Seoul Foreign School 2012-2022, New Foundations for the Future

Seoul Foreign School

Celebrating 110 Years of Excellence

2012

-

2022 New Foundations for the Future

written by Paul D. Rader ’ 04

Seoul Foreign School, Centered in Christ, inspires a passion for learning, pursues academic and creative excellence and is dedicated to the service of others.

Seoul Foreign School

2012-2022, New Foundations for the Future

Written by: Paul D. Rader

Published by: Seoul Foreign School

Editor: Cyrielle Bazin

Design: Juhie Suh

Address Seoul Foreign School

39 Yeonhui-ro 22-gil, Yeonhui-dong

Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, South Korea, 03723 www.seoulforeign.org

© Seoul Foreign School. All Rights Reserved.

*All efforts have been made to check details and consistency. Please contact communications@ seoulforeign.org with any questions.

Seoul Foreign School

Celebrating

New Foundations for the Future

written by Paul D. Rader ’ 04

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Firstly, I want to acknowledge all of the faculty, staff, students, and parents who have been a part of SFS during the past decade. For a time, our lives intersected together and we were SFS! There is no doubt in my mind that the last ten years at SFS have been significant to the positive direction and future of our school, and all of us have contributed to this part of the school’s history.

Secondly, I want to thank the school for allowing me to participate in the 110th anniversary celebrations by writing this chapter. I hope that my institutional knowledge and experiences at SFS will provide a perspective on the past ten years that people will find interesting and relevant (now and in the future). I am proud to be a student and teacher alumnus of SFS. It is a great blessing and privilege to be able to live out my vocation as an educator in this community.

Thirdly, a special thanks to the Head of School Colm Flanagan and Assistant Head of School for Academics Jan-Mark Seewald, Board Chair Silvia Kim, SFS External Relations Yoojin Um, Juhie Suh, and Cyrielle Bazin, as well as the Sectional Principals Damian Prest, Justin Smith, Andy Freeman, Jeff Holcomb, and Nancy Le Nezet for spending time with me sharing their perspectives on the past decade.

Paul D. Rader, Author Cyrielle Bazin, Editor March, 2023

PREFACE

In celebration of the 75th (1987), 90th (2002), and the 100th (2012) anniversaries of Seoul Foreign School, the task was put forth to create a written historical account which captures the details and themes of the intervening epochs. The narrative and details from those accounts tell the incredible history of our school and its unique and distinct organizational mission through the years of being ‘centered in Christ’, while also providing a world class educational experience for our students. And although there is a constant identity that runs throughout SFS’ 110 year history, as the 100th anniversary chapter author Esther Myong noted, it is clear that our school is also a “constantly changing, evolving, and dynamic place”. As an international school, our sole existence is anchored in a transitory world where students, teachers, and administrators come and go, which is why it is important to document and remember our history; so that we may honor the past while also shaping our future.

As we have reached and have now passed the 110 year (2022) anniversary of the school (it is March 2023 as I am writing this), the time has come again to capture the significant details, changes, and themes of the 2012-2022 epoch. It will be impossible to include everything, and I’m sure there will be important things missed! However, I will do my best as an alumnus (1989-2004), former teacher (High School English from 2014-2019), and current administrator (Director of Sports 2019 to present) to bring my institutional knowledge and perspective to this past decade and how it fits into the greater narrative of SFS’ history.

The chapter on 1912-1987 was titled A History. 1988-2002 was titled, The Story Continues. 2002-2012 was titled, A Decade Leading Up to the Centennial. I have titled this chapter for 2012-2022 “New Foundations for the Future”, as it captures the idea and significance of the changes at SFS and connotes the progress and bright future for our school. Anyone reading this chapter is also encouraged to read the previous accounts of the school’s history found in the commemorative Centennial Book, 100 Years of Excellence, for a fuller picture of our school and its history.

CONTEXT OF KOREAN AND WORLD EVENTS (2012-2022)

Long term and short term Seoul residents know that everything in Korea exists in a constant state of flux, whether it is a new coffee shop in the neighborhood (probably a Starbucks), a new shopping center (probably a Starfield), or a new international school (probably a licensee branch of a stateside prep school). That being said, one can always rely on the constants of Korea that do not change: the deeply held Confucian societal values, the importance of education, and the national work ethic. And of course, the true monument of Seoul: Chicago Pizza (and its baked spaghetti - if you know, you know), which seems to weather all the changes in Korea.

Impact of Global Events 2012-2022

Although a foreign entity in Korea, the history of SFS and the country have always been deeply intertwined, and the school has had to navigate the opportunities and challenges of local events. This past decade has seen its fair share of local and international events that have directly impacted our school.

On the morning of April 16 2014, the nation was shocked to watch the country’s worst maritime disaster unfold on live television when the Sewol Ferry sank, leading to the deaths of over 300 passengers, including 250 students from Danwon High School in Ansan. At the time, the cause and true impact of the disaster were unknown, and for those who were here in Korea and saw the images of the capsized and half-submerged vessel, this tragedy will not soon be forgotten. The country entered a period of national mourning, which turned to outrage as information emerged of negligence and corruption within the ferry company, as well as within the Korean government under President Park Geun-hye. During the period of mourning, all public celebratory activities were halted and all student trips were canceled. SFS and the international

school community in Korea mourned alongside the Korean nation and watched in amazement as millions of people spoke out in a unified democratic voice demanding justice. These protests made global news as hundreds of thousands gathered in the downtown Gwanghwamun area under candlelight vigils.

Since the 1950s, the political tensions between North and South Korea have sometimes played out in a way that directly impacted our school. In 2011, Kim Jong Un became the new leader of North Korea, ushering in an understandable amount of uncertainty over his new leadership compared to his father Kim Jong Il’s. In October 2014, tensions flared when North and South Korean troops engaged in skirmishes at the border over South Korean activists who had launched balloons containing propaganda leaflets. Shortly after, North Korea sent their own leaflet balloons into South Korea. By chance of the wind and the campus elevation, SFS became the landing site for a number of North Korean propaganda pamphlets which rained down from the sky and littered the campus. That evening, eager social studies teachers were seen scouring the woods looking for these unique examples of modern cold war propaganda to share with their students.

Each spring usually sees minor incidents with North Korea when the US and ROK forces conduct their annual combined military exercises. This saberrattling has become a normal part of life in Korea and very rarely seems to register into the day-to-day lives of residents in Seoul. Larger incidents related to North Korea’s nuclear missile program garner international attention and have led to some unprecedented historical events. In 2017, Kim Jong Un threatened to send a nuclear missile to the island of Guam. While this was an unlikely action, the threat and subsequent impact on tensions in the region led to the cancellation of the SFS High School cross country team’s trip to Guam for an international race. In 2018, former US President Trump became the first sitting president to meet with a North Korean leader when he met Kim Jong Un at Panmunjom to discuss denuclearization. While the situation is now relatively “stable”, these events are a constant reminder to the SFS community that this is a country at war, and that political destabilization in the region due to larger world political and geopolitical events are always a potential risk factor for the school.

Seoul Foreign School, 1912-2022

Although not “events” per se, SFS has also had to contend with the impact of the deteriorating air quality on the peninsula and other weather related phenomena. Since the early 2000s, there have been days in the spring season with high levels of yellow dust called “hwang sa”, which have led to early dismissals or school cancellations. While disconcerting, these are relatively infrequent and are the result of a natural occurrence of seasonal winds blowing the yellow dust down from the Gobi desert in Manchuria. However, in the past ten years, the air quality situation in Korea has certainly deteriorated, and the occurrence of fine dust particles in the air called “misae munji” has become regular. The causes of the increase in fine dust are debated, but in 2017, NASA and NIER released a study that determined that almost 50% of the particulate matter came from outside of the country.

There are now neighborhood monitors all over the country, and apps such as AirVisual give users real time information about the air quality. SFS has even installed its own on-campus air quality reading machine, which gives a more accurate ‘real time’ reading, as opposed to the neighborhood monitors which take an average reading over a longer period of time. The impact of this in wider society is that more and more people regularly wear dust filtering masks when outside. The impact within our school is that the air quality is constantly being monitored and decisions are made daily about the ‘weather’ and whether to allow students outside for recess and activities. Each classroom is outfitted with air purifiers to help combat the dust levels inside of the buildings. There have even been days with such high levels of fine dust that schools have been advised to close for the day. In 2014, there was an infamous ‘dust’ day when the school received late guidance, around 7:45 AM, from the SMOE Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education) that school had to be ‘optional’ for students. When the email was sent, there was a visible exodus of the high school students going down the hill, as they exercised their ‘option’ of attending school that day!

There have also been a few ‘Typhoon Days’ over the past decade where schools have had to close due to heavy levels of rain and flooding. In fact, the very first day of the 2022-2023 school year was canceled due to flooding in the Seoul area. After years of disruptions due to the COVID-19 virus, the school was finally ready for a ‘normal’ first day of school. Mother Nature had other plans!

Seoul Foreign School, 1912-2022

SFS Air Pollution Guidelines (as of March 2023)

The COVID-19 Pandemic

Of course, the most significant global event of the last ten years has been the COVID-19 pandemic, which completely altered the world from the moment it first emerged in late 2019. While there were global warning shots across the bow with the SARS virus in 2003, and again with the MERS virus in 2016, very few people anticipated that the most disruptive event of the 21st century would come in the form of a virus, except of course Bill Gates. In January of 2020, news started to emerge of a contagious and deadly virus spreading in the

Chinese city of Wuhan. Over the next couple of months the world would watch as cases began to spread into other countries, and it started to become clear that the virus would neither be contained, nor easily managed.

In mid-January of 2020, Head of School Colm Flanagan organized a crisis management team to address how the virus would impact our educational and school operations. One of the earliest decisions made by the group was to cancel a large FOBISIA swim invitational tournament scheduled for early February 2020, which was set to include hundreds of guests from all around Asia, including many schools from China. At the time, the decision was not popular, especially from schools in countries that had not yet been impacted by the viral spread. In hindsight, this proved to be a wise decision, as just a few weeks later, much of the rest of the world began to shut down and go into various forms of lockdown. For SFS, there were many canceled international trips, as well as local events, much to the dismay of students, teachers, and parents. At the time, these cancellations were a tough pill to swallow, and without the benefit of hindsight, it was hard to know if this was the right response to the situation.

Despite the school and the country being on full alert to the novel coronavirus, SFS school life continued as normal until February 17 when “Patient 31” became the source of a large cluster outbreak in Daegu. Over the next few weeks, this case would ultimately spread to hundreds of members within the Shincheonji Cult Church, and would lead to the shut down of inperson learning for all schools in Korea. This signaled the start of the journey of online learning, hybrid learning, mask wearing, social distancing, and all of the other mitigating safety measures that became the new normal in Korea and around the world. When SFS originally suspended its on-campus learning and moved to virtual learning, it was intended to be for a few days to “monitor the situation”, though it quickly became evident that the school’s closure would continue on without an end in sight. This led to a very difficult and stressful time in March and April of 2020 for the SFS faculty and staff, as it seemed like it would be safer to be allowed to leave Korea and go back to home countries “to ride things out”. There was a lot of debate about the best course of action, but the administration was committed to ensuring that the delivery of learning to SFS students would continue uninterrupted, virtually or in-person as best

as possible, which meant the SFS staff would need to remain in Korea. As the spread of the virus increased around the world and places like the United States and Italy got severely impacted, it became more clear that the decision to keep all staff in Seoul was the safest one, and the most beneficial for our students’ educational progress.

At the start of the pandemic, the administration also laid down a clear philosophical approach that if SFS was able to safely have students on campus for in-person learning, then the school would adapt, pivot, and adjust in order to make it happen. This was not an easy decision, and required a lot of flexibility by the SFS staff, but it clearly prioritized the school’s mission, and as a result, this sent a strong signal to our community that SFS was committed to student learning. In order to accommodate this approach, there were times when only a certain percentage of students could be allowed on campus. The administration had to create and share many iterations of rotational schedules that indicated which grade levels of students were in-person vs. virtual learning on any given day. Teachers had to quickly adapt and learn strategies for virtual teaching, such as screencasts, digitizing materials, and adjusting units to work on variable timelines of in-person and virtual learning. Nevertheless, despite these complicated rotational schedules, SFS faculty and staff rose to the challenges and ultimately provided the best possible education for our students. Thankfully, the school was able to offer in-person learning for most of the lower elementary students during the pandemic, due to a governmental provision that allowed for schools to offer childcare.

Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the school decided to use the experience as an opportunity for reflection and growth. What resulted was the “Way Forward”, which was released in November 2021. As Colm Flanagan shared with the community, the pandemic “taught us much, and these lessons will color our decisions as an institution as we move into the post COVID-19 era […] and forge a new path into the future”. The three core priorities outlined in the document were to bring back community, understand student progression, and to utilize personnel and resources effectively.

SFS has always been known for its community, and during COVID-19, one of the most difficult realities to face was that there could not be any social

gatherings. This severely limited our ability to maintain a link with our wider community, particularly with the parents who were only able to come to campus in a limited capacity. For a time, the school was not able to have any concerts, games, or performances, but as soon as it was possible, these important aspects of our school resumed. For at least two years of the pandemic, there were concerts and performances with no audience, and there were games with no spectators. It was the best that could be done at the time, though it meant that our wider community, particularly our parents, was physically disconnected from the school. Thankfully, since the start of the 2022-2023 school year, almost all of the COVID-19 regulations for schools have been lifted (indoor mask wearing, plastic dividers, group gathering limits). Therefore, school has returned in many ways back to ‘normal’ and this core priority has been addressed, almost naturally, as parents are invited back to campus for events and activities.

In regards to the second core priority of understanding student progression, this has dovetailed with the findings from the WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) reports, and the school plans to move forward with an updated emphasis on assessment feedback for students. Around the world, students were impacted during COVID-19 by gaps in their learning or by the impact of virtual learning vs. in-person learning. SFS has made it a priority to increase our communal understanding of the importance of feedback in the learning process, and ensure that, as the school emerges from the COVID-19 era, our students’ learning progressions are prioritized.

In regards to the third priority of utilizing personnel and resources effectively, this relates to the threat that the COVID-19 pandemic posed to all schools around the world, particularly non-profit private schools such as SFS, which rely almost primarily on tuition to cover all operational expenses. A mistaken assumption is that it was ‘cheaper’ for the school to operate during the pandemic, but the reality was that in order to continue operations and offer as much inperson learning as possible across the whole school, additional teachers and permanent substitute teachers were needed. Therefore, through this whole process, the school took the opportunity to review all positions across the school in order to ensure that the allocation of employment was distributed towards the most important part of the school, which is the teaching and learning of our

students.

Emergence of AI Technologies

Challenges in education related to the emergence of new technologies is not a new phenomenon: i.e. Wikipedia. However, a brand new educational challenge has emerged in the year 2022 that seems to be different and novel. This is the artificial intelligence revolution, and the proliferance of programs like ChatGPT, which have the ability to produce novel prose in response to questions, prompts, and queries.

The significant and valid concern for educators is that students will use programs like ChatGPT instead of using their own critical thinking and writing skills. At this time, this technology is new and there is not a 100% accurate way to determine if a piece of writing is original or the product of AI technologies. How will this impact the learning process for students if they become dependent on AI technologies rather than their own skills and abilities? Schools, including SFS, are currently in the process of grappling with the possibilities of AI and how this technology will be integrated, incorporated, or rejected in the education process. As of this writing, the school has begun the process of evaluating student handbooks and assessment policies.

On the flip side, is this a technology that schools should embrace, which can help students harness the power of information and problem solving in unique and novel ways to address serious issues in the world? Do we have the next Bill Gates enrolled at SFS who will be on the front of the AI revolution and be the next generation’s tech guru?

The reality is that these are the same questions that educators have been asking since the beginning of time, and frequently since the advent of the internet, and while this new challenge may be unique, the underlying philosophical questions are similar, if not the same, and the reality is that AI is not going anywhere.

Impact of the Educational Market in Korea

Coming into fruition in the last ten years is the rise of competing schools in the international school market in Korea. There are now 14 international schools from around Korea that are part of our local activities conference (KAIAC), and there are many more international schools in the larger Seoul, Busan and Jeju areas. The impetus for the creation of new international schools came from the Korean government, with the purpose of making Korea a more attractive location for foreign business investment (think a kind of Singapore), and also to provide more western and international educational opportunities for its rising population of repatriated Korean nationals, and for foreign passportholding Korean nationals.

While SFS maintains its reputation as the school of choice for families seeking an international education, many other options are now available in Seoul, and factors such as proximity to housing, location in the city, tuition cost, academic programs, and school philosophy have allowed for more nuanced considerations for families. There are now five or six other large international schools that compete for eligible international students in the Seoul area. North of the river is Dwight School Seoul, which is located about 15 minutes towards Digital Media City, and Yongsan International School Seoul, which is located in the Itaewon area. South of the river are Korea International School, Seoul International School, and Dulwich College Seoul located from Banpo to Pangyo. There are also international schools in Seoul’s satellite cities Suwon and Incheon, such as Gyeonggi Suwon International School, a Christian school that offers the IB continuum, and Chadwick International School in Incheon, which offers the IB continuum and is a sister school of the Chadwick School in California.

SFS is now the only not-for-profit international school in Korea, with all other schools being connected to a governmental foundation or to other educational companies and organizations. This continues to give SFS an edge in the market with its ability to act swiftly and ensure that all financial planning and stewardship of the school’s resources go directly back to student learning and direct operations of the school. Many of the school improvement initiatives and strategic plans/actions of the last decade at SFS have been driven by the

Seoul

Foreign School, 1912-2022 recognized necessity to continue improvement in order to fully realize the mission of the school in an increasingly competitive environment.

New Foundations for the Future

Faculty Demographics

NEW LEADERSHIP AT SFS

Another significant event in the school’s history was the appointment of Colm Flanagan as the Head of School starting in the 2014-2015 school year. Colm joined SFS with his two sons, Fionntan and Cormac (both SFS graduates), and his wife Sinead.

In many ways, Colm did not fit the mold of his predecessors Dick Underwood, Harlan Lyso, and John Engstrom. They are Americans, Colm is Irish. They are Protestant Christians, Colm is a Roman Catholic Christian. While these differences might not seem too surprising to us now, it must be remembered that Colm Flanagan is only the fourth Head of School in the school’s history, and that for the majority of SFS’ history, the overall culture of the school was American, with the demographic makeup of the students and faculty - and certainly the leadership, being predominantly Americans by nationality.

Evidence of this culture in the school is that, prior to the switch to the IB continuum, it would not have been unusual to hear parents refer to the ‘American side’ of the school when referencing the Elementary, Middle, or High School. Now it would be more common to hear parents refer to the ‘IB side’ (in reference to the Elementary, Middle, or High School) or the ‘British School’.

With Colm’s appointment, it was clear that the Board sought a Head of School that would be a strong and decisive leader who could drive forward the agenda of alignment across all sections and improve the teaching and learning.

When asked about his leadership at SFS so far, Colm said the key words he would use to describe his time would be “change, development and evolution, rather than a wholesale change”. He outlined his major goals for his tenure at SFS as:

Seoul Foreign School, 1912-2022

1. Navigating being a relevant Christian institution in our complex world

2. Implementing a high quality IB and British School continuum curriculum

3. Continuing to prioritize and improve the quality of teaching and learning at SFS

4. Ensuring that the great community spirit of SFS is maintained

As of this writing, Colm Flanagan is finishing his 9th year as the Head of School. The current average length of tenure for Heads of Schools internationally is less than 3 years, whereas the average length of tenure for SFS Heads of School is close to 20 years! If the averages play out, Colm is just getting started.

SFS FOUNDATIONAL STATEMENTS

SFS Mission Statement

In 2016, as part of the five year strategic plan, and following a thorough process of review by the Board, the Senior Leadership, and various community stakeholders, the school adopted a new mission statement.

Seoul Foreign School, Centered in Christ, inspires a passion for learning, pursues academic and creative excellence and is dedicated to the service of others.

The former mission statement had been:

Seoul Foreign School, centered in Christ, inspires educational excellence and promotes Christian values, personal integrity and responsible global citizenship through a dynamic international experience.

While there were some changes from the previous mission statement in the language surrounding what the school aspires to do, the school maintained the phrase about who we aspire to be, which is a school community with an identity “Centered in Christ”. The strength of SFS, and what differentiates it from other international schools, is its Christian nature and legacy, which is truly unique. As Colm stated to the faculty and staff during the faculty orientation at the start of the 2022-2023 school year, “SFS is a Christian school, and always will be a Christian school.”

Centered in Christ

As stated in the Guiding Statements from the Board By-Laws in 2021, SFS “believes each student is a unique individual loved by God, regardless of race, religion, gender or nationality. The school protects the right of all students to make their own faith decisions, free of pressure or fear of disadvantage, all the while representing and commending the Christian faith to students as a way of

life worthy of deep consideration and acceptance”. Students are taught about Christianity in religion classes and attend assemblies that focus on particular aspects of Christianity like Christmas and Easter. The school does not have an evangelical mission or overt focus on proselytization, but it maintains specific days of the week with no after school activities, and this time is set apart for students to participate in Christian Ministries, if they choose to, such as AWANA, TREK, or Discipleship. These activities are optional and open to all students regardless of their religious background. Students are also exposed to Christian values, evidenced with the schoolwide support and integration of the Christ-like Attitudes in the school life: love, faith, service, self-control, compassion, acceptance, forgiveness, integrity, hope, and joy.

It is important to note that SFS is not, and has never been associated with one specific Christian denomination, and is not a church-affiliated organization. This means that within our community of faculty, staff and students, there is a significant amount of Christian ecumenical and cultural diversity. Because of this diversity, it has become increasingly important for the school’s Christian mission to be unified in charitable service and tangible action, so that everyone in our community can support the school’s mission regardless of their personal faiths, creeds, or cultural backgrounds.

At the centennial celebration in 2012, former Head of School Dick Underwood described SFS as a “Christian school for everyone”. This phrase has become foundational to the SFS community as an affirmation of the school’s Christian mission to provide a world-class education in an inclusive and supportive environment. This phrase is also a celebration of the diversity of our community and its members’ cultural and religious backgrounds, which is important because, while more than half of our students’ families are associated with Christianity, a significant number of our students’ families are associated with other religious backgrounds such as Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and

Islam, or are non-religious.

The diversity in our school also extends to a wide variety of racial and cultural backgrounds in our students, faculty, and staff. In light of this diversity, our school is considering how to live out the mission while also addressing social justice and diversity-related issues in our immediate context, as well as on a national and global level. This work has begun in earnest, as Inclusion is one of the main areas of focus for the school’s upcoming School Improvement Plan and Strategic Plan for 2023-2028.

What also makes SFS a Christian school is its faculty. SFS seeks to hire exceptional and experienced teachers who are dedicated to the mission of the school. Through the modeling of the faculty, students see firsthand how Christianity is lived. The SFS faculty and staff come from a diversity of cultural and Christian faith backgrounds, and from a wide variety of denominations— Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Non-Denominational, Catholic and more, which presents students with a variety of examples of the Christian faith. Included in this important diversity are the SFS faculty and staff who are not practicing Christians (up to 10%). The school welcomes the diversity of perspective, both culturally and spiritually, that is brought by all of our community members. Regardless of one’s personal beliefs, all faculty and staff are expected to model the school’s identified Christ-like attitudes, as well as demonstrate commitment to the direction and mission.

The mission and Christian nature of the school presents exciting challenges (and it always has!) as SFS continues to live out its mission on a daily basis.

Inspires a passion for learning, pursues academic and creative excellence

The educational programs and the academic reputation of SFS has always been one of the strongest and most consistent aspects of the school. However, the last decade has seen significant changes to the programs as the school has sought to horizontally and vertically articulate a consistent and high quality learning experience for all students in the school. In order to achieve this vision, the school made the decision to become an IB (International Baccalaureate)

Seoul Foreign School, 1912-2022

continuum school, and for the British School to become a Fieldwork school.

In the past decade, the school has also chosen to invest in schoolwide professional development for faculty related to a variety of topics in order to ‘move the needle’ in the classrooms towards best practices. For example, since 2014, this has included a variety of faculty workshops with educational thought leaders Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Carol Ann Tomlinson’s Differentiation, Ron Ritchart’s Thinking Routines, Lance King’s Approaches to Learning, Darnell Fine’s DEIJ, Kagan Cooperative Learning Structures, and Dylan Wiliam’s Formative Assessment, just to name a few.

Another aspect and aspiration for the school is to become a ‘center for teaching and learning’. As part of this aspiration, the school has made its facilities and resources available to the IB to host IB workshops on campus. The school hosted its first IB Conferences in the 2022-2023 school year. The school has also opened its doors and classrooms to support the growing number of local IB schools here in Korea. Teachers from Korean IB schools come and spend time observing classes and interacting with SFS faculty in order to grow in their understanding of the IB program. SFS will also host the 2023-2024 KORCOS conference, which will provide a series of professional development opportunities for the Korean international schools.

As part of this initiative, the school also launched The Gate in 2021, which serves as a central online location for all on-campus and off-campus professional development opportunities for teachers. Professional development was almost exclusively online during the pandemic, so as we emerge from the pandemic era, teachers will be able to access more learning resources and opportunities to grow professionally.

The school has also committed to a new teacher growth model called Trust Based Observations, which was created by Craig Randall. Sectional and midlevel administrators received week-long training, and since the fall of 2022 have begun a systematic approach to classroom observations and feedback to teachers. For all stakeholders involved, this has been an exciting and positive approach to feedback for teachers. It is exciting to see how this will continue to build a positive culture of growth and learning amongst our faculty.

Dedicated to the Service of Others

A noticeable addition to the new mission statement is that the school is dedicated to “the service of others”. Head of School Colm Flanagan stated that one of his initiatives was to ensure that our Christian identity has relevance and is rooted in actions. On this front, through Jean Kim’s dedicated leadership, the school has invested time and resources into fostering more connections with local and international charities, so that any service work is anchored in relationships. A significant question from Colm to challenge our community was “What would happen if SFS didn’t exist? Would Yeonhui Dong know it? Would Seoul know about it?” The school signed an MoU with Seodaemun Gu and also initiated the SO-GOOD (Serving Others, Giving of Our Deeds) project to help give back to the host community in Seodaemun Gu and the wider Seoul area. We have also continued its charitable work with groups like Eugene Bell through the Dongdaewon fundraising.

As a recognition of the service work that has occurred over the last 10 years, Colm Flanagan was recognized in 2019 as an Honorary Citizen of Seoul. In 2022, he was also awarded the British Empire Medal in recognition for services to Education, Charity, and Cultural Relations Overseas.

The Mission in Action

In 2018, under the leadership of Assistant Head of School for Academics Jan-Mark Seewald, the school began the process of creating a cohesive vision for the “Mission in Action”, which visualizes the key components of the mission statement, and provides a useful framework through which all aspects of the school’s foundational aspects can be viewed. According to the 2022 WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) report, “the Mission in Action work addresses the recommendation to develop a schoolwide definition of internationalism and interculturalism, as well as a need to re-develop SFS student learning outcomes with the SFS Mission, IB Learner Profile, Christ-like Attitudes, and British School Core Values. The Mission in Action has guided the development of teaching and learning at SFS, the review of the SFS Portrait of a Teacher, and the current SFS Growth and Appraisal process.”

With the added focus in the new mission statement towards tangible action, the “Mission in Action” added some new phraseology for consideration, such as “making an impact”, “attitudes to action” and “empathy to impact”. Jan-Mark Seewald worked closely with co-founder of Inspire Citizens Aaron Moniz to create the Mission in Action. The outcome is that the Mission in Action is a tool that can be used for evaluation and reflection. For example, the WASC report cites that in the 2019-2020 school year “SFS leadership groups, curriculum coordinators, teacher teams, and students continued to establish schoolwide service as action committees and groups, with support from Inspire Citizens. Early adopters collected implementation evidence and documented support needed to move forward with developing a schoolwide definition of internationalism and interculturalism and explore global citizenship and service learning opportunities.”

A definition of global citizenship was developed as follows: “Seoul Foreign School defines global citizenship as internationally-minded individuals who demonstrate personal concern for the consequences of human behavior on the environment and on global society.”

SFS Branding Initiatives Related to the Mission

In 2019, SFS Marketing Department initiated a project to make the school’s mission and values more visible across campus. As part of this initiative, large signage was installed around campus depicting the school motto: Inspiring Excellence, Building Character - Since 1912. These can be seen prominently on the school buses, the bus garage, the swimming pool, the Elementary School entrance, the gym entrance and above the trophy cases in the gym building. The motto was initially coined and put on the side of the school buses in the late 2000’s as an encapsulation of the longer mission statement.

Also, as part of this initiative, the SFS Mission Statement and the Christlike Attitudes were framed and mounted in classrooms and common areas. The British School Core Values were also framed and mounted around the British School building. Additionally, colorful high quality IB Learner Profile posters were created and hung in the Elementary School, Middle School, High School, and the gym building.

A change that visitors to campus may also notice is the consolidation of school logos and school branding. In 2016, the Marketing Department worked to update the school’s branding by creating the “Brand Book”. This helped to consolidate and align the school’s visual identity across the campus and in all materials published by the school. This re-brand included the British School, which had previously retained its own logos and branding, but now shares the same logos, fonts etc, while expressing its unique identity through different school colors. Previous logos, such as the traditional academic logo and the SFS Gate logo, which had been commissioned for the 85th anniversary, were dropped from official school usage, although these still can be found on ‘permanent’ fixtures around campus, such as on the doors in the gymnasium building. Some of this work had begun with the 100th anniversary celebrations when the school released the ‘Centennial Logo’, which was a revamp of the school’s traditional academic logo, and was used on official letterhead and documents.

Seoul Foreign School, 2012-2022

Centennial Logo

Traditional Academic Logo

Below is an example of the current school logo and branding, which incorporates the design from the Centennial logo.

Connecting with Alumni

Over time, as the school grew and continued to professionalize its operations, a need emerged to revamp, formalize, and professionalize SFS’ alumni engagement. Therefore in 2016, Head of School Colm Flanagan took the decision of creating a full-time position of Director of Alumni Relations.

The goal of alumni relations at SFS is for alumni to build a lifetime connection with fellow alumni and to access opportunities related to the SFS network. Alumni are now able to connect through a private online platform called SFS Global Connect, which acts as a social media network. There are also alumni events around the world that alumni can attend, with the focus on networking and socializing. These events are a lot of fun and bring together alumni from all generations. The Alumni office also organizes speakers series online, and works to bring alumni speakers to the school to connect with students.

The school also continues the tradition of nominating an Alumnus/a of the Year who speaks at Graduation and gives out the prestigious Student Alumni Award to a deserving senior.

Restructuring of Governance

A significant change in the last ten years was the restructuring of the Board of Governance, which had been a strong recommendation from the previous accreditation visits.

The previous structure included a strategic board, the Council (a group responsible for the Christian identity of the school and the signing off of the school budget), the British School Governors, and the Jaedan (the official entity of the school). From 2014 to 2018, the school worked to adjust the structures to help provide more clarity, as well as to streamline and make the governance of the school more efficient. This required huge amounts of time, diligence, commitment and faith from each element of the governance structure to achieve this significant milestone.

Since 2018, the school Governance has been divided into two branches

1. The Foundation (formerly known as the Jaedan): the Foundation is the upper tier of the Governance structure. Responsibilities include maintaining and protecting the Christian Nature of the school and the financial stability of the school.

2. The Board of Governors: the Board of Governors is responsible for the strategic direction of the school including the 5 year plan and annual reviews. This group is made up of important sub-committees such as Finance (budget), Enterprise and Risk Management, Mission Impact Committee, and TES (Training, Evaluation, and Selection) Committee.

The two groups meet once a month and the flow of information is more direct between the Head of School and the Board of Governors.

A practical outcome of this restructuring of overall school governance is that the British School is now a ‘section’ of the school rather than a school within a school, which is how it had previously operated. This has helped to streamline and align the sections overall, as it has allowed for more coordination and collaboration, such as sharing teachers, facilities, schedules etc.

2012-2022 SECTION BY SECTION SNAPSHOTS

School Wide

In the last ten years, a new department was formally organized under the leadership of the Assistant Head of School for Academics, termed School Wide. Due to certain roles and responsibilities, there are faculty and staff who work within multiple sections of the school, and therefore report either to a designated School Wide Director, and/or to their sectional principal. School Wide includes departments such as World Languages, Arts, PHE (Physical and Health Education), Aquatics, Activities/SWEP (School Wide Extra Curricular Program), Summer Camp, Counseling, Design, and Christian Ministries.

School Wide Activities

The Dongdaewon Fundraiser is a yearly highlight. Each February and March, the school initiates charitable fundraising for the Eugene Bell Foundation’s Tuberculosis efforts to fight multidrug resistant TB (MDR) in North Korea. The clinic that SFS supports is called Dongdaewon, therefore this effort from the school is termed the Dongdaewon Fundraiser (or just Dongdaewon). Faculty and staff volunteer each year to form the leadership team, and then through the collective efforts of the community, raise a significant amount of money, as each patient requires unique and specially designed drugs in order to heal from tuberculosis. Some initiatives include the sale of a school wide t-shirt that can be worn on Fridays to show support for the cause, the Bouldering Bash, or the Swim for Dongdaewon. Individual classrooms or grade levels also have competitions such as Coins for a Cause or Clothing Drives to raise money for ‘free dress’ days. But the highlight of the Dongdaewon fundraising is the faculty Pantomime, “Panto”, which features

Seoul Foreign School, 2012-2022

the comical retelling of classic fairy tales, such as Robin Hood, Once Upon a Time, or Peter Pan. These family-friendly performances also include audience participation and interaction.

During the Christmas season, initiated by the Christian Ministries department, the entire SFS community gets together to give back to our host community in Seodaemun Gu and the wider Seoul area through the SOGOOD project. Donating canned goods to the Seodaemun-Gu Food Market, SFS choir performance at the Seodaemun-Gu Elderly Center, Christmas gifts to orphanage Ethel’s Maul, Salvation Army, Angel’s Haven, Samaritan Purse’s Operation Christmas Child gift boxes, donations to the Eastern Social Welfare Society are some of the organizations we partner with and support.

Each year, thousands of people converge on the soccer field for the annual International Fair. The tradition includes fun activities for the whole community like talent shows, game booths, cultural performances, a parade of nations and food trucks from a variety of countries. The community is encouraged to dress in their national garb and showcase their pride in their home countries. Although the event had to be put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is scheduled to return in the Spring of 2023.

Christian Ministries

The school also continues the tradition of the community choir, called the Psalms Choir. This choir has been in operation for over thirty years and is a wonderful showcase of the talents of the community, which includes student, faculty, and parent voices. This group performs during Choir concerts throughout the year.

Another ongoing tradition is United in Prayer, when the entire student body meets on the field for a time of unity, prayer, and worship. This is the only time in the entire school year when every single faculty, staff, and student are together in one place and unified in action. This event is held on the field and organized by the Christian Ministries’ office. The highlight of this event is when students from various nations share prayers in their mother tongues.

School Wide Facilities

In 2017, an Avenue of Nations was created at the front of the school campus. Flag poles were installed and flags were hung to represent the nationalities of every student and faculty represented at SFS. This has added a colorful reminder at the front of campus of our cultural diversity and embrace of internationalism.

The soccer field is scheduled for a renewal of the artificial turf in the summer of 2023. This will be the 3rd iteration of the turf field. A part of the project this time is to expand the field by 6 meters, which will significantly increase the playing area. This will also mean removing the basketball courts, which have been on the field since 2003. The school has had the turf since the fall of 2003, and at that time was the first and only international school with artificial turf. Now, all of the schools have artificial turf! Another interesting fact is that this year’s senior class was born in 2004 and 2005, which means they were not around to experience the old gravel field. If any of them attended SFS from Pre-K, they would have only known the artificial turf. Lucky! For slightly older SFS alumni, having experienced and played on the old dirt field is the equivalent of the old timer’s claim that they used to walk to school uphill both ways.

Another significant school wide project was the completion of the Bouldering Room, which is located behind the UAC gym. This space is used for PHE curricular classes, as well as for after school programs. This project was completed using the generosity of our community through the Annual Fund. Before the bouldering room, this space was the old stage that had then been converted into a storage area. Alumni will remember that the UAC gym was initially planned to be a multi-purpose sports and arts space, which is why it has rubberized flooring, and the stage on one end. Graduations were held in the UAC for over a decade, and a school musical was even performed in that space (The King and I).

Namsan International Kindergarten

One of the challenges for SFS is that the campus is not located in close proximity to the international community hubs of Itaewon and Hannam Dong, and our students who live in those areas must ride the school bus or commute for at least 45 minutes to an hour each day.

With the proliferation of international school options and international kindergartens in that area, the school received feedback from prospective students that, although they wanted to attend SFS, they did not want their lower elementary children to have to spend so much time commuting back and forth from school. In order to address this problem, and to draw more families into considering enrollment at SFS, the school embarked on a partnership to operate the Namsan International Kindergarten located in Hannam Dong. This project operated for a number of years, and was a highly successful venture in early childhood education and student enrollment for SFS, as each year there was a percentage of families that would choose to matriculate their children to SFS after they ‘graduated’ from NIK.

However, in the Spring of 2021, the owners of NIK made the decision to officially close educational operations. At this time, the school offered all of the current NIK students a seat at SFS, as well as worked closely with families to organize a new early childhood school transportation system that was more ‘bespoke’ and suitable for our youngest students. Although it was disappointing for NIK to close after a number of years of investment, it did ultimately lead to the enrollment of many more students in the early years program at SFS, which has been a great addition to the school.

Elementary School

The Elementary School now operates from Pre-K2 (yes, two year olds!) to 5th grade. This section is always bustling with energy and it is hard not to have a smile on your face as you walk through the hallways. The joy of learning is also evident looking into the classrooms, and there is student work displayed on every bulletin board and in the hallways to showcase their efforts and development.

New Foundations for the Future Facilities

The Elementary School building was built in 2007, and has aged well over the past 15 years, although as the Elementary School continues to expand, with 540 students in 2023, classroom space is starting to get tight. Despite being a new facility, there have been significant renovations to continue improving the educational environment.

In 2018, the school completely renovated the ‘back playground’ area. The playground now features a large wooden Pirate Ship, as well as a tree house, rope obstacle course, zip line, in-ground trampolines, and other fun playground equipment. This area is now referred to as the ‘Pirate Ship Playground’ and is a favorite for our community. Alumni will be happy to hear that despite all of the renovations, the ‘cube’ jungle gym, which at this point is probably held together by the paint, is still a favorite down on the main playground.

In the summer of 2021, the Elementary School also added an early years play area behind the building which is enclosed, and features a water pump, slides, netting areas, and other tactile play areas. With the addition of the Pre-K 2 and Pre-K 3 grade levels, a dedicated playground for this age group was needed. The early years classrooms have back doors, which lead out into the play areas for easy transitions.

There is a soft play room in the gym building, which is used for the early childhood students during ‘bad air’ days or whenever the teacher needs to take the students on a little field trip to burn off some energy!

The Elementary School library was completely renovated and updated in 2017, and now provides not only an incredible array of books, but comfortable reading nooks and hammocks for students. It is such an impressive space, and many parents have commented that they would have been better students with a library like it!

With the opening of the High School, the cafeteria is now used only by the Elementary, British, and Middle Schools. A new early years section has been added on the far side of the cafeteria for the youngest students to provide a smaller and quieter area for their snacks and lunches.

Seoul Foreign School, 1912-2022

Academic Programs

Before the PYP (Primary Years Programme) implementation, the Elementary School was operating using a combination of US state standards, Singapore Maths, and Guided Reading. However, with the shift to the PYP, the school followed a series of review processes in each area of the curriculum to evaluate and choose programs that best fit our students’ needs.

The Elementary School PYP program now incorporates the Readers and Writers’ Workshop, Handwriting without Tears, the Phonics Program from Columbia University, the Fountas Pinnell Reading Test, uses AERO and Next Generation Science Standards, Singapore Math and Zearn. Students also learn Mandarin Chinese or Korean (Native and Beginner). A significant culminating event in the elementary school is the 5th grade Exhibition in which students complete a research project. These students are mentored by faculty from across the school who, along with the classroom teachers, guide them through the process of planning, researching, and executing their project.

The school now has a full time PYP Curriculum Coordinator who works closely with the classroom teachers on the vertical and horizontal curriculum design and implementation.

Activities

The main source of after school activities for our Elementary School students are through the SWEP program (School Wide Extracurricular Program). On any given day, there are hundreds of students participating in sports, arts, and classroom after school. These programs give students an opportunity to try new things and develop their interests in a safe and fun environment.

A favorite event for the Elementary School students is the Songdo 7s hosted by Chadwick International School each November. SFS sends teams from Kindergarten to Middle School to compete against other international schools in Korea. As it is a competitive tournament, the students get to experience the joys of victory and the sorrows of defeat, and they get to experience real ‘pressure’ with their teammates. It’s a really fun time for all of the students and parents who love to represent the school.

The House System is an important community builder in the Elementary School and this is evidenced through the house points system, the House Disco, and the House Field Days.

An important tradition in the Elementary School is the 4th grade play or musical. In the past decade, we have performed Moana Jr, Madagascar Jr, The Snow Queen, the Wizard of Oz, Treasure Island, The Knight at Dawn, The Phantom Tollbooth, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. Each of these performances have been stunning, with incredible set designs and costuming, not to mention the incredible acting and vocal talents of the students! This is truly an exceptional learning experience for the entire grade level, and a tradition that sets SFS apart.

Technology

Every student has access to an iPad in their classroom. Students have access to educational apps, such as Zearn and eReaders, and often use the iPads to document their learning on Seesaw, which serves as the school’s Learning Management System. Parents are fortunate to have ‘inside’ access to their child’s learning, as students post examples of their work, reflections, and other videos/ voice recordings. During the pandemic, Seesaw (and Zoom) was critical when students were home for ‘virtual learning’.

Christian Ministries

Wednesdays is the protected day for elementary students to participate in AWANA, which is run by the Christian Ministries department. This is a very popular activity, and the students enjoy the time of fun and fellowship, especially memorizing the weekly Bible verses.

There are also regular Grade Level Chapels, as well as classroom devotional time, in which time is spent focusing on the Christ-like Attitudes. There are also special assemblies throughout the year, such as during Christmas and Easter.

Middle School

Middle Schools are inherently unique, and as any parent of a middle schooler will tell you, this is definitely a most ‘unique’ time of development for students! As a result, the Middle School has chosen to focus on student well-being and a safe environment, which emphasizes a culture of Kindness, Inclusion, and Empathy. This culture, combined with the rigor and structure of the MYP (Middle Years Programme), has resulted in a dynamic learning environment for our middle school students.

Facilities

The Middle School and British School buildings are now the oldest academic buildings on campus, and are next on the master plan for new facilities. While we wait for that glorious future, the Middle School continues to make the most of its current home, undergoing a number of small improvement projects.

With the implementation of the MYP, the school created a new large design lab on the ground floor (where the Little Theater had previously been), which is well-resourced with tools and equipment for project based learning. This is a very impressive learning space, and students are exposed to a variety of real life skills, such as using tools and workshop safety! The kitchen, which is next door, is also utilized for the MYP Design program. In typical middle school fashion, some of the best ‘stories’ come out of these spaces. A favorite is the time a student thought it would be fun to fry some oil and cayenne pepper!

The IT department was moved from the basement of the Middle School building to the other side of campus into a renovated area, which previously were the High School language classrooms. In the old IT’s space, a brand new Middle School/Key Stage 3 library was built. This library has some outstanding features, such as a green screen room, a hidden door hallway, as well as the school server behind glass! Apparently, moving the IT office was feasible, but moving the central server was not. Surprisingly, it makes for an interesting and futuristic decor.

New Foundations for the Future

Academic Programs

Prior to 2015, the Middle School was exploring standards based grading. However, with the decision to implement the IB Continuum, they jumped in with both feet and were the early adopters submitting the initial MYP application during the 2015-2016 school year. This led to a soft roll out of the program the following school year for 6th and 7th grade, and then full implementation by 2017-2018 for all three grade levels. The Middle School now shares an MYP Curriculum Coordinator with the High School.

All Middle School students take Christian Education for one trimester per year. This course is designed to teach students about Christianity with a systematic and academic approach, so that students begin to go deeper into learning more about what Christian theology and ideas related to the Christian faith.

Activities

Middle School and British School students participate together in activities, such as SWEP, AQT, VEX, MY KAIAC, MY SELECT, and the Middle Years Play or Musical. The Middle Years have put on incredible performances through the years, such as Shrek the Musical, Jr, Graffiti, Holes, A Wrinkle in Time, Bye Bye Birdie Jr, The Masked Musketeer, The Little Mermaid Jr, The Pink Panther Strikes Again, Into the Woods Jr, Fame Jr.

Another significant part of Middle School activities is the House System. They have created a unique approach where students are organized into mixed grade level teams with three 6th graders, three 7th graders, and three 8th graders. Students are with this group for the whole year, and a series of house games, field days, and other activities are used to build camaraderie and friendship throughout the year.

Christian Ministries

On Tuesdays, Middle School students also have the opportunity to participate in the TREK program. Students are organized into small groups of 6-8 students and are paired with a mentor teacher.

British School

The British School operates from Foundation to Year 9. The year 2021 marked the 40th anniversary of the British School, and the school celebrated with a reception and street party outside for the students. A highlight of the celebrations was inviting British School Alumna Rosie Jon, who was born with no arms and is an incredibly talented painter, to speak to the students to inspire them to be their own ‘extraordinary’. Rosie went on to become an incredibly talented painter, with her feet. The British school offers something slightly different from the other sections, as it has the feeling of a small school, which helps to nurture a tangible feeling of community. The British School also has a unique set of Core Values (Responsibility, Reflection, Respect, Collaboration, Communication, and Courage) that accompany the School Mission and Christlike Attitudes, which are integrated into their culture and community.

Facilities

There have been significant renovations to the building such as a new facade, signage, updated lobby and office areas, all of which helped enhance the curb appeal and aesthetic of the building. Inside the building, there were further improvements such as repainting the Green Room floor to White (we still call it the Green Room though), and adding a new design lab with state-of-the-art equipment.

In 2022, honoring 40 years of the British School, the SFS community came together to fundraise for a new playground at the British School called the “Pitch In: Playground”. This three month campaign was a huge success, and the new playground is a much more exciting space for our students to play, learn, grow, and build community with their peers! This playground consists of a small turf field, a basketball court, multi-functional play equipment and a nature trail.

The British School and the Middle School share the newly renovated Library space, and a new nature trail has been added behind the building that has garden areas. Eventually, the trail will be connected to the ‘Eagle Trail’, which wraps around the outer wall of the campus and up to G-dong.

New Foundations for the Future

Academic Programs

The British School continued offering the English National Curriculum until 2018, when it was decided to change to the Fieldwork Education program: the IEYC (International Early Years Curriculum), the IPC (International Primary Curriculum), and the IMYC (International Middle Years Curriculum). The English and Maths curriculum from Britain was kept for its rigor and structure that is recognized worldwide. As the British School is the only section that is not a part of the IB Continuum, it was important to adopt a curriculum that aligned with the educational philosophy of the school as a whole, such as concept and inquiry based learning, vertical and horizontal alignment, as well as high quality teaching and learning.

A new program implemented into the curriculum is the British School Social Leader program, in which all Year 7, 8, and 9 students are involved in a social project that they identify and design.

Activities

Despite going quiet during the pandemic, the British School continues to offer a range of FOBISIA activities, such as the FOBISIA Games teams for boys and girls in the U15, U13, and U11 categories, Maths, and Leadership.

British School students also participate in the SWEP program, and for the KS3 students, they also join into the MY KAIAC, MY SELECT, and MY Play/ Musical performances. The Middle Years have put on incredible performances through the years, such as Shrek the Musical, Jr, Graffiti, Holes, A Wrinkle in Time, Bye Bye Birdie Jr, The Masked Musketeer, The Little Mermaid Jr, The Pink Panther Strikes Again, Into the Woods Jr, Fame Jr.

Key Stage 2 also performs their own curricular plays each year, such as Mary Poppins, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Reluctant Dragon, Shakespeare Rocks, Olivia, Kids!, Young Sherlock, Wind in the Willows, 101 Dalmatians, Kids!, Once on this Island, Jr, Dig It! A Musical Journey of Ancient Civilization, A Right Royal Performance.

The British School continues to organize the Senior Choir for Years 5-9,

Seoul Foreign School, 1912-2022

which perform all across the city at embassies, welfare centers, hotels, and on campus.

Since 2021, the Year 9s join in with the High School for Discovery Week, which serves as part of their transition process and introduction into the High School.

In 2021, the British School also implemented the BASS Awards (British Adventure Service and Skill Awards) for Year 3 to Year 9 students, who can earn recognition as Bronze, Silver, or Gold for participation in service, adventure and skill activities over a period of time.

Christian Ministries

Wednesday is the protected day for Key Stage 1 and 2 students to participate in AWANA, which is run by the Christian Ministries department. This is a very popular activity, and the students enjoy the time of fun and fellowship, especially memorizing the weekly Bible verses.

On Tuesdays, Key Stage 3 students also have the opportunity to participate in the TREK program. Students are organized into small groups of 6-8 students and are paired with a mentor teacher.

High School

The High School has arguably experienced the most significant changes over the past ten years of any of the sections, quite literally uprooting itself and moving across campus to the ‘new high school’ building at the front of campus, as well as undergoing a wholesale change of curriculum from IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) to MYP.

Facilities

In 2016, as part of the Master Plan, the school broke ground on the new High School building. For this project, the school enrolled the services of American architectural firm Ennead. By 2016, the old high school building had been in use for over 55 years, and while it had provided a functional, and even at one point in history a progressive learning environment, it had long become

clear that the high school section had outgrown the space. This was evidenced in the fact that up until the 2017-2018 school year, high school classes were occurring not only in the HS building, but also in the Elementary School, the swimming pool classrooms, and the UAC classrooms.

As part of the construction plan, the F Building faculty residence, as well as the two missionary houses that had stood at the front of SFS campus for many years, were torn down. As a result of this project, a significant number of SFS faculty had to relocate to live ‘off campus’. There was some concern that this could lead to divisions within the community or a significant change to the experience of being a part of the SFS faculty, however after a few years of this new arrangement, it seems that the ‘off campus’ faculty have formed a strong community amongst themselves and still fully participate in the oncampus faculty community. It was decided that rather than move to a stipend system for faculty (housing in Korea is notoriously expensive and complicated by the system of Key Money), the school would organize faculty housing at the Hilton residences, which are close in proximity to the school and would allow for the off-campus housing to be located together. However, after only a few years of this arrangement, in 2019, the Hilton (now the Swiss Grand) residences became unavailable and the school had to find an alternative off-campus housing arrangement. It was decided to relocate the faculty housing to the DMC Ville residences, which are near Digital Media City.

After the new High School was finished, the final step was to tear down the old High School and the Math Annex building (previously the administration building). The plan had also called for the tearing down of the Korean gate that had stood between the High School and the Math Annex building since 1972. With that in mind, the school had constructed a new Korean gate that passed between the bus garage and the road beside the Lyso center as a replacement. However, after re-evaluating the situation, it was decided that the old Korean gate would remain. While the old Korean gate is no longer accessible as a walk through, it remains an iconic feature of the SFS campus and a symbol of the school. Most alumni and former teachers that visit the campus remark that the campus feels a lot more open now and that they like that the old Korean gate is visible from anywhere on campus.

After two years of construction, the new High School was opened for the 2018-2019 school year. It is a beautiful building inside and out with an incredible design concept to bring in as much natural light as possible into every space in the building. It is now the showcase of the campus, and is an incredible selling point for marketing and admissions. The new High School building has also won recognition for a multitude of architectural awards, and Colm Flanagan has been asked to travel to the United States on occasion to share about the project and its educational impact. It is an incredible learning space and has set a high bar and standard for future building projects.

Academic Programs

The High School has maintained the International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB DP) as its capstone educational program for 11th and 12th graders since 1982. This program continues to provide SFS students with 21st century academic skills through a lens of international mindedness, rigorous academic standards, and liberal arts-style university preparation. In 2022, the school celebrated the 40th anniversary of the IB DP program, which included local dignitaries, as well as guests from the IB organization via zoom.

However, in the 9th and 10th grade, the past decade has seen a lot of change in the curriculum. In 2010, the High School decided to begin offering the IGCSE program as a way of providing an articulated vertical learning experience for the Key Stage 3 students matriculating into the high school after completion of Year 9. While it started as a small cohort, it slowly grew to include more students, as parents were attracted to the alignment of the curriculum, and the formalized assessment and testing, which was similar to the DP program.

As the school worked through its school improvement and recognized the need for a more consistent and aligned curriculum in the high school, the decision was taken in 2012 that the IGCSE would become the curricular framework for the 9th and 10th grades at SFS. By the end of 2016, electives, semester courses, and the ‘general’ classes had all been phased out of the high school, and all students were sitting for the IGCSE exams at the end of their 10th grade year.

However, as part of a school wide curricular review in 2016, the decision

was taken to align the schoolwide curriculum through the IB Continuum with the implementation of the PYP in the Elementary School and the MYP in the Middle and High School. While this was clearly the right decision for the school, it was a strong decision, as the school had fully moved towards the IGCSE program, and this was a big shift for students, parents, and faculty.

In 2018, the last cohort completed the IGCSE and since, the Middle and British School pathways merge in High School to complete the last 2 years of the MYP. The MYP is fully ingrained into teaching and learning in the High School, and the main challenge moving forward is the vertical articulation from the Middle School to the High School. A significant capstone for the MYP is the Personal Projects, which are completed in 10th grade. Students are paired with faculty mentors, who help guide them through the process of research development, and product development. The High School now also shares an MYP Curriculum Coordinator with the Middle School.

There have been other changes that are not related to the IB curricular program, but relate to the overall educational program and experience in the High School.

The High School has implemented a new counseling model, and now has six dedicated counselors. Four are focused on supporting students with their university admissions, and two are focused on their well being. This allows for a more proactive approach to both needs, as students are able to have more dedicated time with their counselors. In 2014, there were three dedicated counselors in the High School, so this is a clear investment towards college admissions and student well being.

The High School has also created a new model of teacher leadership with the Heads of Grade. There is a faculty member that works with the students of each grade to support them academically and behaviorally. This provides an additional layer for the teachers and administration to make sure that students are not ‘falling through the cracks’, and that issues are being addressed at the source and as quickly as possible.

The High School Field Day is still a highlight of student life with grade levels competing against each other in a series of feats of intellect and teamwork. With the addition of the House System in the mid 2010s, there was an attempt to add an additional House Field Day in the Spring, but this was not as popular with high schoolers, as the strongest identity and connection is with their grade level peers. It has since shifted back to a grade level Field Day.

Discovery Week (DW) has moved from the first week of November to the month of May. With this shift of schedule, seniors do not participate in DW, and instead finish their exams, and go on an official Senior Trip. More and more trips are now organized in partnership with travel agents, and the whole process from the sign ups onwards have been professionalized. It is a massive operation, and DW is now organized with leadership in the High School and with the Gate. This is still a highlight for high school students and faculty who enjoy the experiential learning outside of the classroom.

There are many activities and opportunities in sports, arts, and sectional activities such as clubs, MUN (Model United Nations), AQT (Academic Quiz Team), VEX Robotics that are available for high school students to participate in throughout the school year.

Some changes for sports this decade is the inclusion of ‘commitment’ based sports in each sports season, so that every high school student can participate in a team or individual sport if they want to. The school has also added Badminton, Wrestling, Track & Field, Table Tennis and will be adding Golf in the 2023-2024 school year.

The Arts have always been incredible at SFS, and over the past decade the school has put on so many incredible musicals, plays, and musical performances. While it is impossible to note every accolade and achievement, in the years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the musical performances of Aida and Les Miserables were phenomenal.

The advent of AQT (Academic Quiz Team) and VEX Robotics are worth mentioning as these are two of the fastest growing programs at SFS and in the region.

Technology

All students are required to have a laptop for one-to-one learning, and the current learning management system is Google Classroom. Prior to Google Classroom, the High School used Haiku, which SFS internally called ‘Pagoda’. The senior class in 2016 sardonically created hats as their senior gift with the url for the Pagoda website on the front in recognition of the amount of time they spent on the platform studying for the DP program.

Christian Ministries

High School students can choose to participate in a variety of Christian Ministry activities. There is Discipleship on Thursdays. The format for discipleship has remained the same with small groups of students meeting weekly with a faculty or staff mentor. Interested students can join the student Worship Team, which performs at assemblies. The school still operates the Vida Nueva, which used to include students and faculty from other schools, but now only includes SFS students and faculty.

Traditions

A tradition that started in the High School, but now includes the whole school is the Senior Walk. In 2016, the senior cap and gown walk was expanded from its previous form, which was isolated in the High School, and now includes the entire student community. At the end of each year, the entire student body lines up and claps and cheers for the senior students. The walk ends with the seniors walking through the Korean gate as a sign of crossing an important threshold in their journey.

Graduation is truly the culmination of so many efforts at SFS. Traditionally, graduation was held in the Lyso Center for the Performing Arts, however due to the pandemic and the rules on indoor gatherings, the 2020 graduation ceremony was relocated to the soccer field. Weather permitting, this has actually become the preferred location for graduation. The High School faculty still process in together from the longest serving teacher to the newest teacher. As recently as 2022 graduation, the seniors are still allowed to share a brief message as they cross the stage at graduation. This is a longstanding tradition, but with

the growing student numbers, the graduation service is becoming increasingly long, and so this may be a tradition that needs to evolve or otherwise change. Teachers have taken bets on who will receive the most ‘shout outs’ from the seniors, and also for how long graduation will take from start to finish. After graduation, the students, faculty, and parents still relocate to the area by the Korean gate to take photographs and socialize together.

Baccalaureate Service is the spiritual send off from the school to our students. The school maintains its tradition of the Baccalaureate Service on the Sunday before graduation. It is required for the High School faculty to attend, and a high school faculty member is asked by the senior class to speak to the class. This service is typically held in Robb Hall and is attended by the High School faculty, seniors, and senior parents. A faculty choir sings The Lord Bless You and Keep You to the seniors, which is always a meaningful and touching moment.

In conclusion, a lot has happened this past decade at SFS! I am also cognizant while writing this chapter that while it is long, to be honest it feels like it should be longer. I am sure I am missing key pieces of information, and it feels impossible to truly capture the decade and bottle the lightning that is SFS. For anyone that has been a part of the SFS community, you know that a lot happens in a year at SFS, and sometimes a year feels like a long time.

I hope that this chapter will provide a basis of understanding of the past decade and will be a useful record and reminder for all of us of how we got to where we are, and most importantly the incredible legacy we are all a part of together.

Seoul Foreign School

Celebrating 110 Years of Excellence

2012 - 2022 in Pictures

New Foundations for the Future

APAC Theatre Team, 2012-2013.

Varsity Girls Volleyball, 2012-2013.

Colm Flanagan’s first day as the new Head of School, 2014.

New Senior Leadership Team, 2014.

New Foundations for the Future

Grade 6 Retreat, 2015.

High School Parent Association, 2016.

Wizard of Oz, grade 4 musical, Spring 2017.

British School students with the visiting British Coldstream Guards band, 2017.

New Foundations for the Future

Signature of the Seodaemun-Gu Memorandum of Understanding, 2017.

New High School building groundbreaking ceremony, April, 2017.

Swim Team, 2016-2017.

Aerial view of Yeonhuidong with SFS Campus in the center, 2017.

New Foundations for the Future

Senior Walk, 2017.

Elementary School students’ outdoor class, 2018.

New High School building, Fall 2018.

Elementary School and the field with an open space where the old High School building used to stand, 2018.

New Foundations for the Future

Les Miserable, High School Musical, 2019.

High School Homecoming Basketball Game, 2019.

Alumni reunion, Seoul, 2019.

Colm Flanagan during the Seoul Honorary Citizen Cereony, 2019.

New Foundations for the Future

Elementary students in the High School lab for dissection with High School student helpers, 2019.

Early Years teachers teaching virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic, April 2020.

Morning temperature checks during the COVID-19 pandemic, September, 2021.

British School celebrating its 40th anniversary, May 2022.

New Foundations for the Future

Pitch In Playground Opening Ceremony, September 2022.

Class of 2022 graduating, May 2022.

Seoul Foreign School

Celebrating 110 Years of Excellence

2012 - 2022 Appendices

The following appendices cover the years 2012-2022. For an account of previous years, consult the Centennial Book, 100 Years of Excellence, 1912-2012.

Appendices

SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION

CHAIRMAN, SCHOOL BOARD

2010-2015 Mrs. Kelly TomHon

2015-2016 Mr. Minki Synn

2016-2021 Mrs. Penelope Kim

2021-present Dr. Silvia Kim

COUNCIL CHAIR

2010-2014 Mr. Jeff Benson

2014-2017 Mr. Paul Schofield

2017-2018 Pastor David Hwang

BRITISH SCHOOL BOARD CHAIR

2006-2018 Mr. Michael DiStasio

PRINCIPAL / HEAD OF SCHOOL

2009-2014 Dr. John Engstrom/Head of School

2014-present Mr. Colm Flanagan/Head of School

ASSISTANT HEAD OF SCHOOL - ACADEMICS

2012-2018 Dr. Blair Lee

2018-present Mr. Jan-Mark Seewald

ELEMENTARY PRINCIPAL

2006-2014 Mr. John Gaylord

2014-present Mr. Damian Prest

BRITISH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL

2006-2018 Dr. Timothy Gray

2018-present Mr. Andrew Freeman

MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL (GRADES 6-8)

2008-2014 Mrs. Lynn Gaylord

2014-present Mr. Justin Smith

HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL (GRADES 9 -12)

2003-2014 Mr. Kevin Baker

2014-2015 Mr. Stuart Kent (Interim)

20152017 Mr. Stuart Kent

2017-2021 Mr. Jeff Holcomb

2021-present Dr. Nancy Le Nezet

ASSISTANT HEAD OF SCHOOL - FINANCE AND OPERATIONS

2010-2014 Mr. Robert Black

2015-2017 Ms. Misty Shipley

2017-2021 Mr. Clif Wilcox

2021-present Mr. Tom Alexander

SCHOOL PLAYS

HIGH SCHOOL PLAYS

2011-2012 Shakespeare in Hollywood; Back to the 80s

2012-2013 The Last Days of Judas Iscariot; Pajama Game

2013-2014 Romeo and Juliet; Beauty and the Beast

2014-2015 The 39 Steps; Aida

2015-2016 The Crucible; Thoroughly Modern Millie

2016-2017 The Odyssey; The Addams Family

2017-2018 Midsummer Jersey; Grease

2018-2019 The Syringa Tree; Anything Goes

2019-2020 Mermaid; Les Miserables

2020-2021 The Heart of Robin Hood; The Tempest

2021-2022 The Imaginary Invalid; Something Rotten

2022-2023 Sense and Sensibility; Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Appendices

MIDDLE SCHOOL PLAYS

2011-2012 Oliver Twist

2012-2013 Fame

2013-2014 Into the Woods Jr.

2014-2015 Pink Panther Strikes Again

2015-2016 The Little Mermaid Jr.

2016-2017 The Masked Musketeer

2017-2018 Bye Bye Birdie

2018-2019 A Wrinkle in Time

2019-2020 None

2020-2021 Holes The Movie

2021-2022 Graffiti

2022-2023 Shrek The Musical Jr.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PLAYS

2011-2012 Clowns

2012-2013 The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

2013-2014 The Phantom Tollbooth

2014-2015 Knights at Dawn

2015-2016 Treasure Island

2016-2017 The Wizard of Oz

2017-2018 The Snow Queen

2018-2019 Madagascar

2019-2020 None

2020-2021 4th Grade Theater Festival

2021-2022 4th Grade Theater Festival

2022-2023 Moana Jr. The Musical

BRITISH SCHOOL PLAYS

2011-2012 Right Royal Performance; Stella the Starfish

2012-2013 Pirates; Dig It! A Musical Tale of Ancient Civilization

2013-2014 Bugz; Once on this Island Jr.

2014-2015 Jungle Rock; 101 Dalmatians

2015-2016 Tuishi Pamoja; Wind in the Willows

2016-2017 Young Sherlock; Olivia

2017-2018 Monty Python’s Spamalot

2018-2019 Shine; Shakespeare Rocks

2019-2020 The Reluctant Dragon

2020-2021 A Magic Theater; Peter Pan The Musical

Seoul Foreign School, 1912-2022

2021-2022 A Bojagi of Tales; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

2022-2023 Mary Poppins Jr. The Musical

AWARDS (Recognized at Graduation)

VALEDICTORIAN

2012

Hyong Kim

2013 Eun Sun Eunice Chang

2014 Jae Hyun Kim

2015 Christopher Y. Kim

2016 Min Byung Chae

2017 Jenna Han

2018

Karina Jaein Park

2019 Grace Park

2020 Jinhyung (Eric) Park

2021

2022

SALUTATORIAN

Yujin Kim

Joanne Inyoung Lee

2012 Edward Burroughs

2013 Harrison Suh

2014

2015

2016

Bryan Kim

Joan Kim

Andrew Cheon

2017 Chloe Son

2018

Jennifer Sujin Rhee

2019 Chloe Dain Han

2020

Yuri Hwang

2021 Claire Seoyoon Kim / Lynn Q-Won Lee

2022

Stephanie Saejin Park

SEOUL FOREIGN SCHOOL AWARD

2012

2013

2014

2015

Katherina Lee

Samuel Joo

Eugene Bang

Claire Young

Appendices

2016

Amanda Chung

2017 Lynn Chong

2018

Andrew Chung

2019 Hyunjoon Nam

2020

2021

2022

Annalise Holcomb

Kenzo Nakamura

Alaina Smith

SFS ALUM OF THE YEAR AWARD

2012 Dr. J.P. Rader ’79

2013 Dr. Brent Burkholder ’68

2014 Dr. Gene Moon ’93

2015 Dr. John O’Donnell ’70

2016 Mr. Peter Underwood ’73

2017 Mr. Nicholas Park ’93

2018 Ms. Ellana Lee ’90

2019 No awardee

2020 Ms. Duyeon (Bora) Kim ’98

2021 Mr. Ken Jennings ’92

2022 Mr. Andre Jin Coquillard ’09

SFS ALUMNI COMMITTEE AWARD

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

Edward Burroughs

Ashley Baker

Joon Kim

Won Hee Cho and Dhira (Web) Khewsubtrakool

Aiswarya Nagasubramony

Kasey Rhee

Janet Lee

John Kang

Geo Yoo

Rachel Kahng

Joanne Lee

SCHOLAR - ATHLETE AWARD

2012

2013

2014

Eddie Borroughs

Harrison Suh

Jae Hyun Kim

Seoul Foreign School, 1912-2022

2015 Su Jean Park

2016 Nicole Hong

2017 Mischa Kim

2018 Brandon Sohn

2019 Olivia Kim

2020 Josiah Calhoun

2021 Lynn Lee

2022 Josephine Lee / Timothee Englebert

HIGH SCHOOL AWARDS

ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

2011-12 Derek Champlin Katherine Lee

2012-13 Max Sothman Claire Park

2013-14 Henry Valentine-Ramsden Kristine Park / Morgan Yi

2014-15 Eugene Bang/Jeffrey Kim Michelle Richardson

2015-16 James Han Sarah Ha

2016-17 Daniel Bang Mischa Kim

2017-18 Brandon Sohn Annabelle Davy

2018-19 Joonhee Lee Angelica Slater

2019-20 Justin Chung Angelica Slater

2020-21 Jay Jones Alaina Smith

2021-22 Timothee Englebert Alaina Smith

INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE OUTSTANDING JUNIOR AWARD

2016 Evan Oh

2017 Erica Kim

INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE OUTSTANDING SENIOR AWARD

2017 Lynn Chong

2018 Erica Kim

2019 Jaehee Cho

2020 Geo Yoo

2021

Lynn Lee

2022 Grace Kim

Appendices

IGCSE GRADE 9 SCHOLAR AWARD

2016 Amanda Bang

2017 Shanti Jacobson

IGCSE GRADE 10 SCHOLAR AWARD

2016 Erica Kim

2017 Jaehee Cho

COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD

2013 Ashley Baker, Daniel D. Kim

2014 Paul Choi

2015 Won Hee Cho

2016 Emily Larsen

2017 Sisley Yun

2018 Paola Noriega

2019 Annalise Holcomb

2020 Jason Whang

2021 No awardee

2022 Lily Wasmund

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HEALTH PROMOTION AWARD

2016 Rose Kim

2017 Erica Kim

2018 Jasmine Kipa

2019 Annalise Holcomb

2020 Kenzo Nakamura

2021 Alaina Smith

2022 Jordan Kim

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS PERSON OF THE FUTURE AWARD

2012 Ryan Yi

2013 Fred Baertels

2014 Min Jeong Kwon

2015 Web Khewsubtrakool

2016 Mary Yang

2017 Anna Pi

2018 Matheus Rempel

Seoul Foreign School, 1912-2022

2019 Jaehee Cho

2020 Jade Woo

2021 Yoonseo Kim

2022 Jackson Wild

IB DIPLOMA BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AWARD

2018 Matheus Rempel

2019 Jaehee Cho

2020 Ryan Kim

2021 Luke Kim

2022 Sean Kim

IB DIPLOMA PSYCHOLOGY AWARD

2012 Isabelle Persson

2013 Brendan Yi

2014 Hana Kim

2015 Julia Cho

2016 Andrew Cheon

2017 Chae-eun Dana Lee

2018 Edward Kim / Shiraz Ben-Shoshen

2019 Christine Suh / Irene Sung

2020 Michele Lee

2021 Dana Huang

2022 Alaina Smith

IB DIPLOMA HISTORY AWARD

2018 Bryan Kim 2019 Christine Suh (SL) / John Somerville (HL)

2020 Christine Lee

2021 Lynn Lee

2022 Joanne Lee

IB DIPLOMA ECONOMICS AWARD

2018 Joyce Wang / Kayley Suk

2019 Jae Hee Cho

2020 Justin Chung

2021 Jonathan Myong

2022 Aidan Walker

IB DIPLOMA GLOBAL POLITICS AWARD

2018

Hyunjoon Nam / Irene Sung

2019 Sydney Chun / John Cho

2020 John Cho

2021 Michele Lee

2022 Aidan Walker

THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE AWARD

2018 Chloe Kim / Pia Jensen

2019

John Somerville / Mehr Lakhiani

2020 Geoffrey Meric

2021 Lynn Lee

2022 Francesco Garaffa

MYP DESIGN AWARD

2019 Esther Park / Mia Yeo / Soyeon Kim

2020 No awardee

2021

2022

Janice Hur / Grace An / Christy Lee / Sara Sundquist / Katherine Kim / Kate Choi / Herschel Haas

Ethan Cho

EARCOS GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP AWARD

2016 Leslie Kim

2017 Erica Kim

2018

Jaehee Cho

2019 Jason Whang

2020

2021

2022

Yujin Kim

Eugene Ko

Grace An

NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY AWARD

2012 Rebecca Im

2013

2014

Joel Benson

Jeong-A Choi

2015 Mary Yang

2016

2017

Amanda Chung

Priscilla Chang

Seoul Foreign School, 1912-2022

2018 Hyongmin Kim

2019 Hyunjoon Nam

2020 Ju Yeon Jamie Park

2021 Sue Paik

2022 Jordan Kim

BENJAMIN WEEMS AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN SOCIAL STUDIES

2012 Edward Burroughs

2013 Emily Adams

2014 Patrick Tomhom

2015 Jenny Choi

2016 Min Byung Chae

2017 Jenna Han

2018 Jinnie Yoo

2019 Jason Whang

2020 Jason Whang

2021 Madeline Lee

2022 Jeeoo Choe

JOAN UNDERWOOD MEMORIAL AWARD FOR THE OUTSTANDING SENIOR IN ENGLISH

2012 Edward Burroughs

2013 Sarah Kim

2014 Jae Hyun Kim

2015 Claire Young

2016 Lauren Chang

2017 Lynn Chong

2018 Janice Hahn

2019 Jaehee Cho

2020 Yuri Hwang

2021 Ekaterina Tsygankova

2022 Elizabeth K. Chung

KELLY PARENTEAU MEMORIAL ENGLISH SCHOLARSHIP

2012 Phillip Frasse

2013 Christina Han

2014 Sangyeon Chae

2015 Alua Khangerey

2016 Jooyoung Kim

Appendices

2017 Serin Lee

2018 Emmaline Calhoun

2019 Grace Shee-Yoon Park

2020 Sydney Chun

2021 Soojin Cho

2022 Max Nam

FOREIGN LANGUAGE AWARD

2012 Axelle Billon

2013 Dheerja Lakhiani

2014 Eunnie Lee

2015 Kate Lee

2016 Edward Drummond

2017 Leslie Kim

SPANISH WORLD LANGUAGES AWARD

2015 Ana Tsygankova

2016 Edward Drummond

2017 Yasmin Nasharuddin

2018 Shiraz Ben-Shoshan

2019 Irene Sung

2020 John Cho

2021 Lucie Mathieu

2022 Jacob Kazem / Kristian Ruth

FRENCH WORLD LANGUAGES AWARD

2015 Chris (YunJae) Kim

2016 Kinga Gross

2017 Soh Jeong Yun

2018 Annabelle Park

2019 Oliver Chung

2020 Annalise Holcomb

2021 Dana Huang

2022 Yuna Han

MANDARIN WORLD LANGUAGES AWARD

2015 Amy Park

2016 Grace Charnesky

Seoul Foreign School, 1912-2022

2017 Annabelle Davy

2018 Nicholas Kim

2019 Grace Park

2020 Rebecca Kim

2021 Andrea Eileen Hanson

2022 Paul Park

KOREAN NON-HERITAGE WORLD LANGUAGES AWARD

2014 Mackenzie Garle

2015 Ilona Rodriguez

2016 Daphne Stanton

2017 Jaden Teather

2018 Cameron Choi

2019 Jeremy Choi

2020 Hyunrym Kim

2021 Ethan Lee

2022 Justin Kim

KOREAN HERITAGE WORLD LANGUAGES AWARD

2013 Harrison Suh

2014 Jae Hyun Kim

2015 Tyler Ryoo

2016 Jenna Han

2017 Andrew Chung

2018 James (Junsik) Eom

2019 Andrew Suh

2020 Melody Lee / Jimin Lee

2021 Ana Park

2022 Jane Kang / Semin Kim

JOURNALISM AWARD

2013 Erin Kim

2014 Reca Sarfati

2015 Ryan Park

2016

2017

2018

Sarah Hahm

Andrew Chung

Michelle Yun

Appendices

MATHEMATICS AWARD

2012 Hyong Kim

2013

Taurus Feng

2014 Bryan Kim

2015 Christopher Y. Kim

2016 Brian Lee

2017 Andy Jeong

2018 Kun Koh / Andrew Chung / Jennifer Rhee

2019 Hayoon Chung / Nicholas Kim / Sion Kim

2020 Jacob Kim / Royce Koh / Spencer Lee

2021

2022

YoonSeo Kim

Joanne Lee

THEATER ARTS AWARD

2012

Melissa Wilde

2013 Sarah Kim

2014 Austin Lee

2015

2016

William TomHon

Daniel Lee

2017 Lynn Chong

2018

Alexia Diamany / Yuna Lee / Lola Cooper

2019 Rebecca Ko / Lola Cooper / Joonmo Koo

2020 Johanna Kleinert / Rachel Choi / Daechang Suh

2021 Johanna Kleinert / Ekat Tsygankova

2022 Hong Chou / Coleman Breedlove / Aliyah Caulder / Songin Ahn

FINE ARTS SCHOLAR AWARD

2015

Alex Lee

2016 Sarah Hahm

2017 Dana Lee

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

Jade Teather

Hyunjoon Nam

Yuna Lee

Elleen Kim

Mika Takane

Seoul Foreign School, 1912-2022

LEONARD BERNSTEIN MUSICIANSHIP AWARD

2018 Jade Teather

2019 Paul Yoon

2020 Arnold Han

2021 Arnold Han

2022 Jamie Lee

NATIONAL SCHOOL CHORAL AWARD

2018 Colin Kim

2019 Hyunjoon Nam

2020 Spencer Lee

2021 Ekaterina Tsygankova

2022 Jonathan Sung

JOHN PHILIP SOUSA BAND AWARD

2018 Christopher Ahn

2019 Nicholas Kim

2020 Gangmin (Jacob) Kim

2021 Seawon Park

2022 Max Nam

LOUIS ARMSTRONG JAZZ AWARD

2018 Jade Teather

2019 Daniel Ahn

2020 Ki Hun Choi

2021 Youngjin Eum

2022 Andrei Cucu

NATIONAL SCHOOL ORCHESTRA AWARD

2018 Jade Teather

2019 Paul Yoon

2020 Jiah Choe

2021 Claire Kim

2022 Jamie Lee

ROGDE FAMILY SCHOLARSHIP AWARD

2019 Alexia Diamany

2020 Anna Castagnaro

2021 Arnold Han

2022 Andrei Cucu

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC AWARD

2012 John Park

2013 Joshua Gong

2014 Eunnie Lee

2015 Maddie Thies

2016 Sisley Yun

2017 Sisley Yun

VOCAL MUSIC AWARD

2012 Rachel Lee

2013 Chiyo Mikuni

2014 Michal Milliken

2015 Sharon Lim

2016 Goose Masondo

2017 Colin Kim

CHRISTIAN STUDIES AWARD

2012 JD Mussel

2013

Junee Kim

2014 Mitch Rands / Reca Sarfati

2015 Jackson Rands / Karen Song

2016

Daniel Ahn / Joo Min Joan Gwak

2017 Ryan Sohn / Sisley Yun

2018 Pia Jensen / Matt Rempel

2019

Jasmine Kipa / Olivia Kim / Louis Ro / Irene Sung

2020 Annie Choi

2021

2022

Naheul Herz / Holger Molin

Katheryn Fleming / Lily Wasmund

Seoul Foreign School, 1912-2022

SCIENCE AWARD

2012 Hyong Kim

2013 Taurus Feng

2014 Jae Hyun Kim

2015 Su Jean Park

2016 Andrew Cheon

2017 Sydney Duncan-Ford

IBDP BIOLOGY AWARD

2018 Anika Huibers

2019 Mehr Lakhiani

2020 Josephine Newman

2021 Marguerite Besse

2022 Yuna Han

IBDP CHEMISTRY AWARD

2018 Hyong Min Kim

2019 Nicholas Ganghyun Kim

2020 Jacob Gangmin Kim

2021 No awardee

2022 Joanna Jung

IBDP PHYSICS AWARD

2018 Andrew Chung 2019 Hayoon Chung

2020 Jacon Gangmin Kim

2021 Hojae Lim

2022 Joanne Lee

IBDP ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS AND SOCIETIES AWARD

2018 Pia Jensen

2019 Maya Lycett

2020 John Cho

2021 Lynn Lee

2022 Timothee Englebert

IBDP SPORTS, EXERCISE AND HEALTH SCIENCE AWARD

2018 Paul Kim

2019

2020

2021

2022

Matthew Daly

Min Kang

Vanessa Rapson

Alaina Smith

SFS SCHOOL SPIRIT AWARD

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

Philip Frasse

Joshua Lee

George Dornbach

Sarah Hahm

Nicole Hong

Cynthia Oh

Brandon Sohn

Angelica Slater

Angelica Slater

Mona Boulestraou

2022 Lance Jones

VISUAL ARTS AWARD

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

KOREAN ARTS

2012

2013

Andrew Kim

Janice Kim

Irene Ra

Madeleine McQuade

Claire Shin

Serin Lee

Mara Wiora

Katie Myong

Ashley Koo

Rachel Ahn / Elizabeth Chung / Da Young Kate Koo /

Kristina Chun

Bailey Baker

Grace Hong

2014 No awardee

2015

2016

Angela Shim

Jonathan Han

Seoul Foreign School, 1912-2022

JACK R. MOON BIOLOGY SCHOLARSHIP

2021 Eugene Ko

2022 Irene Cho

MIDDLE SCHOOL AWARDS

SEOUL FOREIGN MIDDLE SCHOOL AWARD

2012 Sarah Hahm

2013 Eugene Kim

2014 Erica Kim

2015 Isabella Sungha Cho

2016 Cara Jinna Chang

2017 Justin Sungmin Oh

2018 Alaina Smith

2019 Lauren Song

2020 Holger Molin

2021 Chloe Sehee Han

2022 Sooyeon (Danielle) Choi

MIDDLE SCHOOL ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

2012 Ellina Woodgate

2013 Leslie Jinha Kim

2014 Andrew Chung

2015 Chloe Haeyoung Chhoi

2016 Cara Jinna Chang

2017 Brian Son

2018 Joanne Inyoung Lee

2019 Kate Choi

2020 Gyulim Jessica Kang

2021 Chloe Sehee Han

2022 June L. Kim

WELLINGTON TANG MATH AWARD

2012 Jung Ho Michael Yoon

2013 Joseph S. Hong

2014 Linda Wang

2015 Chloe Han

Appendices

2016 Royce Koh / Iris Kim

2017 Brian Son

2018 Joon Yeon Whang

2019 Daniel Son

2020 Gyulim Jessica Kang

2021 Dohyeok Alex Kil

2022 Andrew Joonu Rhee