ようこそ日本語のクラスへ！Yokoso! Welcome to the Japanese class and the World Languages Department at Johnson High School. I am Dr. Kato, also known as Kato sensei (加藤先生). This is my 19th year teaching Japanese at NEISD. I feel fortunate to be part of this community and to work with you to help achieve academic success.

I was born and raised in Japan. I have been living in the U.S.A. since 1998. I earned my B.A. in English in Kyoto, Japan, earned my M.A. in Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) in Fresno, CA, and earned my doctoral degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Bilingual Studies at the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley. I have taught Japanese and ESL in Japan, Chicago, IL, Fresno, CA, Buffalo, NY, and San Antonio, TX.

My research interest is second language acquisition.

My other interests are international and domestic travel (I have visited over 40 countries, five continents, and 40 states in the U.S.A.), photography, Japanese calligraphy, playing classical piano, and COOKING!!!

My family consists of my beloved husband, whom I met in San Antonio, and surprisingly, we discovered that we had both graduated from the same junior high school in Japan, and my son, Kazuto, turns 17 years and 7 months old, and my daughter, Mana, turns 16 years and 5 months old this summer. They are both learning Japanese and English at home and school.