Seoul International School

When Seoul International School first opened in 1973, it was the first foreign school since Korea's liberation from the Japanese annex to be fully recognized by the South Korean Ministry of Education.[2] The school was first located on the campus of Konkuk University where a new classroom facility was completed in 1976.

The school graduated its first four-year high school senior class in 1978. As SIS expanded, the school required more facilities and a larger campus. In 1981, the present 8-acre (32,000 m²) site was selected, and the school buildings were designed with Korean architectural motifs. The 150,000 square feet (14,000 m²) campus was completed just over four years later. The move to the current campus was made in May 1985. Located in the city of Seongnam (on the border of southeast Seoul), the school is about 25 minutes south of Lotte World, the Jamsil subway station and Olympic Park. The school is located near the Bokjeong station on Seoul Subway Line 8.[1]

The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), based in California, accredited Seoul International School for a six-year term in 1979. Subsequent reaccreditations were received in 1985, 1991, 1997, 2003 and the spring of 2009.[3] As a condition of attending the school, every student is required to hold non-Korean permanent residency or citizenship.

In 2018, the headmaster of the school, Kim Hyung-shik, was investigated for embezzling 20 billion won ($17.8 million) while illegally managing the school.[4]

The school has a WiFi network integrated into all classrooms, campus areas and facilities. There are two libraries and several science laboratories. All students in grades 4–12 are part of a one-to-one learning network, accompanied by an Apple company technician who is full-time on campus and a professional technology learning staff who takes care of student and teacher needs in a 100% Macintosh computer program. Athletic facilities include three gymnasiums, a five-lane indoor 25-meter heated swimming pool, a soccer field with artificial turf, and weights and gymnastics rooms. Playgrounds, soccer fields, and libraries are available for student use during classes, for recess, and after school. One of the gymnasiums was demolished for the construction of a new elementary building, which was completed as of 2013. It contains seven floors with elementary school classrooms, a full-sized gymnasium in the basement level, six stories of classrooms, learning spaces, two multi-purpose rooms, specialist Art, teacher preparation, ESL/SN rooms and a sixth-floor gymnasium for elementary students. It also has two basement floors, with the B2 consisting of the gymnasium and swimming pool.

The 350-seat school auditorium is used for school assemblies, teacher and parent functions, fine arts productions and concerts and is equipped with lighting and sound systems. The auditorium was completely renovated in 2016. Music students have access to facilities including band, strings and choir rooms and soundproofed practice, instrument, choral and strings rooms.

In elementary and middle school, there are about 20 (ES) to 20 (MS) students per homeroom. There are four to five homerooms in each grade. In high school, there are about 12 to 20 students per class. In the school year of 2017–2018, the average class size is 15.0 for all classes and 15.2 for Advanced Placement classes. Every year, 100% of the graduating class matriculate into colleges and universities, with the majority going to the United States upon graduation along with a few students moving on to Korean universities. Less than 5% of students graduate to different countries, mostly to the UK, Korea, Japan, or China.

Students of the school average 3.8 out of a 4-point GPA scale. These criterion-referenced grades are fully supported by external metrics of educational outcomes on AP exams, the SAT and ACT, college acceptances to the most competitive schools in the world (including Princeton, Yale, Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Penn, Chicago, and Caltech). Twenty-two Advanced Placement (AP) courses are also offered at SIS.

SIS also offers non-academic courses, including classes in art, drama, and music. There are many non-AP classes including arts, music and design classes, government, statistics, anatomy, mathematical functions and models, history, communications, and life sports. The school also offers the AP Capstone program classes in Seminar and Research as of the 2016–2017 school year.

Seoul International School is a Division 1, but primarily Division 2 member of the Korean-American Interscholastic Activities Conference. SIS fields teams in tennis, cross country, and swimming for Division 1 and volleyball, basketball, cheerleading, and soccer for Division 2.

• Daniel Armand Lee

• Seoul International School homepage