Kwangju Foreign School

Kwangju Foreign School
Location
633-1 Yangsan-dong, Buk-gu Gwangju Republic of Korea
Coordinates	35.1746°N 126.8837°E / 35.1746; 126.8837
Information
Type	Private
Motto	Character and Knowledge
Established	1996
President	Robert Holley
Principal	Trevor Goodwin
Staff	6
Faculty	18
Number of students	130
Website	www.kwangjuforeignschool.org

The Gwangju Foreign School is an International school in the city of Gwangju, Chollanambdo, Korea. Gwangju is sometimes written as Kwangju, depending on what part of the world you are from.

The school is located approximately at Latitude 35.17462 N and Longitude 126.88361E or 370 kilometers (230 miles) southwest of Seoul.

School Philosophy

Students attend international schools because the classes are taught in English, and to gain acceptance into universities in the U.S. The course curriculum is therefore identical to that of U.S highschools, and counseling services in the schools provide the students with direction as to the appropriate activities to be involved in and the preparation necessary for the special entrance exams for non native English speakers. The school is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASQ)

Students have the option of taking some of their classes through expensive computer based programs, the effectiveness of which is debatable. They are also encouraged to pursue AP courses, and some do their AP work on the computer as well.

Teaching Staff and administration

The teaching staff at Korean International private schools are on what are called E-7 visas as opposed to the E-2 visas that are issued to English teachers at Institutes(Hogwons) or Public schools. The issuance of E-7 visas now requires that applicants have upwards of 5 years of relevant experience. Immigration has come down hard on Korean International private schools as a kneejerk reaction to Christopher Paul Neil having worked at such an institution.(This particular institution in fact) There are 3 elementry school teachers, 4 middle school teachers and 4 highschool teachers.

The administrative staff are chosen from the teaching staff, by a consensus of opinion or by the principal himself. Sometimes the administration turn out to be different from what was expected, and morale amongst the teachers and the students suffers. School would be better to hire a proper school administrators with experience in the public school system.

School Location and Facilities

The school is one of two private schools owned by Mr Robert Holley. It is located in Yangsandong, Buk Gu an industrial suburb of Gwangju. The school occupies a two building campus, sharing an old, noisy and dilapidated neighborhood with a lot of traffic, a few furniture stores, apartment buildings, a gas station and a butcher shop. The Na Dong apartments in the rear of the school are the homes of the school's teaching staff. The campus buildings are not new, and were formerly office buildings for public services. A public driveway passes between the two school buildings to the teachers apartrments and another set of apartments. Often traffic on the driveway has to be slowed down, because the occupants of the other apartments have little regard for the students walking between classes. The school also has an assembly hall, but it's old and quite unkempt. The science laboratory needs refurbishing as well, because it lacks the proper saftey measures.

The playing facilities are quite limited, but the students are hardy and make the most of what they have. Come basketball season though the teams practice off campus on a regulation size basketball court at the Gwangju Institute of science and Technology.. The school doesn't have a soccer field, but has a very small cindered play area for the elementry students which the older students appropriate for soccer. The school gymnasium or weight room consists of one piece of equipment that would break if anyone wanted to exercise with excess weights.

There is a cafeteria in the basement of the main building which provides lunch for the students. Friday is the day the students look forward too because the meal consists of prepare your own hamburgers.

Students

Many of the students are Korean nationals who have lived in English speaking countries and who have also attained a certain proficiency in the English language. Korean law requires that students wanting to attend international schools must have proof of residence (a passport) in an English speaking country for at least five years. There are a a few non Korean expatrate children attending the school, many of whom have parents working at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology(GIST).

ESL Programe

The school also has an ESL programme for students with poor or no English skills. Some of the core subjects are taught as ESL subjects until such a time that the student can make the transition to the regular classes. There are a good number of students in the schools ESL programes, and their English ability improves quite dramatically. The programme is essentially a language immersion programme and this forces the students to learn the language very quickly.

School Sports

The school participates in sports with other International schools in the area. It competes in basketball and soccer with International schools in Pusan, Daejeon, and Pohang. The sports teams usually do well in competitions, as there are some very enthusiastic teachers willing to help out with coaching. Their is also an annual cross country race for the students. Like most schools, lunch hour is basketball, soccer, and volleyball time for both the boys and the girls.

School Science Fair

The school has a science fair, that all students must participate in every year. They make science projects, and are judged on the better points of the project. The winners attend a regional competition for other foreign schools; the same schools that compete in the sports. Participating in the competition are the other private international schools in Kyungsannamdo. Students must submit a project of sorts, because participation improves a students application process for a U.S. college or university. Preparation for the science fair is a challenging time or the students, but an excellent learning experience.

Recently one student was invited to Turkey to present her science project. The authorities in Turkey were impressed and offered her a scholarship to one of the countries prestigious universities. When she returned, she chose to go elsewhere because she was activley recruited by some of the better private schools in Korea.

Extra Curricular Activities

Some students are keen hip hop dancers, and they practice after school as often as they can. There is a boys group and a girls group.

The school also has an orchestra, and it performs once a year for parents, and guests. There are music institutes on every corner in every town in Korea, so the exposure of Korean young people to Classical music is widespread. Elementry, middle and highschool students all attend extra classes after school. Music is one of these, and the majority of the students in the orchestra would have attended such classes from childhood. Parents of the more affluent students like those going to international schools, would then give their children private lessons as they got older. Hence the ability of the majority of the students to play passable music in an orchestra.

Philosophy of some Student's Parents

Often parents in Korea send their students to International schools to learn English only and then send them to Korean public schools for their highschool years, or send them abroad to continue in a regular western highschool. One parent usually accompanies a child when he or she studies abroad. The sending of children abroad with one parent to improve their education has been responsible for the term "wild goose industry".

Some students leave for a year to study abroad and then return to resume their study at the school. The use of private tutors to help one's children is a lucrative business for the countries university students and or the university graduates. All the more power to the parents for making use of the avilable resource.

There is an incessant drive on the part of Korean parents to give their children an education in English no matter what the expense, hence the constant concern in the news about the bulk of the GNP being diverted to-wards education of the countries young people either here or overseas. This is also responsible for the proliferation of English Institutes, and the push to place expat teachers in all public schools. E2 visas will now be given to qualified people from India, Singapore and the Phillipines, because there aren't enough expats from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, the U.S. and Great Britain to fill the available slots.

Summer English Camp

The school runs an English camp in the summer. Some parents send their students to the Gwangju Foreign School Camp as a precurser to maybe latter enrolling them in the school. In the winter and summer breaks there are many English camps. They are a good way for parents to ensure their children's continuity in the use of English, and they are also activity based to allow the students to have fun and enjoy themselves. The good English camps restrict their intake to 10 to 12 students per class to maximise the personal interaction between the students and their teachers. These camps also provide quality books and material for the students and the camp staff. Accomodation is provided for students coming from out of town at no additional expense. The staff are adequately reimbursed and the cost per student for these camps is quite reasonable.

Unfortunately there are many camps that provide minimal material for the students to work with, and have no concern about wether the students learn anything or not. They are expensive too. These camps are riding the Korean wave of parents wanting their children to be exposed to as much English as possible. There are many well meaning parents who have the financial means, but who aren't aware of the options available to them. Some parents of course are just happy to have their children out of the house and away from T.V. for 3 weeks. The camp at this Gwangju Foreign School tends to-ward this later category.