Local Korean Schools

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When you move to another country, attending a local school might be the most natural and economic option to continue your education. Elementary schools in particular offer a wide variety of learning experiences through after-school programs. Students can participate in a variety of sports, music, and art programs, or learn special skills such as cooking, public speaking, or even magic tricks. They can also take supplementary classes for English, math, and other academic subjects. Take note, however, that there is a fee for the "after-school" programs, but it is usually reasonably priced for their quality (something like $30 a month rather than $300). In addition, elementary and middle school students enjoy lunch for free. 

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If you would like to go to a local Korean school, but are a bit afraid of being suddenly being thrown into an all-Korean learning environment, you could consider the following options:

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(1) Public elementary and middle schools with special classes for students who have lived overseas for a while (the so-called "returnee" classes, 귀국학급, or "multicultural" classes, 다문화학급). 

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The following schools have classes for returnees:

 

• Seoul: 서울교대부속초등, 서울사대부속초등, 덕수중, 언주중

• Ilsan: 금계초등학교

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There may be more schools. The recent trend seems to have been expanded to cover students from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds from what used to be a primarily support for English-speaking students. Please call 교육청 (http://sen.go.kr/main/services/index/index.action) for more information. 

 

(2) Private elementary schools with native English-speaking teachers (사립초등학교)

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These schools usually have native English speaking teachers starting from first grade and teach English throughout the school years. The tuition is around $600 a month, and lunch & school bus fees are extra. The degree of bilingual education varies from school to school. Some schools (e.g. 영훈, 우촌, 상명, 매원) have a substantial number of courses taught in English and Korean whereas others have only a few hours of English classes. Around 2015, the supreme court judged that the government's ban on educating English for 1st and 2nd year elementary students in these schools does not violate the constitution. So, please call these schools for the most recent situations of their bilingual education systems. 

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(3) Private middle schools with native English-speaking teachers (국제중학교)

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The "international" middle schools such as Younghoon, Chungsim, and Daewon not to be confused with the conventional international schools (e.g. Chadwick, Cheongra-Dalton) or foreign schools e.g. SIS, KIS), are where the majority of the education is provided in English according to the US or a British curriculum. The Korean "international" middle schools are essentially a regular Korean school based on a Korean curriculum for mostly Korean students, but offer certain subjects in English as part of an immersion program. The tuition at these "international" middle schools are comparable to the private elementary schools, which is just a fraction of the conventional international schools.

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These "international" middle schools might serve as a soft-landing to a Korean school system with the presence of English-speaking teachers. However, if you have never attended a Korean school and your Korean is limited, please keep in mind that these schools are based on a Korean curriculum. 

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It used to be extremely competitive to get an admission from these "international" middle schools, which led to scandalous, illegal admission incidents. Subsequently, the Ministry of Education changed the admission system to a lottery-based one. Please check out the individual schools' homepages for the most up-to-date information on their admission policies. 

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(4) Alternative schools (대안학교)

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There are alternative schools which are not acknowledged by the government of ministry. These include Waldorf schools and many other schools which are run based on their own devised curriculum. You can later transfer to a public school but if you go all the way up to high school in this type of educational system, but you will have to take an exam similar to the GED in the US system to have your education acknowledged. These schools also charge a substantial tuition. 

 

(5) Neighborhood public schools

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Despite the several options stated above, most students might end up looking into neighborhood public schools partly because of the commuting distance. Again, Korean schools are overall excellent, so this might actually be your best place to learn and grow. There will definitely be some culture shock and a language barrier, but you will hopefully grow to appreciate the broader perspectives and experiences you get to have when you have overcome the initial difficulties. It is not an easy barrier to overcome, however, and this is why we have created a site like this in hopes to help ease your transition into a Korean school. 

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