Home | ST. PAUL'S ACADEMY

About Us

ST. PAUL’S ACADEMY is a private, catholic, coeducational school which was founded in Kusatsu City, Shiga Prefecture in 1988 with St. Paul as our patron saint.
Currently we consist of three departments, Kousen Catholic High School, Kousen Catholic Junior High School and Kousen Catholic Kindergarten.
Our shared educational principles are:

Nurture the human spirit to be the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world” (The New Testament, The Book of Matthew 5: 13-14)
Cultivate in all students’ a mind that cherishes “ love, justice and freedom with responsibility”

Our educational goals are:

Nurture students’ characters through catholic doctrine;
Cultivate students’ academic, artistic and athletic and thereby promise the successful future of our students; and
Nurture creative students who can adapt to globalization.

Regardless of the students’ age or his/her academic stage, these ideas are the underlying features of ST. PAUL’S ACADEMY.

Schools

Kousen Catholic Senior High School and
Kousen Catholic Junior High School

Kousen Catholic
Kindergarten

About Kousen Catholic Senior High School and Kousen Catholic Junior High School

Kousen Catholic Senior High School and Kousen Catholic Junior High School are the oldest established schools of ST. PAUL’S ACADEMY. Kousen Catholic Junior High School is for students aged 13 to 15, and their learning goals consist of the acquisition of the following skills:

Skills that pertain to sound thinking, judgement and logical solutions to given tasks;
Creative skills;
Social skills; and
Communication skills required for a global participation i.e., English proficiency.

Whilst in Kousen Catholic Junior High School homeroom classes are a basic unit for taking subject lessons, depending on subject and academic level, we also provide streamed classes in accordance with each student’s academic performance. The students who have finished the three-year course usually proceed to Kousen Catholic High School.

Kousen Catholic Senior High School is an upper middle school for age 15 to 18 year old that aims at the improvement of the students’ overall skills in academics, athletics and art. After graduating this school, most students go to university. Students separate into one of the five courses in accordance with their personal academic objectives.

S course is designed for students aiming to enter prestigious universities such as Kyoto Univ., Osaka Univ., Kobe Univ., and national/public medical universities (medical faculties).

A course is designed for students aiming to enter private universities such as Doshisha Univ. and Ritsumeikan Univ..

L course is designed for students aiming to enter national and public universities.

P course is designed for students aiming to enter private universities such as Ryukoku Univ. and Kyoto Sangyo Univ..

FR course is designed for students aiming to enter private universities, junior colleges, and vocational schools.

Kousen Catholic High School is a global-oriented school. We frequently welcome overseas exchange students through the Rotary Exchange and other programs. We have four sister schools in New Zealand, Australia, and the USA. Every year, we have summer language training program in New Zealand and the UK.

Also available in fall is the language training program at our sister school in the USA. Through such programs, Kousen encourages the students to develop their global awareness.

For athletics, basketball, rugby, tennis, and ice hockey teams stand at the national level and participate in national tournaments as a representative of Shiga Prefecture.

About Kousen Catholic Kindergarten

Kousen Catholic Kindergarten attends to children aged 3 to 5. We help children to grow active and honest. We also place importance on the improvement of the children’s cognitive skills which forms the basis for education at highly academic universities. As children’s brain power rapidly improves in infancy, we help them improve themselves through memorization of Chinese Characters, the concept of numbers, and familiarity with the use of English without hesitation. In addition, we are preparing for a new type of educational technique to improve the children’s linguistic expression and other self expression, notably artistic presentation.

About Campus

ST. PAUL’S ACADEMY’s, senior high school, junior high school, and kindergarten are all in Kusatsu city, Shiga Prefecture. Kusatsu city is a rural city, facing Lake Biwa which is the largest lake in Japan.
We enjoy the blessings of nature in all seasons thanks to the mountain range that including Mt. Hiei which is located on the other side of Lake Biwa.

In addition, 20 minutes’ ride by train takes you to Kyoto, which has many World Heritage sites and temples. We can go to Osaka and Kobe in 1 hour by train.
Kusatsu City is not only blessed with easy access to natural environments, but also a pleasant city atmosphere. Kusatsu city also a commuter town with the highest number of rail commuters in Shiga Prefecture. Kusatsu City is also a college town with Ritsumeikan University. As there are large number of university students, there is no trouble with your daily life.

All schools of ST. PAUL’S ACADEMY are located together within 10 minutes’ walk, in a quiet, safe atmosphere of fields and houses.
Throughout the campus, there are four sports fields, one with artificial grass, and three gyms. Environments for athletics is also well equipped. Plus, in our senior and junior high school, there is a chapel where Mass is held twice a year, and an auditorium for watching movies or lectures which accommodates more than 300 people. Our cafeteria also accommodates 300 people. Set meals and noodles are sold there. The baking is also available next to the cafeteria.