UJEJ AJS ANNUAL REPORT 2021
TABLE OF CONTENTS
01
Our Mission
21
Teaching & Learning
02
Letter From the Head Of School
27
Admissions & Marketing
03
Elementary Highlights
33
Athletics & ASAs
09
Middle School Highlights
39
Residential Life
15
High School Highlights
OUR MISSION CHARACTER To teach good character by modeling and fostering compassion respect, responsibility, and integrity.
INQUIRY
To foster a love for learning by challenging individuals to pursue knowledge, creativity, and intellectual self-reliance.
COMMUNITY To encourage each individual to understand his or her relationships, rights, and responsibilities within a community that is itself part of the larger world.
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LETTER FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL "You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think, and loved more than you’ll ever know." A. A. Mile
This school year has been another year to remember! We as a community stood strong and brave in the midst of a global pandemic and put our heads and hearts together to creatively navigate through virtual and in-person learning, as we supported and leaned on each other in love and kindness. The world of COVID forced us to make many difficult changes and decisions throughout the school year. Throughout it all, we continued to demonstrate diligence, motivation and determination to work to the best of our ability to learn, grow and finish the academic year strong. As the year comes to an end, we have much to be proud of and celebrate all the wonderful things that happened this year, a year filled with new learning experiences, many accomplishments in academics, sports, Fine Arts and thriving through a global pandemic. We have learned to be resilient, empathetic and adaptive. What we also hope shines through this report is our unwavering vision and commitment to support our students and providing the best learning opportunities and conditions, academically and emotionally, for our students to achieve their highest learning potential and successes.
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Special thanks and gratitude to our amazing SJA Jeju leadership, faculty, staff, parents and families for your unwavering commitment to support in our educational journey this year. Your level of unparalleled trust and support helped us get through this monumental year. To our wonderful students, you made this year special and we are so proud of all of you! We are excited about what our next year holds for us and all the remarkable learning we will journey together! Have a happy, safe and healthy summer vacation. Dr. Jeannie Sung Head of School
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ANNUAL REPORRT 2021
ELEMENTARY
HIGHLIGHTS
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EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAM Reggio Emilia’s philosophy is an approach to teaching, learning and advocacy for children. In its most basic form, it is a way of observing what children know, are curious about and what challenges them. Teachers record these observations to reflect on developmentally appropriate ways to help children expand their academic and social potentials. Long-term learning experiences connect core academic areas in and out of the classroom. Our program emphasizes hands-on, play-based inquiry learning that supports the development of foundational skills. Play-based learning is very important to help develop social and emotional skills for young children. They learn to solve problems, create, investigate, explore, participate in social interactions and develop conflict resolution skills. It is also important for the physical and cognitive skills they develop.
ELEMENTARY CO-TEACHING SJA Elementary prides itself on our co-teaching models that enrich and support our student’s growth and development. Co-Teaching allows for students to receive knowledge, skills, and support through whole class, small group, and individualized attention and teaching. CoTeaching is: Multiple teachers planning, acting, teaching and reflecting on learning with a group of students or peers in a collaborative way. Creatively dividing up labor in ways that allow for strengths to shine. Two or more people working together to deliver instruction and monitor progress. To be open-minded, and communicative in co-construction and teaching engaging and purposeful lessons that are aligned with curriculum and planning. Homeroom teachers work together with their assistant teachers to deliver instruction throughout the day in all subject areas. Co-teaching models include Alternate Teaching, Complementary Teaching, Parallel Teaching, Team Teaching, Peer Teaching, Station teaching, & Support Teaching. Two or more teachers working with students in various arrangements to achieve the best social and academic outcomes. Language support throughout the day. Documented and co-planned so all teachers know what their role is and how they will specifically support the students in the classroom. 5.
ASSESSMENT DATA In Elementary, we administer many different kinds of assessments throughout the year. Some of our common Assessments include Measure of Academic Progress (MAP), Fountas and Pinnell Reading Assessment, and WIDA English as an Additional Language Assessment. MAP Grade 3's overall percentile in Math is 95% Grade 3's overall percentile in Reading is 50% Grade 3's overall percentile in Language Usage is 64% Grade 4's overall percentile in Math is 97% Grade 4's overall percentile in Reading is 57% Grade 4's overall percentile in Language Usage is 69%
WIDA Assessment 73% percent of all the ES students tested grew more than 1 level in at least 2 language domains! 58% percent of all the ES students tested grew more than 1 level in their overall score.
Grade 5's overall percentile in Math is 98% Grade 5's overall percentile in Reading is 39% Grade 5's overall percentile in Reading is 59% Fountas and Pinnell 99% of students grade K-5 grew one reading level this year. 73% of students grade K-5 grew 3 or more reading levels this year. 53% of students grade K-5 are at grade level or above in reading.
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PRISMA INC.
DESIGN TECH LAB The Tech Design Lab began the year in a new setting on the first floor of the Administration Building. This purpose-designed space gives students the opportunity to engage in STEAM activities. The Tech Design Lab allows students to explore a variety of topics that focus on the skills of the design process, problem-solving, collaboration, inquiry and innovation. Students can engage in a multitude of activities such as robotics, laser cutting, building, coding, and more. The Tech Integrationist and Design Lab teachers work closely together to foster collaborative opportunities for students to engage in inquiry and project-based learning. The Tech Integrationist teacher also supports faculty and students in the use of educational technology in daily classroom activities and projects. They also facilitate the development of ethically aware digital citizens.
PARENT COFFEE MORNINGS The Elementary School hosted multiple parent information sessions throughout the year. These parent coffee mornings were held virtually due to Covid-19 and were a mix of prerecorded and live presentations that included question and answer sessions. The purpose of these parent coffee mornings is to give parents an opportunity to understand the Elementary School’s programs and philosophies. Parents were encouraged to participate in these coffee morning presentations that consisted of the Elementary School language philosophy, EAL program, behavior expectations, Student Support Team session, MAP information session, grade level EAL parent information sessions, and Tech information session on parental controls at home. These information sessions were a huge success and hosted on average 60 to 100 parent participants depending on the topic. They were also recorded and are available for parent viewing on the Elementary Parent Corner.
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FACULTY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Teachers continued growth and learning to support and increase student growth and learning. #BetterTogether
Professional development in the Elementary School consists of topics focused on school goals, divisional goals and personal goals, as well as best practices in student learning. There are multiple opportunities for faculty to participate in professional development through monthly faculty meetings, professional learning communities, vertical alignment meetings, committee work, book clubs, as well as in house professional development called un-conference. There are also opportunities for teachers to attend professional development both locally and globally through virtual seminars.
A very popular professional development format is the un-conference day that happens once a month where faculty can offer to host a variety of workshops for other faculty members to sign up. Topics have ranged from incorporating technology into the classroom, EAL strategies in the classroom, literacy learning, learning design tech tools, inquiry, service learning, and interactive learning notebooks. Faculty are lifelong learners and this is shown through their ongoing passion for being the best teachers for our students.
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MIDDLE SCHOOL
HIGHLIGHTS
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MIDDLE SCHOOL VISION At St. Johnsbury Academy, in the Middle School, we aspire toward student ownership of learning, fostering a culture of continuous learning and a culturally inclusive community. During the middle school years, young adolescent students undergo the most change physically, socially, and emotionally during the young adolescent years than at any other time in their lives. Good middle schools are very aware of this and are organized to help students navigate these changes. .
MIDDLE SCHOOL ADVISORY The SJA Jeju Middle School Advisory Program is an integral part of the foundation of Middle School. Students meet in small groups with their advisors daily. The goals of the program include: developing meaningful relationships, supporting students socially, emotionally, and academically, building character & community, & cultivating growth mindsets. We strive to support our students academically, socially, and emotionally to make positive impacts for themselves and their community. This was evident in the Grade level Assemblies and online Advisory time which allowed students to stay connected as a cohort and still feel part of the SJA community.
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MIDDLE SCHOOL TEAMING The modern Middle School is organized into grade-level teams that recognize the students' unique social, emotional, and academic needs at their grade level. Most of the teachers on these teams serve the same group of 80 students, TheseTeacher Teams meet together at a regularly scheduled time during the teaching day to discuss the needs of their shared students. The Middle School Counselor is an integral part of each team.
GRADE LEVEL TEAMING Teaching teams that master the integration of the four domains: responding to student needs, integrating curriculum and skills, sharing successful teaching, and learning strategies, maximizing available time creatively are key to achieving the ultimate vision of the middle school concept. The Grade Level Team approach to instruction is considered a foundation in Middle School. Our Grade Level Teaming model is seen as key to achieving the full potential of a dynamic middle school, one that truly responds to the unique physical, intellectual, social-emotional, and moral developmental needs of young adolescents.
STUDENT LEARNING SUPPORT TEAM
The Student Learning Support Team consists of four teachers. Three of these teachers are EAL teachers and each one of them is assigned to each grade level team. As a member of the team, the EAL teacher works with the grade-level Core teachers consider a variety of data points, including WIDA, MAP, and teacher input to "co-plan" units and lessons in order to provide "scaffolding" that makes the lesson more accessible to a wider range of English language learners. In addition to the EAL teacher will play an equal role in co-teaching in many of the classrooms. The 4th member of the learning support team work in the same co-planning and teaching model to support students with special needs.
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THE ARTS To be able to provide and ensure that all students receive the best education possible we and include a comprehensive and balanced Art program in Middle School. The Arts program helps students with the development of motor skills, language skills, social skills, decision-making, risk-taking, and inventiveness. This year the Visual Art program focussed on the beautification of the Middle School building by highlighting student artwork. The Drama this year, culminated in the Middle School Play, The Wizard of Oz. This was an important celebration for our Middle School community. The Music department was able to perform at various times for the students and faculty during their lunchtime and other blocks. It certainly attracted the music lovers of the school.
STUDENT COUNCIL Student Council had an amazing year despite COVID. They were able to organize the following events: Halloween Celebration, STUCO Assemblies, cultural awareness, and learning about our community groups. Currently, the Middle School Student Council also provides a place for students to talk about issues that arise in the school and how to deal with them. This year, we have had numerous discussions on improving the school community and promoting a culture of kindness within the Middle School. Student Council provides a way to lighten the mood of students through events and provides opportunities for students to maintain their well-being and provide an environment that promotes collaboration as the group strives to make the school a better place.
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STUDENT SUPPORT FOR OUR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS EAL support at SJA Jeju recognizes the contribution of our EAL learners to the education of all learners. As such, and in the context of our ever-changing world, the interaction between learners and their linguistic experiences is an acknowledgment of our school's mission and vision.
Middle school has created an EAL team that has become an integral part of the learning experience for each Middle School student. Through the co-planning and co-teaching model, the EAL team provides additional contextual support to help students make sense of the information conveyed to them in English. The EAL team also helps foster the independence of learners who use EAL by developing their organizational, thinking, and social skills, working cooperatively with others, taking turns, and asking for help).
STUDENT CHOICE Through choice, students can selfdifferentiate their learning so work is more appropriately challenging. Student choice helps students connect with their strengths and interests and gives students more autonomy, power, and control over their work, which boosts their intrinsic motivation. These are perhaps the two most compelling reasons to use choice as a part of daily teaching and learning in Middle School.
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COOLOTHING COMPANY
HIGH SCHOOL
COOLOTHING COMPANY
HIGHLIGHTS
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OVERVIEW These are positive and exciting times for the high school, which is innovating in education and placing strong effort into developing international-minded students that can succeed in our global society. It takes a community for a school to be successful. We have proven that great things can happen when we come together as one. To put it plainly, at the SJA Jeju high school, we have been very successful this year as we made changes to improve our overall academic approach and support the standard of teaching and learning needed to be a top international school in Asia.
PARENT INFORMATION SESSIONS Building relationships among parents and teachers are the heart of an excellent educational experience for all students. One of our goals as a school is to increase communication between the home and the school. In high school this year, we increased school-to-home communication through various methods, including hosting a virtual back-to-school night. A monthly parent association representative meeting. Monthly whole parent information sessions. We instituted a regular monthly letter/communication from the high school office to the parents through email and SMS. We created a quarterly newsletter by the teachers and students for parents called "The Hilltopper." This represents 100% increase in communication for the 20202021 school year The high school also hosted various parent sessions for different parent groups throughout the year, including a parent information session for parents of each grade level 8-11 about course registration processes and individual group sessions for college counseling.
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STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES Student support services contribute to the quality of their learning experience for students and their academic success in school. At high school this year, we have implemented many new changes to bolster student support services. We have created an academic foundations class to support the transition from middle school to high school and provide students with the resources needed to succeed in secondary school. This class provides students with the executive functioning skills necessary for a high school setting. We have also created an academic support team with two specialists providing scaffolded push-in and pull-out support for classroom teachers. For the 2021-2022 school year, we will expand student support to include two interns to offer additional in-class support. Our student support team meets weekly, developing plans for struggling students and tracking academic progress. This support encourages students to build self-confidence, independence, and reach their highest potential.
Our curriculum team has developed three foundational level classes to support students, including Algebraic foundations, Integrated science, and English foundations for 2021-2022. We have expanded our course offerings for all students next year by 15%, and with these new courses, students will have more options to explore their path towards educational excellence. We have expanded our student support team next year with the addition of a Dean of Students to support our advisory program as well as our conference period and a new additional Social-Emotional counselor for the 2021-2022 school year.
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GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT Student admission for the 2020-21 school year has increased by 16% to 257 students. Enrollment for the 2021-2022 school year has increased by 20% as the current enrolment for 2021-2022 is at 322 students for the high school. To support further growth and development, the high school has hired an additional administrative support staff and 14 new faculty to address our growing student population. At current projections, we should reach capacity by 2024-2025. This impressive growth rate is fueled by the SJA Jeju high school's stellar reputation in the international community.
TEACHER TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT Professional teacher development is any activity that enhances and empowers an individual's knowledge, skills and expertise as a teacher. Teacher improvement is a process that involves learning, improving, and developing as a teacher. As teachers improve, they become more effective educators. With focus protocols in place, the high school can support faculty development and, at the same time, remove poor-performing educators from the classroom leading to more effective classroom practice. At the high school, we have created the following improvements to teacher development this year: An annual faculty goal-setting policy A bi-annual formal observation process for teachers An annual faculty review process We have also reserved 25% of our annual meeting time for teacher-targeted professional development; leading to high teacher effectiveness in the high school.
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AP COURSES AND UNIVERSITY PLACEMENTS A big part of high school is preparing students for success and acceptance to the world's best universities. This year at SJA Jeju we have made significant improvements to our Advanced Placement (AP) courses and college counseling department. Advanced Placement (AP) courses prepare students for the rigors of university-level academic work. As students build their transcript with high-level courses, admission officers recognize our students for their abilities to perform at the highest levels of academia, leading to high placements for our students and enhancing the reputation of SJA Jeju. This year we have made the following updates to our AP program: We have redesigned our AP program to make classes more accessible for students. This design has allowed more students to take AP classes. 88 unique student registration 20-21 160 unique student registrations 21-22 Representing a 45% increase in student registrations for the SY 2021-2022 New AP offerings: 14 AP offerings 20-21 20 AP course offerings 21-22 (+30%)
College counseling has been very successful this year at SJA Jeju. We updated our College Counseling software, program, handbook and had very successful university placements this year, including our first-ever Ivy League placements in school history at Dartmouth and Cornell. As of April, 80% of our graduates from this school year have been admitted to the world's top 100 universities (based on 2021 US News), with a total of 116 admissions. Top Placements This Year Cornell University Dartmouth College Emory University Yale-NUS Johns Hopkins University UC Berkeley UCLA
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TEACHING &
LEARNING
ACCREDITATION The SJA Jeju community began our initial accreditation process in 2018. Students, parents, and faculty completed surveys, participated in reflection and vision meetings, and provided valuable feedback throughout the accreditation process, asking and answering the questions, “Who are we?”, “Where do we want to go?”, and “How will we get there?”. The result of all of that work is a five-year action plan that establishes a vision for SJA Jeju and a road map to achieve that vision. During the week of March 8-12, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) accreditation team visited SJA Jeju virtually. They observed in dozens of classrooms and met with all stakeholder groups, including parents, students, teachers, staff, school leadership, and school governance. In addition to observations and meetings, the accreditation team reviewed our five-year action plan and provided valuable feedback. We are pleased to report that NEASC has awarded SJA Jeju fully accredited status! This accreditation is valid for 5 years, which means we will begin the re-accreditation process in 2025-26. Obtaining accreditation from NEASC places us in the company of many of the most prestigious schools and universities, both in the US and internationally. When SJA Jeju students apply to universities they now have confidence that their SJA Jeju education will be recognized as top quality.
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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT During the 2020-21 academic year SJA Jeju provided 114 faculty members with access to a wide range of professional development opportunities! These opportunities included lifeguard training, conferences and workshops, book study groups, graduate courses, and many others. In addition to external professional development, nearly 100 faculty members provided internal PD for their colleagues. These teacher-led PD opportunities included faculty sharing their learning from external PD they had attended as well as the best practices they use in their classrooms every day. As a companion to our 5 year action plan we also developed a professional development plan for the coming years. This plan will ensure that we stay focused and aligned as a school, while targeting high impact areas for growth.
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PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AND ALIGNMENT This has been an exciting year of growth and alignment at SJA Jeju! As our enrollment continues to grow, the school leadership team has been thoughtful and strategic with the expansion and development of our academic programs. Some of the highlights include: Opening the middle school STEAM program, including Robotics, Computer Science, and general STEAM courses Aligning STEAM courses from elementary to high school, including AP opportunities Hiring an Aquatics Coordinator to help align and build our K-12 swim programs as well as athletics and after school activities Developing an instructional coaching model to ensure optimal teaching and learning in our classrooms Aligning our curriculum from K-12 in the areas of Health, Math, STEAM and Korean as a Foreign Language Redesigning our After School Activities program to include increased offerings Expanding our athletics program by doubling the number of training opportunities for middle and high school and significantly increasing opportunities for elementary students Expanding AP course offerings to include a total of 20 different courses
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20-21 LEARNING PLAN 2020-21 has been a year of adapting to unpredictable circumstances. We began the year in July with the development of a comprehensive learning plan that included both in person and virtual learning models. We utilized available research and the collective thinking of some of the top international schools around the world to develop a risk management matrix that would guide our decision making related to the evolving Covid situation. Throughout the year we gathered feedback from parents, students, and teachers regarding our virtual learning model. The feedback related to the adjustments we have made has been very positive. Though in-person learning is ideal, we are extremely pleased with the learning gains that our students have made this year, in many cases outpacing the learning of more than 90% of US and international students. The Covid situation led to numerous scenarios in which we had to make decisions about campus access, safety requirements, and virtual learning. Oftentimes these decisions had to be made and implemented with extremely short notice. Thanks to our careful planning at the start of the year, we were able to make decisions with confidence, while ensuring the safety of our community and continuity of our educational programs.
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ADMISSIONS &
MARKETING
ADMISSIONS OVERVIEW As a new school in Fall 2017 on Jeju Island, St. Johnsbury Academy Jeju has grown into a leading American curriculum-based school that attracts children from around Korea and worldwide. We have doubled our initial student population from our opening day and expect to continue to increase our student intake to capacity. Our first graduating class was in 2019/20. The second in 2020/21 with Ivy league results are empowering families to choose to attend SJA Jeju and offer their child the potential to experience a US-based education and prepare for their future at top universities worldwide. We welcome students to apply to the school in all grades throughout the year. The application process is a fair and measured indicator of a student's ability to succeed at school with our academic support once they start at SJA Jeju. We offer all applicants an interview from grades Pre-K3 to G12 and a MAP test for applicants from grade 3 and above. All applicants are considered based on the results of these two items as well as academic transcripts and references requested in the application. We look forward to the next few years and our successful recruitment of the future graduating classes.
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GROWTH As we have grown through the years, our recruitment has moved at a fast pace. Our initial two years saw the highest growth in student numbers and the student population has increased 99% from our opening day to the present day. With each year, we aim to increase by a pre-determined number, and the Admissions Team works to guarantee all applicants have a timely assessment and interview for potential entry to St. Johnsbury Academy Jeju.
In order to increase the numbers annually, we will ensure that we are able to fulfill the services, programs, and facilities we offer to all students and provide the same level of activities and space without compromising on learning. With additional teaching staff, facility improvements, and expanded activities this will allow us to offer even more choices to our students and build a stronger school. All of these improvements will enable St. Johnsbury Academy Jeju to move towards our goal of 1250 students total capacity in the next three years.
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NATIONALITIES
2020-21
Our Students USA 5.9%
Other China 2.1% 5.4%
15% OF OUR STUDENTS ARE INTERNATIONAL In 2020-2021 our students came from 14 different nationalities with the highest being Korea and the United States second.
Korea 86.6%
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ANNUAL REPORRT 2021
VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSE EVENTS With this year’s covid restrictions, we have adapted to new ways of promoting the school to families and students from all over Korea and the Globe. We offered online info sessions targeted at specific age groups each month to provide more informative and personal information to families. St. Johnsbury Academy hosted online events for Elementary school and a Middle and High school combined to provide more in-depth information to parents when they apply. During each session, we outlined the curriculum, critical points in learning and development and how your child can benefit from a St. Johnsbury Academy Education. Families would ask questions during the live link, and we aimed to answer as many questions on the spot to provide a real-time event that is useful to parents seeking entry for their child. This year, our final session was for College Counseling, whereby we discussed our approach to preparing children for their college applications worldwide, including in Korea. Our successful approach has led our students to top universities in North America and Korea. Due to the large interest in these events, we will continue to hold online info sessions post-covid as well as in-person events to provide as much information and opportunities to our prospective families as possible.
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ATHLETICS
& ASAS
Unfortunately, nearly all of our inter-school competitions were canceled this year due to COVID. We were very lucky to still have a sports program and we made up for the missed matches with intra-mural tournaments.
FALL SPORTS Soccer, Volleyball, Swimming, Tennis, Cross Country, Badminton, Ping Pong, Netball We were fortunate to compete in the KISAC championships for Tennis and Cross Country, where our athletes got off to an amazing start, taking 1st and 2nd in the middle school boys and 2nd in the middle school girls cross country events. Our tennis players kept the momentum going by taking the gold medal in the boys and girls B division, gold in the girls A division doubles, gold and silver in the boys A division and all three podium positions in the boys A division doubles. What makes this all the more amazing is that the boys were all from middle school, competing in the high school divisions. We are very excited for the future of our tennis program.
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Sadly our middle school soccer KISAC tournaments got cancelled, as did our high school volleyball. Leaving over 100 students without a competition to end off their season, but we rallied with our first ever intra-mural sports festival. Our newly-formed STUCO worked hard helping organise two full days of sport. We started with an Elementary soccer jamboree with our grade 1 to grade 5 students competing with each other, parents were thrilled to spend a sunny morning watching our youngest athletes have a great time. We also had our middle school soccer teams divided up and put into brackets. The competition and spirit was felt by all, with the biggest cheers being heard during a semifinal penalty shootout that seemed to last forever. We ended the festival with an outdoor, grass volleyball tournament. Six boys and six girls teams, made up of our high school athletes and faculty, had a fantastic afternoon. The weather played along, the costumes were amazing and once again our community spirit shone through. All things considered, a pretty good season.
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WINTER SPORTS Sports offered: Basketball, Volleyball, Ping Pong, Swimming, Screen Golf Winter sees our athletes move indoors for swimming, high school basketball and middle school volleyball. Winter was our worst hit in terms of cancellations, but after the success of season 1 our coaches were fantastic in ensuring our students got to test themselves competitively. We had a season-long 3on3 basketball league and ended the season with a two day basketball tournament. Our faculty team came away from the students vs faculty game bruised and battered but with a hard fought win in overtime, maybe next year students! The highlight of the basketball season was the record number of girls that signed up to play, we would have been able to enter 3 teams if we had had a KISAC event. Middle school volleyball is our fastest growing sport, thanks largely to our two fantastic head coaches. With almost 50 students on the roster our middle school tournament was quite the event, big thanks to our varsity players that continue to mentor and nurture our younger athletes.
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Spring is a wonderful time of year in Jeju, we venture back outside and take full advantage of the glorious weather. We were very lucky to be able to compete in the high school badminton, soccer, and middle school basketball KISAC tournaments. In soccer our high school girls fought hard, finishing 5th in the A division. Our boys entered two teams and ended up in 3rd place in both A and B divisions. The boys varsity team finished joint top after the pool games but conceded a late goal in the semi-final to narrowly miss out on a final with local rivals, KISJ. Middle School basketball has been immensely popular this year. We entered 4 boys teams and 2 girls teams into the KISAC tournament. In an amazing run of results we ended up with an all-SJA boys final. Our A team beat our B team for the Gold and the KISAC title! Our girls narrowly missed out on bronze in both divisions.
AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES This year we offered over 340 after-school activities and sports to our students from KG to grade 12. Our programs are extremely popular with a staggering 90% of our students taking part in at least one activity. None of this would be possible without our dynamic, committed, and creative staff.
SPRING SPORTS Sports Offered: Soccer, Basketball, Tennis, Netball, T-ball, Baseball, Track, Ping pong, Swimming, Badminton, Flag Football, Screen Golf
Our programs are comprehensive and varied. On any given afternoon you could walk around our campus and see everything from relaxing yoga to our Vega Space students launching their latest rocket, to students critiquing films, building robots, and printing 3D models. You may even get to see our MUN team in the midst of a debate or our TED-Ed students practicing one of their presentations. Next year’s emphasis will be on building our ES sports program. Our athletic ASAs will include soccer, volleyball, basketball, tennis, swimming, ping pong, badminton, netball, rugby, flag football, t-ball, baseball, track, cross country, dance, and fencing.
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RESIDENTIAL
LIFE
The Residential Life program at SJA Jeju encourages: student social and emotional growth through connection, independence, and expectations of responsibility to the community, deeper connections with their academic learning including constant English support, a balance of self-reliance and utilizing appropriate and available resources, and development of outstanding problemsolving skills.
ACADEMIC SUPPORT The dorms are connected to the school in many important ways including continued learning support. Opportunities to expand English speaking, listening, and reading skills, easy access to peers and adults for academic support, and our Evening Study program all assist dorm students in their academic growth. This year, we have adjusted Evening Study to provide more teachers each night of Evening Study, a more appropriate length of time for our younger students, and a Peer Tutoring program for High School students to assist Middle School students with their learning.
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LIVING SPACES Each dorm has 105 rooms. Most students, grades 6-10 are assigned a roommate and share a room. Learning to live appropriately with a roommate and learning to be a good roommate are very important skills. Students in grades 11 and 12 are given a single room when there is one available. Each wing of each dorm has a kitchen with a shared refrigerator, microwave, and tea kettle, while each floor has a water filtration system as well. There is one oven/stove in each dorm that all students have access to. Each floor also has a common room with cable tv, couches, chairs, and comfortable spaces to sit with friends. There are 2 ping pong tables in each dorm, a pool or billiard table, and a foosball table. Each dorm has a karaoke room with frequently updated machines as well. Finally, each dorm has a small study room on each floor and one large study room that is equipped with individual lockers where students can store and charge their computers and phones. Each year, including this year, we have tried to add new spaces or improve our current spaces in the dorms. In addition to the Makers’ Room, we have added a dorm library which is frequently used by students. Next year we have plans to add a Clay Room and a Multimedia Room. All of these spaces are on the first floor of the dorms so that all dorm students have access to use them, regardless of which dorm they live in.
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Finally, we are currently undergoing a major construction project. After 3 years of trouble with flooding and mold, the buildings are going through significant changes that should make the dorms more safe and comfortable as we go through typhoon season next year.
ACTIVITIES When students are not in classes, there are many opportunities for personal growth, connection, and fun. Dorm students all participate in After School Activities. Clubs and sports meet during this time and dorm students often find themselves as captains or leaders of these activities. This year, dorm students and a dorm proctor started our first SJA Jeju baseball team and recently had their first actual game against another team. On weekends, we have required activities for MS students and occasional optional activities for HS students. This year, we have not been able to go offcampus due to COVID but on-campus students have learned many cooking skills, they have helped to kick off our Makers’ Room with some woodworking projects, and they have enjoyed many board games and active games. In addition, 4 proctors were able to get lifeguard certified this year which has enabled us to frequently open the swimming pool for student use.
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STUDENT LEADERSHIP AND RESPONSIBILITY Boarding students have many opportunities to learn responsibility, leadership, and followership. Keeping track of their daily schedule, keeping their rooms tidy, participating in weekend activities and after school activities, and problem solving with proctors are important ways that our students grow. In addition, students have many opportunities to formally lead. Our three leadership groups are the Dorm Leadership team, Dorm Ambassadors, and Peer Tutors. These organizations lead activities, plan events, suggest changes to dorm policies, provide guidance to new students, care for faculty children during faculty meetings, and provide academic support for younger dorm students.
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