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).