A new $2 million classroom building to be shared by the Fayette County Public Schools and the Central Kentucky Japanese School is complete and will be dedicated in a special grand opening celebration this weekend.

 

The ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 21, in the cafeteria of Edythe J. Hayes Middle School, located at 206 Richardson Place. Tours of the new facility, where students will be in class on Saturday, will be offered following the celebration.

 

“On behalf of the Central Kentucky Japanese School, I would like to express our great appreciation to the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Fayette County Board of Education, the University of Kentucky and all of the corporations and individuals in the region. Your support and understanding during the last twenty years has been tremendous and a vital part of our success,” said Yasuhiro Fueta, Chairman of the Board, CKJS. “Without this support, we would not have been able to provide our Central Kentucky students the Japanese school curriculum. With this new facility, we are certain we will be able to continue providing a quality education to our students.”

 

The construction of the new building was made possible under a partnership agreement between the Fayette County Board of Education and the Central Kentucky Japanese School. The Japanese school paid for the construction and gave the school district an additional $1 million to be invested so that the interest can be used to cover operational costs for the building. The school district will legally own the building and lease it to the Central Kentucky Japanese School.

 

“We’re thrilled to be able to have this unique partnership that helps both the Japanese school and our school district,” said Fayette County Public School Superintendent Stu Silberman.

 

The Central Kentucky Japanese School offers Saturday classes for students from Japan, whose parents are in Kentucky working for local companies. The students attend regular public and private schools during the week, and “Saturday School” enables them to keep up with their native curriculum while living in the United States.

 

The new 13,000 square feet school facility is located on the property of Edythe J. Hayes Middle School on Richardson Place, which is off Athens-Boonesboro Road near Interstate 75. Its new location will make the school more accessible to students from neighboring counties.

 

The new building includes four classrooms for first and second grade students, a library, principal’s office, main office, meeting rooms, and storage. Classes for third- through twelfth-grade students will be held in existing classrooms at Hayes Middle School on Saturdays. The four new classrooms will be used to house Early Start students attending the Fayette County Public Schools during the week.

 

The Commonwealth of Kentucky established the Central Kentucky Japanese School (CKJS) in 1986 as a part of an incentive for bringing Toyota to Kentucky. The school, which has previously been housed on the Tates Creek school campus, is administered by the University of Kentucky in close cooperation with the Central Kentucky Japanese School Board, the Japanese Government, and Japan Overseas Education Services. It is partially funded by a state allocation through the University of Kentucky Office of Associate Vice President for University Initiatives and subsidized with an endowment created and maintained by the parents and guardians of the students who attend the Japanese School, through donations and monthly tuition.

 

The primary mission of CKJS is to provide continuous Japanese education to Japanese-speaking students who live temporarily in Central Kentucky. Most CKJS students return to Japan after a few years in Kentucky and Japanese Saturday School has helped enrich the lives of many Japanese children living in Central Kentucky by allowing them the opportunity to study their native curriculum (including subjects like Japanese history to augment the Kentucky history students get in their regular classes during the week) and celebrate their cultural heritage while living in the United States. The Saturday School concept has helped attract about 50 Japanese supplier companies to this region and these companies are supplying jobs to Kentuckians.

 

CKJS classes include Japanese literature, mathematics and social studies and are held on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for children in grades first through 12th. Students also celebrate traditional Japanese cultural celebrations and holidays. Studies at the Central Kentucky Japanese School are conducted in Japanese and prepare students for re-entry into schools in Japan.