Homei Elementary School was established on
the Mejiro campus with Homei Kindergarten in 1906 as an affiliated school of the College's
Department of Education, which was also founded in that year. The school was named in recognition of the tremendous financial assistance
received from the Morimura Homei Foundation, a charity established by Ichizaemon Morimura.
Morimura was a great supporter of the elementary school and kindergarten from its
inception.
Homei Elementary School aims to embody the ideals of its founder in life and in
learning, according to the mental and physical development of each child. It is
characterized by an emphasis on hands-on instruction, so that each child learns by her own
experience and a feeling of reality.
In life guidance, the school strives first to strengthen children's minds and
personalities, making them masters over themselves. School events and activities are used
to help children understand the importance of the individual within the group and to
foster a spirit of service and cooperation.
One example of the "hands-on" education common at the school is
the science class. Taking advantage of the wealth of nature offered by the Nishi-Ikuta
campus, pupils plant potatoes in the spring and rice in early summer and harvest both in
the fall. Throughout the year the children are able to study, raise, and cultivate plants,
insects, and fish in the garden formed using a small slope on the school grounds.
Activities like these let them experience nature for themselves and transform the act of
learning into a personal experience.
Other areas of study also emphasize laboratory and hands-on learning and field
trips. In all cases efforts are made to ensure that pupils have real, living educational
experiences.
The school holds several traditional events, one of which is the spring
excursion to welcome all first-year pupils. In the summer, fifth-and sixth-year pupils
spend three nights at the Sansenryo seminar house in Karuizawa. Every fall, the whole
school goes on excursions and it is also time for the annual athletic meet, In early
spring, a music festival is held in a large hall off campus, leading to an enjoyable day
for the children and their parents.
Currently the all-girls' school has three classes, each with 40 students, per
academic year, for a total of 720 students.
