I am Junko Kitanobo who was assigned to the Principal of Sakuraidani Elementary School as of April 1, 2015. Our school was founded in March 1874 and marked its 142nd anniversary in this year (2015). We are very proud of this wonderful school which is supported by the local community and the parents. We have a rice field that we made with the cooperation of the local people within the grounds of our school. It makes it easy for our children to observe the growth of rice and vegetables throughout the year. They can learn the difficulties to grow rice and the importance of the life by experiencing rice planting, taking weeds, harvesting, threshing, etc. Though our school is in urban areas, we have the feature of “school with agriculture". We make “Kadomatsu (the New Year's decorative pine trees)” in collaboration with the local residents and PTA at the end of every year. As part of this event, the first grade students make mini-Kadomatsu. Thus the great Kadomatsu is put in front of the main gate, and it has become a tradition of the season.

  
We have some special classes such as the hospital class in Toyonaka Municipal Hospital, the class called “Kotoba classroom” for students with disabilities. Since there is the international house of Osaka University within the school zone, we have some children of the students or the researchers from various countries. In addition, the international class that was organized by Board of Education was opened in 2009. In order to take advantage of these features, we applied for UNESCO School registration in 2010. As one of the activities, we interact with North Loburn School in New Zealand of Friendship School by using web-based video conference tool.
We will work continuously to foster our children based on "act correctly, strongly, brightly" of the school motto. We would appreciate your guidance and support.

Junko Kitanobo, Principal