United School of Tokyo Reviews (16)
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How would you rate United School of Tokyo?
If you don't plan on reading all this, read the last paragraph. That sums up my experience at this hellhole. Pretty much everyone I went here with in my grade is now an avid drinker. The only thing this school does well is giving you stories to tell in the future about how poorly managed it was. Absolute joke of a school, and the only thing I got out of it is a few friends. In all seriousness, there are essentially no facilities, instead resorting to shared facilities. Academics are decent, though could be better. One teacher actually prevented me from going to a more academic school because I wouldn't pay attention in her class. Most were okay however. Not sure what to write about sports, but here's a quick story. One sports day, the principal magically introduces a "sibling rule" where all siblings must be on the same team. Both her children attended at the time. Halfway through sports day, I see the V.P. ribboning up the trophy for the team with the principal's kids. We were nowhere near done. Let that sum up my experience.
The quality of education at a place that hires someone with no qualifications other than being a cook for a kitchen car as a physical education (PE) teacher is questionable. Moreover, when the cook is not even competent and engages in disruptive behavior such as smoking in non-smoking areas during business hours, causing inconvenience to customers, and even getting into altercations requiring police intervention, it raises serious concerns about the situation. A bad influence to your children!
This school's funding is very low so much so that they refuse to fire bad teachers as to avoid finding new, professional ones. The school denies a lot of the students needs and teachers are usually very unprofessional and tend to argue with students. The PE classes tend to be unfair to the girls as they are seen as less than their male classmates and treated like so. The school does not provide a lot of science equipment. Please be wary if you send your child here as there is a big chance that they'll end up in a bad classroom.
Doesnt have a proper education and have very low level classes and teachers.
In my opinion, the best feature of UST is its warm atmosphere and the individual attention they pay to each and every student. Communication and feedback are very good: I know very well how my child is doing, and i feel well-supported as a parent. The school is very international and inclusive. The teachers and principal are friendly and understanding, making UST feel like a true community. I am also happy with the balanced education model at the school: while being strong academically, they value creativity, after-school clubs, field trips, and other experiences that enrich education. I am very happy with UST!
I have two children at UST and we all really love the school. We were at a bigger, more expensive school before but my children definitely receive more attention and care at UST. The staff is friendly and dedicated and the principal knows every child and parent by name which is amazing. The academic standards are high; they also teach Japanese every day. Easy recommendation!
It can be a very well-balanced place for your kids. You can find flaws if you look for them, but overall the school is an inclusive, teachers/parents-run, international, academically challenging (if you wish), and well-balanced place. Lack of outside facilities doesn't mean the students don't do enough exercises. You have the regular PE classes & also could join 4 ECAs a week, and your child could be doing several different sports/dances. Swimming is back too. As for the new middle school, the students are kept very busy and I don't ever hear that the graduates/transferers academically struggle at their next destinations.
We have been a UST family for five years now and are very thankful for the quality academic experience the school provides at such an affordable cost. The school has dedicated teachers and staff , the administrators take parent-feedback to heart, and the close-knit community of involved families is an added bonus. We have been very happy here.
UST is a wonderful school that cares about students and is run by dedicated teachers and staff. The program is academically strong and also well-balanced: I love their music and arts programs, frequent field trips and events, guidance program etc. I feel the school really cares about every aspect of my child's development. I also really really like that they put a lot of effort into the Japanese language program. The fees are much lower than other schools, which I really appreciate. I only have great things to say about UST.
I found out that the ESL teacher is not a certified teacher and claimed she was. They are cutting corners to save money.
The school claims to be inquiry based, but this simply isn't true. The children are squashed into crowded, poorly resourced classrooms and their education is based around constant standardized testing. There are many poorly qualified teachers. If your child is lucky enough to be placed with a good teacher they may have a successful time au UST. My daughter, unfortunately, was not one of the lucky ones and actually when backwards academically during her 2 years at the school. I have heard that the Principal (who can be incredibly rude to parents) bullies staff, and many excellent teachers have left. They are struggling to recruit good staff. The arts and music programs were fantastic, but this was based on the skills of the specialist teachers who have left. The PE programme appears to have been run by an unqualified teacher, and my child came back with horror stories of injuries left untreated. She also encountered sexism ('you're almost good enough to beat the boys!'). The recess time is insufficient. The children have 30 minutes to walk to a nearby park, and usually only have a short amount of time to play once arriving. There are no swimming lessons. They were cancelled due to covid and due to disorganisation, they failed to resume.
United School of Tokyo is a good bang for your buck, located in Central Tokyo. It has a tremendous arts and music program and truly develops the whole child.
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E.D. Marín, a year ago
Great school community and challenging education! My kid is soooo happy!
