Urawa Girls' Upper Secondary School

 POSTAL MAIL 3-8-45 Kishicho, Urawa-ku, Saitama City, Saitama, Japan
 TEL +81-48-829-2031 FAX +81-48-830-1116
 Principal: Narumi Sato

MESSAGE FROM OUR PRINCIPAL

  Our mission is to encourage all our students:

1)   To brush up their intelligence.

2)   To demonstrate how to cultivate themselves.

3)   To nurture true global leadership!

  We are trying to encourage the students to be “good leaders who are eagerly involved in social contribution and have great intelligence and vigor.”

  Our school has a wide variety of educational activities: intellectually-stimulating classes, where they learn through “intellectual interaction,” club activities, where they train themselves mentally and physically and can establish good friendships, and school events, where they try really hard in order to improve themselves.

  Moreover, we have been focusing on “inquiry-based cross-disciplinary study”, by making use of the achievements we have built through the “Super-Science-High-School” program and the “Super-Global-High-School” program. (The aim of the former is to foster future scientists, and of the latter is to foster future global leaders.)

  In addition, we have various opportunities to have communication across borders, such as interaction between our sister schools: one in the U.K. and the other in Taiwan.

“Super-Science-High-School” Program in Our School

  The Super Science High School (SSH) is a designation awarded by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) to upper secondary schools that prioritize science, technology, and mathematics. The program was launched as a part of its "Science Literacy Enhancement Initiatives" in 2002.

  Our school was awarded this status first in 2004 and the following three years, and then the fifth in 2023. The students have had great achievement: they have participated in the International Science and Engineering Fair five times as a representative of Japan.  Some of the 1st graders and the 2nd graders in this program are involved in the following activities:

1. They take one additional class per week after school (1st graders on Wednesday and 2nd graders on Friday) and each do research on something that interested them.
2. They visit different kinds of laboratories such as Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (Riken) and the Saitama Industrial Technology Center, and receive up-to-date information about scientific studies.
3. They learn about nature, and do fieldwork in places like Itoigawa River (Fossa Magna).
4. They improve their presentation skills for the demonstration that is held in February.

  Besides the activities above, we have also held “SS classes” and “SS investigations” since 2017, which have encouraged all our students to learn more about science.

Our Education on Global Education and Inquiry Based Learning

Interaction with Our Sister Schools

  We have been in touch with one of our sister schools, Taipei Municipal Taipei First Girls' High School, which we visited during the school trip to Taiwan. During the latest two online conversations, we had a discussion on the book “The Giver” and picked up themes from the book and made videos to share with one another. This year, we have started a project to find different social issues around us and seek for sustainable solutions to them. For this project, we have set our key concepts as: SDGs×Social Innovation×International Exchange.
  We also have a pen-pal system via email with our other sister school, James Allen’s Girls’ School.

Overseas Excursion

  In the end of March last year, we had overseas excursions to the U.K. and to the U.S.A.. In the past three years, we have had an “English Challenge Program,” in which the students can enjoy studying in English in our school. This program includes their study on British culture and online interactions with students and their families in the U.K.

Other Activities

  We have joined the “Saitama-High-School Global-Leader-Fostering Project” and the “Empowerment Program®” by ISA. Last year we accepted a student from Vietnam to study with us.

School Events and School Life ―The Valuable Three Years in Urawa GUSS―

  Our school has another advantage: a lot of fun filled school events. The students manage various events such as the school festival, sports day, and a school debate. They learn a lot, which supports themselves in the future. At the end of their school life, all the underclassmen who are present at the graduation ceremony sing Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 "Ode to Joy," which strongly impresses every graduate. 

 Our School and Community

1. Founded in 1900
2. Public, all-girls day school
3. 10-12 grade school, in one of the most populated cities in Saitama prefecture, our school historically ranked as the top all-girls high school in Saitama prefecture
4. Our school is the alma mater of many illustrious alumni.

School Context

1. Admission to Urawa Girls' Upper Secondary School is based on competitive entrance examinations.
2. Student population:1,080
3. Our students go on to attend some of the top-ranking universities (including University of Tokyo and several medical Schools) in Japan.

Our Curriculum

  In the Japanese educational system, we do not have International Baccalaureate (IB) or Advance Placement courses. At Urawa Girls' Upper Secondary School, students are expected to graduate anywhere from 99~103 credits.

Graduation Requirements

 *One credit equals one class-our per week