Head of school Katsuyuki Nishikawa Phone +1 310-325-7040 Founder Ryotaro Tanose Gender Mixed-sex education | Grades Pre-K to 9 Motto 探究・誠実・気迫 Founded 22 July 1992 | |
Type Private, international, day Established July 22, 1992 (1992-07-22) Opened April 10, 1993 (1993-04-10) Enrollment Approximately 150 total Address 2458 Lomita Blvd, Lomita, CA 90717, USA Sister school Nishiyamato Gakuen Junior High School and High School Similar LePort Schools, South Bay Junior Academy, Fleming Middle School, Redondo Beach Unified S, South High School Profiles | ||
Nishiyamato Academy of California (西大和学園カリフォルニア校, Nishiyamato gakuen kariforunia kō, NAC) is a private Japanese international day school for students from pre-kindergarten through 9th grade, offering a Japanese guideline-based curriculum. The co-educational academy consists of a kindergarten, an elementary school division, and a middle school division with approximately 150 students, all located on Lomita, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Since March 1996, the academy has been authorized by Japanese Ministry of Education and its successor Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) as a Private Overseas Educational Facility (私立在外教育施設, Shiritsu zaigai kyōiku shisetsu).
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Nishiyamato Academy offers its own Saturday school program, the Nishiyamato Academy Saturday School (西大和学園補習校 Nishiyamato gakuen hoshūkō) for the children of Japanese expatriates, who are enrolled in local primary or secondary day schools in Los Angeles metropolitan area.
History
Nishiyamato Academy of California was established in July 22, 1992, by Ryotaro Tanose, former chairperson of the board of trustees for Nishiyamato gakuen, a Japanese school corporation, and former member of Japanese Diet from Nara Prefecture. With 38 students in grades six through eight for the first fiscal year, the school opened at the former Dapplegray Elementary School in Rolling Hills Estates on April 10, 1993. In September 2000, the school relocated to the current campus in Lomita.
Curriculum
NAC offers MEXT Curriculum Guideline-based curriculum mainly for the children of Japanese expatriates living in Los Angeles metropolitan area. Classes are held from Monday to Friday, with the first period of the day beginning at 8:30 AM and the last period ending at 3 PM for the kindergarten, 3:15 PM / 4:15 PM / 5 PM for the elementary school, and 4:20 PM / 6:10 PM for the middle school. Although subjects are instructed mainly in Japanese, Art / Visual Art, Home Economics, Technology, and ELA / ELD have been instructed in English as language immersion since the curriculum reform of recent years.
Extracurricular activities
Nishiyamato Academy of California offers limited extracurricular activities due to normalized supplementary classes after the last period, and only club activities called Special Activities (特別活動, tokubetsu katsudō) are exercised once a week or two weeks.