Principal

Love God and Serve His People

I.                Seigakuin Atlanta International School (SAINTS) – Our Mission

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)

SAINTS endeavors to raise internationally minded people who are peace makers.  We try to be a front-runner in the educational field in order to adopt the best of Japanese and American cultures.  The foundation is Jesus Christ.  Seigakuin’s motto is “Love God and Serve His People.”  Our educational motto, “Study with all your mind; Play with all your might; and Pray with all your heart”, is the basis of our daily life.

Ⅱ.                Carry the Torch for 100 Years

Dr. Guy, one of the founders of Seigakuin Schools in the beginning of the 20^th century, wrote that blending of the eastern culture and western culture is his personal mission because it is essential to achieve peace in the world.  That torch was carried into the next century in Atlanta and the vision was realized at SAINTS.  As we researched how we could carry Dr. Guy’s vision into the 21^st century, we decided to adopt “Two-Way Immersion” education.

Ø        Founding a School in a foreign land – Two-ways

First, the American missionaries went to Japan and founded Seigakuin in Tokyo 100 years ago.  In 1990, Japan Seigakuin founded a branch school in a foreign land – Atlanta , Georgia .  Seigakuin is very unique in doing this two-ways also.

Ø        Method – Two-way Immersion Education

In 2004, two-way immersion education started.  Two-way immersion education at SAINTS continues and becomes new because we reflect on the changes and latest trends of educations in both countries and adopt the best from both countries.  We educate children to be truly international.

Today I am still concerned that some Japanese people’s minds continue to be closed even though the country opened its doors to the outside world in the 19^th century following many years of closure during the Edo period.  At SAINTS, our bilingual role model and the roots of our bilingual education can be found in the acts of the Apostle Paul who spoke two languages to spread the good news to the world; “Our citizenship is in heaven.”  SAINTS is not like a colony.  Instead our hope is to become like a frontier, similar to Dejima in Nagasaki , a place that stayed open throughout the long history of the country’s closure.

　 　 Principal Minako Ahearn
　　 　 Seigakuin Atlanta International School