independent international school; co-educational in Kindergarten, girls-only from Grade 1 onwards.

Pupil Nationality Mix
The school represents students from about 50 countries, and languages spoken at home total 31. The most represented nationality is not publicly published. Admission policy requires non-Japanese passports for Grade 9 and below, indicating a diverse international intake.

Additional learning support
The Learning Support program is designed to support individual student needs. The school recognises that some students may require additional support even when admission is at or above grade level, using a variety of methods and materials.

Country affiliation
No single country affiliation is stated; ISSH is located in Japan and is part of the Sacred Heart global network of schools.

Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation is with the Society of the Sacred Heart (Sacred Heart network).

School day structure
The school day for Middle and High School starts around 8:20 a.m. with a 10:40–10:55 a.m. break and a 12:20–1:20 p.m. lunch period, with dismissal at 3:30 p.m. Before-school arrival is discouraged before 7:45 a.m. for Middle School and 7:30 a.m. for High School.

Bus service
There is no school bus service; families typically use public transit or private arrangements for transport.
Diving Deeper
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Fees

Annual tuition at International School of the Sacred Heart ranges from JPY 2,640,000 to JPY 2,940,000 for 2026/27.

Application and entry fees
- Application Fee: ¥30,000 per student (non-refundable).
- Registration Fee: ¥300,000 per student (non-refundable, one-time).
- Educational & Building Development Fee: ¥600,000 per student (non-refundable, one-time).
- Building / Maintenance Fee: ¥220,000 per student (non-refundable, annual).

Tuition — annual and per academic quarter (per year group)
- Kindergarten 3 and 4: Annual tuition ¥2,420,000; per academic quarter (annual ÷ 4) ¥605,000.
- Kindergarten 5: Annual tuition ¥2,530,000; per academic quarter ¥632,500.
- Grades 1–8: Annual tuition ¥2,620,000; per academic quarter ¥655,000.
- Grades 9–11: Annual tuition ¥2,640,000; per academic quarter ¥660,000.
- Grade 12: Annual tuition ¥2,720,000; per academic quarter ¥680,000.

(Quarter amounts are calculated from the published annual tuition; the school uses academic quarters for proration of tuition for late enrollment.)

Billing schedule and payment terms
- All tuition and school fees must be paid in advance.
- For students who enroll after the school year begins, tuition is calculated on an academic quarter basis; attendance for any portion of a quarter requires payment for the entire quarter. Tuition and fees must be paid in full prior to enrollment.
- The published information does not include a public calendar of invoice dates or a multi-installment billing schedule; the requirement stated is payment in advance and quarterly proration for late starters.

Fee payment options and bank details
- Payment currency: Japanese Yen only. Payment method: bank transfer. The payer is responsible for any bank processing charges.
- Bank details (as published):
- Account Name: International School of the Sacred Heart
- Bank/Branch: Mizuho Bank, Ltd., Roppongi Branch
- Account Type: Ordinary Account
- Account No.: 2236320
- SWIFT Code: MHCBJPJT
- (Japanese account name and branch details are provided in Japanese on the school's payment information.)

Boarding fees
- The school operates as a day school and does not publish boarding facilities or boarding fees. No boarding fees apply.

Other costs and recurring extras
- School Shop: the school shop sells school-spirited merchandise and certain uniform items (for example, kindergarten smocks and PE T-shirts). Full uniform availability and specific uniform items are managed through the school's uniform supply channels. Prices for uniform items are not published on the public admissions/tuition pages.
- Extended Day Program (EDP): SEMESTER FEE ¥265,000 per student. Families pay for an entire semester at a time; the fee is a flat semester amount and does not pro-rate for days not attended. The EDP is not available on national holidays. The EDP fee is non-refundable.
- Additional optional costs that may apply (not itemized in the public tuition page): after-school activities, special event fees, supplies, trips, examination fees, elective or program-specific charges may be billed separately; those items are not listed with fixed amounts on the publicly accessible tuition page.

Refund information
- The following published fees are explicitly non-refundable: Application Fee, Registration Fee (one-time), Educational & Building Development Fee (one-time), and Building/Maintenance Fee (annual).
- The Extended Day Program semester fee is stated as non-refundable.
- The school requires tuition and all school fees to be paid in advance and uses quarterly proration for late enrollment; there is no publicly posted tuition refund or withdrawal refund schedule on the school's published admissions and tuition pages. The publicly published pages do not provide a detailed refund timetable for tuition when a student withdraws mid-year.

Notes on amounts and calculations
- All amounts above are published in Japanese Yen. Annual tuition figures are listed per year group; quarter figures shown above are straightforward divisions of the published annual tuition by four, consistent with the school's use of academic quarters for proration.

If you need any specific line-item clarifications that are not publicly posted (for example, uniform price lists, installment billing dates, or a formal withdrawal/refund schedule), those items are not available on the public admissions and tuition pages; the published statements above are the school's public tuition and fee positions.
Academics

International School of the Sacred Heart teaches IPC (International Primary Curriculum), Advanced Placement (AP), Bespoke Curriculum, EYFS (Early years foundation stage) for students aged 3 to 18.

Curriculum
ISSH offers an all-English K‑12 curriculum built on the Sacred Heart Goals and Criteria, with a Values program and an international-mindedness focus that aims to develop women leaders. Kindergarten (K3–K5) is co‑educational and uses the International Primary Curriculum framework for science and social studies, with Language Arts and Mathematics taught through specialist instruction in Art, PE, Music, Library, and Japanese and with technology integrated into learning. The school is organized as Junior School (Grade 1–4), Middle School (Grade 5–8), and High School (Grade 9–12), with a co‑educational Kindergarten and an all‑girls program from Grade 1 to Grade 12. In High School, ISSH offers a broad Advanced Placement program with about 22 AP courses, including AP English Language and Composition, AP Biology, AP French Language and Culture, AP Japanese Language and Culture, AP Calculus AB/BC, AP World History, AP Economics, AP Computer Science A, AP Art courses, and AP Music Theory. Graduation requires earning at least 22 credits across core subjects and requirements (English, Mathematics, Language, Science, Social Studies, Electives, Values, Art, PE, Options, Personal Finance, and Personal Education). ISSH is accredited by the Council of International Schools (CIS) and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and is a member of the Kanto Plain Association of Schools.
Wellbeing
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Parent Experience
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Facilities
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Extra-Curricular Activities
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Languages
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Reputation
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Admissions

Admissions
1. Step 1 — Admissions policy, eligibility, and language: Begin by reviewing ISSH's Admissions Policy and Guidelines. ISSH serves Pre-K and Kindergarten (ages 3–5) and girls in grades 1–12, with admissions governed by age cutoffs and passport nationality rules; for grades 9 and below, an applicant or at least one parent must hold a non-Japanese passport. The school states that the educational program is provided in English and that one parent must be able to speak and read English. These factors inform whether ISSH is a suitable fit for your family before applying. 2. Step 2 — Language considerations and ELA: Applicants come with varying English proficiency, and ISSH maintains an English-language program with an English Language Acquisition (ELA) pathway for those needing support. The admissions process notes that all applicants participate in English reading and writing assessments, with the ELA program offering in-class and small-group support where needed. Space for ELA is limited and allocations are made on a case-by-case basis, potentially placing some applicants in a waiting pool if ELA seats are full. 3. Step 3 — Admissions timeline and rolling process: ISSH uses rolling admissions, processing applications as spaces become available. Applications for the next school year open in September, and families should aim to finalize applications for Grades 1–12 by early December to be considered for available seats. Kindergarten has its own timelines (e.g., K3–K5 have specific milestones), with first-round interviews typically scheduled in January–February of the following year and additional interviews in March if spaces remain. 4. Step 4 — Online inquiry and application initiation: The process begins with an inquiry and proceeds to an online application. Families complete the online application, attach required school reports and documents, and initiate requests for teacher or school recommendations through the online portal. 5. Step 5 — Application fee: The application fee is ¥30,000 per student and is non-refundable. The fee is paid by bank transfer, and the payer covers any bank charges; you must include the applicant's official name to ensure proper attribution of the payment. 6. Step 6 — Application documents: Submit reports, transcripts, and any standardized test results in English (or with English translations where needed). Required documents vary by grade but typically include school reports from the current and prior years, translation if necessary, and confidential recommendations submitted through the online portal. 7. Step 7 — Application review: After all materials are received, the admissions committee reviews each application. Some applications may be declined at this stage, and all decisions are final with no public feedback on reasons. If a class has no available places, applicants may be placed in the waiting pool and reviewed when seats reopen. 8. Step 8 — Screening and assessment: All applicants for Grades 1–12 must complete a screening or assessment; Kindergarten applicants are screened on a case-by-case basis. The assessments differ by grade level (e.g., online math and English for Grades 1–4; math, English reading comprehension, and English essay for Grades 5–12). 9. Step 9 — Interview, admission decision, and enrollment: Applicants who pass the screening proceed to a family interview (both parents and the student). Interviews are conducted by the Principal and a member of the Admissions team, and may be held via Google Meet for overseas applicants. Following the interview, the Director of Admissions notifies families of the outcome; all admissions decisions are final. If offered a place, families complete the online enrollment checklist and pay the registration fee; for August enrollment, the remaining fees and tuition invoice may be issued in May. 10. Step 10 — Post-acceptance enrollment logistics: Successful applicants must complete enrollment steps and pay the registration fee promptly. ISSH notes that invoicing for tuition and the remaining balance may follow the enrollment period, especially for August enrollment. 11. Step 11 — Additional policy notes: Applications are submitted online with no reliance on third-party agencies, and ISSH does not offer priority admissions from outside programs. Siblings of current students and children of alumni receive priority if space is available, and applicants may be added to the waiting pool if spaces are not yet open.

Scholarships
Scholarships: ISSH has named scholarship funds intended to support tuition for students for whom paying full tuition would be prohibitive. The Sister Culhane and D'Huarte Scholarship Funds are established to provide tuition assistance to eligible students. Gifts to these scholarship funds may be restricted to this purpose, and donors can designate restricted gifts to support financial aid. The school also runs fundraising programs (Annual Fund) to support broader needs, including financial aid. Details about specific eligibility criteria or application processes for these scholarships are not published publicly, but the scholarship funds exist to provide tuition support to qualifying students.

Waitlist
Waitlist/Pool: When a class has no available space or when there are no available English Language Acquisition (ELA) seats for a student requiring ELA support, applicants may be placed in the waiting pool. Waiting pool placement is valid until the end of the school year for which the applicant applied, and interested applicants are encouraged to submit a new application for the following school year if they remain interested. Siblings and alumni may receive priority, provided space is available and the screening/interview results are favorable.
School Events
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