Hinoki International School to reopen under new charter

Hinoki International, the Japanese-English elementary school whose charter was revoked last year by Livonia Public Schools, is reopening in Farmington Hills under a new charter from Saginaw Valley State University.

The school is enrolling students in kindergarten through fifth grade for the 2015-16 school year and will hold an open house Feb. 24.

Dr. Craig Douglas, director of SVSU's School-University Partnership Office, said, "We welcome Hinoki International School to our group of public school academies. We expect many educational connections with SVSU to emerge immediately and well into the future."

The Livonia school board voted July 28 to revoke its contract with Hinoki International School, saying the charter school it had authorized since 2010 had defaulted on the contract by not having a facility and not enrolling students for fall 2014.

LPS is now offering its own K-6 Japanese Immersion Magnet Program in the same former LPS elementary school in which Hinoki operated. The LPS board said it had serious concerns about Hinoki International School's ability to continue running its program because of a breakdown in the relationship between Hinoki's board and administration.

A spokesman for the Michigan Department of Education said at the time LPS revoked Hinoki's contract that it had the right to do so and the right to open a magnet school with the same Japanese immersion program. The school, Niji-Iro Japanese Immersion Elementary, opened last fall with 130 students.

Hinoki stakeholders viewed the Livonia board's actions as a hostile takeover of their school, recruiting teachers and students without the Hinoki board's knowledge.

LPS Superintendent Randy Liepa said in response to the news of Honoki's reopening: "We wish them the best with their school and still look forward to continuing our current program which is providing an excellent option for Japanese immersion education."

Hinoki will share its new facility in Farmington Hills with Schoolhouse Montessori Academy's preschool programs.

Hinoki will become the 20th charter school currently authorized by SVSU, which approved a three-year contract.

Honoki is the first public charter school in Michigan, and one of only a few nationwide, to teach students all subjects in English and Japanese. Hinoki's curriculum was developed in partnership with education experts at Eastern Michigan University as part of a $560,000 federal charter school implementation grant, and continues to be refined to better meet the needs of students and their families.

Dr. Anne Hooghart, Hinoki School Board President, said: "We at Hinoki are thrilled about our new partnership with Saginaw Valley State University. Their commitment to innovative global education and intercultural/multilingual education is evident. SVSU has a growing Japanese language program and a sister university in Shikoku, Japan, and we hope to establish mutually-beneficial relationships."

The open house will take place 6-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24, at its new location, 29230 West 12 Mile Road in Farmington Hills. Applications for admission are available at the school website (http://www.hinoki-school.org/ ), from office@hinoki-school.org, or at the open house. Open enrollment continues through mid-March.

Livonia Public Schools' Japanese Immersion school, Niji-Iro, will hold an open house 7-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 25, at 36611 Curtis Road, Livonia.

"We look forward to sharing the details of our program with new prospective parents, outlining the great opportunities with our program," Liepa said.

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