(By Noriko Murata, Chief Coordinator)

I know you still miss your summer vacation, but welcome and welcome back to SFVJLI!!  We are excited to see you all today. We will have another fun and wonderful year full of activities, events and study.  This year, we want to encourage students to read a lot all through the school year.  Almost every week, one of your child's homework assignment s will be reading a book (or passages) out loud.  Parents, whether or not you understand Japanese, please listen to them read and see how they change.  We will have our Reading Contest in June 2009 and we want to see all students become good readers.

1) Open house in October
We will have an open house on October 5. This is a good opportunity for all the parents to see the school, your child in the classroom and to meet your child's teacher.  The schedule on that day is:
8:30- 9:00  class observation
9:00- 9:20  Parents & Teachers conference, selecting classroom parents
9:30-10:00 Welcome Forum for new school families (host by PTA)

2) Japanese Language Proficiency Test
The Japanese Language Proficiency Test is administrated by the Japan Foundation. This test is conducted once a year in various parts of the world on the same day. If you are a junior high or high school student and have studied Japanese for more than 2 years, you might want to consider taking this test. Anyone whose first language is not Japanese is eligible, but because of the vocabulary used in the test, the applicant should be in junior high school at least. Currently there are four test levels and you can only take one level at any one time. If you are interested in taking it, please contact the office and pick up information today. You can register by postal mail or on line but the registration must be completed by September 26. If you need more information, please go to http://www.jflalc.org/index.php?act=tpt&id=8 or ask Ms. Murata. You can purchase books of prior tests at any Japanese book stores such as Kinokuniya, Asahiya, and Sanseido.

3)  Certificate (Nihongo Ninteisho) from SFVJLI
Until the end of our recently concluded school year SFVJLI awarded graduation diplomas, but as we have already explained to you in the most recent issue of the newsletter  we have recently concluded that the concept of a graduation diploma does not fit well with our current programs and processes. However, beginning with this school year, SFVJLI will grant a Certificate of Japanese language proficiency for students who apply for it who fulfill the following requirements: 1) the students must pass the Japanese Language Proficiency Test administrated by Japan Foundation at level three or higher (see article above) and 2) the students must pass the Nintei Shiken (speaking and writing test) which will be administrated by SFVJLI.  Upon passing these tests, SFVJLI will certify that the students have the basic language skills to travel in Japan by themselves.  Any students can apply for the certification program, but again, the Japanese Language Proficiency Test is designed for teenagers and older students, so we do not recommend that younger students apply for it.  The certified students will receive plaques from SFVJLI at the end of school year. If you want to apply for it this year, apply for the Japanese Proficiency Test now.  After passing the test you can apply for SFVJLI’s speaking and writing tests in March 2009. The test date and time will be announced later.  This certification is not a graduation diploma and students can continue their studies at SFVJLI after obtaining this certification. Aside from this certification, the letter to certify your final class and study hours is also available upon request. If you need such a letter to apply for collage for example, please see Mr. Kakinoki in the office.

4)  High School Credit Test
If you are planning to take the High School Credit Test, please make yourself available at 12:30 pm on September 13 at the Activity Room (former Teen II classroom). We will be handing out the application form (which is the most important thing in the procedure) and explain about the test. Parents are also welcome to come to the meeting. If your child is taking this test for the first time, please come and join us.