Parent's Review of Seoul Foreign School in Seoul, Korea

What is the name of your child's school? (Please report on one school per survey.)

Seoul Foreign School

In what town or city is this school located?

Seoul

How would you describe this school? (i.e. American, British, International, Local, etc.)

American system with the majority of students being Ethnic Korean

What grade levels are represented at this school?

JK-12

How do most children get to school everyday? (bus, train, walk, etc.)

Bus

How would you describe the facilities at this school? What extra-curricular activities are available?

The school has limited facilities: pool, astro turf pitch, gym, weight room. The extra curricular activities have increased in the past couple of years, but activities are still quite limited

What has this school done to help your child transition from the curriculum in your home country into the curriculum in your new country? Are there programs to prepare your child for repatriation?

SFS describes itself as an IB World school...it does offer a limited IB programme, which is not implemented as it should be. Sciences are only offered at high level so students wishing to take a science at standard level must take the HL course. High level classes have a maximum of 190 hours teaching time - IBO recommends a minimum of 240 hours. TOK is based mainly on religion.

The school schedule is often disrupted and classes cancelled due to sports activities which ALL high school students are expected to attend and support the school team. Non- US students get very little support when applying to university outside of the US as the high school administration has little interest in non-US students.

The grading system at the school requires a passing grade of 70%. The pressure on the students to achieve extremely high grades is immense as the Korean population regard anyone who does not achieve 95%+ as a failure. Many bright young students arriving at this school soon acquire a feeling of low self esteem and little is done by the school counselor's to help - their main advice is to 'Trust in God' and pray for the students. As the school is 'Centered in Christ', it does not have time for non-Christians and any student who is not a Christian is treated differently to those who are by faculty and staff.

How would you describe the social activities available for parents through this school? Are there parent-teacher organizations?

Non-existent. The PTA focuses on an Ice cream social at the start of the year and the International fair in May.

What advice would you give to someone considering enrolling their child in this school?

If you are an American, Evangelical family whose child will be returning to the US, SFS would be the ideal school. Anyone else - FORGET IT!

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