We spoke with Dan Gossel, a middle school and high school teacher at the Tokyo YMCA International School.
Transcript
ISTimes Global (00:01): Hi there. This is the International School Times Global at the International Education Expo 2026. I’m here at the Tokyo YMCA International School booth. Could you um introduce a little, more, self-introduction for us please?
Tokyo YMCA International School (Dan) (00:16): Sure. My name is Dan Gossel and I am a middle school and high school teacher at the Tokyo YMCA International School. I teach social studies as well as some AP classes at the high school level. I’m also a program coordinator for the middle school and high school programs. Uh yeah, and um I’ve been working for the YMCA for about, this will be the seventh year. Yeah, so I’m really happy to be there. It’s a great school. Yeah.
ISTimes Global (00:40): Great to meet you.
Tokyo YMCA International School (Dan) (00:41): Yeah, nice to meet you. Yeah.
School Background & History
ISTimes Global (00:42): Can you give us some background and history of your school?
Tokyo YMCA International School (Dan) (00:45): Yeah, our school is affiliated with the YMCA. Many people have probably heard of it, right? Um we are a non-profit organization. Um we uh do a lot of charity work, we do a lot of outdoor education, those kind of things to suit common with any kind of YMCA. Um our school um has been in operation since 1998, starting with uh elementary school, then later on expanding to middle, junior high school, and we’ve recently added a high school and we’re really excited for the first graduating class coming up in just two years.
ISTimes Global (01:14): Wow, that sounds great. I was speaking to some people earlier and I could have sworn they said that the Tokyo and uh another school in Japan are the only YMCA international schools in the world. Is that right?
Tokyo YMCA International School (Dan) (01:26): All right, we have two um YMCA International schools, ours here in Tokyo as well as another one, kind of a sister school in Osaka.
Learning & Curriculum
ISTimes Global (01:34): Oh, okay. Wow, that’s really cool. Yeah. Um what is the learning like at your school? Could you tell us about the curriculum?
Tokyo YMCA International School (Dan) (01:39): Sure. So our curriculum is based on American, typical American standards you’ll see. So uh common core, NGSS, um then science, right? But at the high school level, we shift into a more rigorous like AP program, right? For students that can challenge that, take that on. We actually just uh took our first AP exams this year. Um really excited to get the results, really, you know, happy for that. Um and we’ll be offering 10 AP courses of total next year for the high school. So, yeah, so advanced placement you can get, you know, university credit while you’re still a high school student. Works really great on your applications.
ISTimes Global (02:16): I wish those kids all the best.
Tokyo YMCA International School (Dan) (02:17): Thank you so much.
Student Life & Individual Support
ISTimes Global (02:18): Could you want to describe a day in the life of students at this school? What’s it like to be at your school?
Tokyo YMCA International School (Dan) (02:23): Um yeah, um well it’s a little bit different depending on which uh division of the school you’re in. You know, our kindergarteners, our our middle, our elementary and high school. But um you know, we have our school has about 150 students. We have a really good um student-to-teacher ratio. So in the elementary school, we have an assistant teacher as well as a primary teacher in each classroom, as well as assistant teachers that can help out students that need additional help. So, lots of individual attention. So that’s one thing that, you know, families can know is that their kid is going to get a lot of help if they need it to get what they need to succeed with us. Um a day in the life, uh we have swimming classes, we have an indoor swimming pool, so we can offer uh swimming classes throughout the year, uh PE, music, um after-school clubs, try to provide a diverse range of experience for our kids, jazz band in the morning, right? Um so basketball, soccer, right? And uh throughout the year we also have camps, ski camp, we have camps that do outdoor education, learn how to do um things like uh you know, swimming in the lake and like learning to kayak or learning to a little sailboat yacht thing. It’s all really cool. So we go for a really holistic approach.
ISTimes Global (03:34): Sounds like a really fun school. Thank you so much for your time.
Tokyo YMCA International School (Dan) (03:37): Yeah, thank you. Thanks so much. I hope to see you guys at Tokyo International School.
About Tokyo YMCA International School
- Established in 1998; part of the YMCA network
- Kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school programs
- American curriculum informed by Common Core and NGSS standards
- AP coursework and university-preparation pathways in high school
- English-medium learning with Japanese as a co-curricular subject
- YMCA values of Encounter, Connect and Transform
- Small-school community with individual attention and learning support
- ASK program with individualized planning and reinforcement
- Indoor swimming, PE, music, clubs and team sports
- Outdoor education, camps and holistic student experiences
