Elementary School Principal: Jean Hino

Elementary school is a wonderful time to learn about God’s world and build new friendships. We are excited to help the students understand our CAJ core values and how they relate to us in elementary school. A delightful children’s book by Kobi Yamada titled, What Do You Do With An Idea? ends with, “And then, I realized what you do with an idea…You change the world.” We want to help the students discover their passions or maybe just a new interest at this time in their life and how they can be a positive influence in the beautiful world that God has given us. Last year we had a tree ‘grow’ in the elementary hallway. Each month we ask the students a question that they answer on a cut out shape that gets hung on our tree. We have started this year by asking students and staff what they are passionate about. As we go through the year we hope to help your child see how they can use their passion to change the world or at least change their little corner.

Middle School Principal: Winnie Langelaar

Middle School can be an interesting time in life.  Students are beginning to explore this world and make steps toward finding out who they are. At CAJ’s Middle School, we provide as many opportunities as possible for students to try new and different things.  We want students to begin to discern and be able to make applications of what they learn to their daily walk. This year’s theme: God is the author of all truth, God created humans in his image and God created humans for community, really gives our Middle School students opportunities to think about all they are experiencing, how we view each other and how they contribute to our CAJ community. Not only do we want them to think about the CAJ community but to also consider the wider community of Higashi Kurume, Tokyo, Japan and the world.  Some of our experiences include visiting and interacting with neighboring schools, working with "Second Harvest" in their outreach to the hungry, and studying countries around the world as well as issues those countries may be facing. We also celebrate with students who have demonstrated one of our twelve “Wall of Honor Character Traits” to their fellow classmates and teachers with our quarterly Wall of Honor celebration. In Middle School at CAJ, we want to disciple our students not only academically, but socially and spiritually, equipping our students to serve Japan and the world for Christ.  

High School Principal: Damon Ealey

The CAJ high school division has experienced some big changes this year, particularly with a change in how we schedule classes. As we pursue our vision to “equip students to serve Japan and the world for Christ”, we look to educate students' minds, souls and bodies. It is our desire to inspire students to pursue truth as designed by God, celebrating the mystery of their uniqueness as they pursue both academic and co-curricular activities. My personal motto is that “failure is an opportunity for growth”. We offer a variety of programs that allow our students to grow and develop skills in critical thinking, presentation skills, and innovation and design. We believe that through the pursuit of biblical truth and character, students will be even more prepared to operate as change-agents for the future.

True confession: when I look back on the important lessons I've learned in my life, most of them did not happen while sitting quietly at a desk listening to a monotonous lecture. Research supports this confession. Students learn more when they are actively involved in the learning process. At CAJ, we strive for academic excellence, understanding that students will retain what they learn far better when they are able to explore ideas, ask questions, discuss with peers, make mistakes, move their bodies, create with their hands, conduct experiments, and experience emotions. In other words, they must be fully invested participants in their learning. Sometimes, this means that education moves outside classrooms. It is not unusual to walk across our campus and see a high school class taking part in a historical simulation, middle school students in small groups dramatizing a story, or elementary students seated under the trees writing and illustrating haiku.

Because we believe learning happens in so many active ways, we also place a high value on co-curricular activities. Students might not receive grades for running cross-country, grappling on the wrestling mats, playing the saxophone in Jazz Band, or playing a dramatic role on the stage, but these activities will be important aspects of their education. Through co-curricular activities, students learn teamwork; they gain an understanding of their own strengths and weaknesses, and they find out how far they might be able to push themselves. They may even gain a sense of purpose and discover their passion.

God delights in variety, and we do at CAJ as well. We believe a wide range of teaching strategies and learning experiences help all students learn more about how they reflect the image of God.