Principal

Mr. Kara is the principal of Horizon Japan International School. During his professional educational career in various international schools, he has taken positions of teacher, international biology olympics lecturer, head teacher since 1993, and he has been in administrative positions at various schools in different countries since 1998. Mr. Kara, who did his MA in Quality of Education and Parent Satisfaction, was also the initiator and the coordinator of an international university project which he organized in cooperation with Connecticut State University. The project involved a student exchange of some 50 students every year. He is married with three children. His hobbies are driving, watching soap opera, watching movies, traveling, playing tennis and soccer, and he is very excited to be in HJIS.

Primary School Curriculum Coordinator / Year 2

Mr. Grant is from Scotland, in the UK. He has a PGCE in Primary Education and has taught in Scotland in the past. He previously taught English in Nagasaki, Kyushu and really enjoyed his time there, so much so that he decided to come back to Japan as a Primary Teacher. He also has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Sport Science and has a passion for many sports and has a level 2 Coaching Award in Basketball. He also enjoys running, reading, photography and watching films in his free time.

Middle School Curriculum Coordinator / Science

Mr. Doymaz is our Science teacher. He loves children and working with them. He also studied Japanese for 1 year at a Japanese language school in Japan. He enjoys using computers, programming on computers, internet surfing, playing soccer, reading poems, and cooking.

School Planning Coordinator / Year 6

Mr. Basak holds a degree in education and has been a teacher trainer since 2004. He has been in Turkey, England and Poland previously. He was the head of the ELT Department of a group of 25 elementary schools before he came to Japan in August 2006. Between 2004 and 2006, he took an active role in a Comenius project which included four European countries. Trained in drama by the British Council, he took roles in several plays and sang in choirs. He is also an ICT specialist and a semi-pro graphics designer. His hobbies include listening to music, video editing, watching movies and playing table tennis. He likes Japan and its people, and is very excited to be at Horizon Japan International School.

Preschool

Mrs. Reynolds is so thrilled to be a part of the Horizon family. She earned her Bachelor Degree in Education (Birth to Kindergarten) from Salem College. She is passionate in teaching young children and has 20 years of experience in this field along with experience in teaching exceptional children as well. Raised in Yokohama, Mrs. Reynolds is fluent in Japanese. During her free time, she likes to spend time with her two children, go shopping with good friends and read books. She is so excited to meet all the students and start teaching at Horizon Japan!

Preschool Team Teacher

Ms. Khan holds a Bachelor's Degree in Literature and is qualified to teach from Kindergarten through High School. She has worked as a teacher for various age groups for over 10 years now. She enjoys being in the Preschool classroom and loves to see the joy in the eyes of our Preschoolers. Ms. Khan is married with one, and likes spending time with her family. Her hobbies are poetry, listening to music and watching movies.

Kindergarten

Mr.Fletcher comes to Horizon with ten plus years of teaching experience, many of those in early childhood settings in international schools in Tokyo. Originally from Texas, he received his B.A. in Humanities and Fine Arts in Indiana and Montessori certification in Canada. He continues to be amazed each year at the amount of learning that takes place during the kindergarten year. Young children absorb so much and are eager to learn. While much energy needed from being on his feet most of the day among other things, Mr.Fletcher cherishes the opportunity to help the children grow into responsible, creative, happy people.

Kindergarten Team Teacher

Mr. Bill is the kindergarten team teacher at Horizon. He is an experienced educator with more than 10 years of experience teaching in international contexts. His specialties are Mathematics and ICT. He is a keen basketball player and enjoys volleyball also. Married with two children, he is very happy to be teaching at HJIS.

Year 1

Ms. Toruno is from Ontario Canada. She has a degree in Psychology from the University of Western Ontario with a focus on Child Development and Education. She received  her Education Certificate from D’Youville College in Buffalo, New York. She has experience teaching children in Canada and in South Korea. She is interested in reading, traveling, learning about different cultures and yoga. She enjoys teaching and learning from her staff and students. She is excited to be here in Japan, teaching at Horizon. She is looking forward to the upcoming school year.

Maths

Ms. Gaye is our Maths teacher. She received her BA in Maths teaching and has student teaching experience in various schools. Her hobbies are listening music and playing volleyball. She is very glad to be with the children at HJIS.

Year 3

Mr. Tash’s home town is Philadelphia Pennsylvania.  He graduated from Temple University with a bachelor in Elementary Education.   Since then he has worked with Eckerd Youth Alternative, education and personal growth through outdoor living and experiences, Eastside Elementary School, Walker Grant Middle school, and Amity here in Japan.  He has also been a leader in such activities as Cub Scouts, Science club, and a lifeguard for the Clewiston City Pool.  He finds teaching to be both rewarding and exciting, and knows the future will bring new challenges and adventures.

ICT

Mr. Aman hails from the steppes of Mongolia. He holds a bachelor of education at Computer and Educational Technologies. During his past teaching experience, he participated in projects on educational software development. Interested in foreign languages, he can speak six languages. Besides doing sports, his favourites include travelling and surfing. Mr. Aman is excited to be with the Horizon family.

Year 4

Mr. McLennan is from Sydney, Australia. He graduated from Wollongong University in Wollongong, Australia with a Bachelor of Education in primary education. He has taught grades Pre-school to Year 6 in both the UK and Australia. He also has secondary school qualifications in technology education. He recently taught English to children, university students and adults. His hobbies include reading, listening to music, sports and motor-sports.

Primary Science

Mr. Ozzie is the Primary School science teacher at Horizon. Specialising in Biology, he holds a degree his education and taught at another international school in Japan before teaching at HJIS. He enjoys cooking and trying new tastes. He is excited to be a member of the Horizon family.

Year 5 / Art

Ms. Sirin is our art teacher. She was born in Bulgaria. She holds a bachelors and masters degree in teaching. She has teaching experience in different schools in Japan as well as overseas. Her hobbies are traveling and photography. She loves children and working with them is a pleasure for her.

Sociology / PE / Library

Ms. Abis has a bachelors degree with honours in education. She has a wide range of teaching experience from kindergarten through high school. Before coming to HJIS, she was teaching at an international school in Tokyo. Teaching is her passion, but she also loves reading books, watching movies and travelling. She is fascinated by the Japanese culture and enjoys living in Japan. She is delighted to be teaching at HJIS!

Middle School Japanese

Ms. Miyoshi is our Japanese teacher. She used to live in Singapore when she was younger. She received her degree from Aoyama-Gakuin University and taught for several years. She moved to Canada where she got training in teaching Japanese to foreigners and taught Japanese. She is very excited to teach Japanese at HJIS.

Music / Geography

Ms.Kay was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. She graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Geography and a Bachelor of Education in elementary education. She has been playing the piano since age 5 and has obtained the Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Music (ARCT) diploma in piano performance. Ms.Kay is thrilled to be teaching music at HJIS and looks forward to the upcoming year.

Primary School Japanese

Ms. Misawa obtained her degrees and worked as a Japanese language instructor in California. She holds a BA in Psychology from University of California at Berkeley as well as an MA in Teaching Japanese from San Francisco State University. After having taught Japanese to various age groups both adults and children in the United States, she moved to China to acquire further teaching experience before she returned Japan. She enjoys spending time with people from different cultures and is happy to be teaching at HJIS.

Years 7/8

Ms. Ferrer joins the Horizon family all the way from Mississauga, Ontario in Canada! She is a graduate of York University with Ontario certification in Junior/ Intermediate education, along with an Honours B.A. major in English and minor in Religious Studies. She has various teaching experiences with multiple age groups and abilities (including ESL students), ranging from pre-school all the way through university. She recently participated in scoring Gr. 6 Language Arts tests for Ontario's province-wide standardized testing. Her passions include learning new languages, trying new foods, shopping, writing, reading, and playing video games. She is very excited to teach at Horizon and to live in Japan with her husband!