Campus Development

Campus Development >> Seoul Foreign School - Embracing the Future of High School Education

By Colm Flanagan, Head of School Seoul Foreign School

Seoul Foreign School was established here in Seoul in 1912 and after over a century we are firmly part of the city’s landscape. The school incorporates four distinct elements - elementary school, middle school, high school and The British School. Each part of the school has changed and grown over the years and our 25 acre plot in Yeonhui-dong is currently undergoing significant development to meet our burgeoning student population’s needs.

Over the past few years we have wanted to provide our high school students with the best environment to meet the challenging academic and social demands imposed by the rigorous IB system. We felt that in order to challenge them to meet their full potential we needed to totally change so we took the big decision to raze the old and start again with the new!

Our objectives - as set out in our 5 year Strategic Plan - were to plan for the ongoing development of our world-class campus. We aimed to create innovative learning environments and facilities for our students. We aimed to support the aspirations of our student body and those of our committed, talented faculty.

After extensive discussions with our board we were ready to proceed and after much discussion we chose New York architects Ennead to help us create our vision. Having worked with illustrious academic and arts institutions across the world they immediately embraced our vision and provided inspiring plans for a state of the art high school which would encompass all elements of a creative learning culture.

Our new high school will be 187,000 square feet. It will embody the values of Seoul Foreign School in its whole layout. We are committed to academic excellence and this is shown in large, modern classrooms with whiteboard walls with multiple projection capabilities for totally interactive classes. We have fabrication labs and collaboration spaces. There are huge design and performance areas - and lots of shared space for more informal collaborative learning.

We want to make our building a huge part of our legacy and hope our Naming Rights programme; our Centennial Stones and our Donor Art and Student Art exhibitions will unite the past and the future in one great space.

The building will open its doors to the classes of 2018-19 in August of this year. Our students just can’t wait to get in there! As one of our middle school students, Joanne Lee, says “My friends and I are so excited. It’s so good that we are the first ones to start the high school in the brand new building! It’s very special...”

The high school will be led and inspired by Principal Jeff Holcomb and his committed team. As Jeff says “The most important ingredients - hardworking students , driven to serve and demonstrating character - will simply move to a fantastic new location”

We are committed to updating and renewing our whole campus on a regular basis and are already planning what happens next. Schools must move on and at Seoul Foreign School we are lucky to be able to offer a rich legacy, a fantastic current learning opportunity to all ages and a promise for the future.

We invite you to come and visit us and see for yourselves. Seoul Foreign School, Seoul and Korea are setting the educational bar even higher.