Character Strong at Seoul elementary & Pangyo middle school

This story is part of a series showing the culture of continuous learning at KIS.

You learn a lot at school! KIS offers rigorous academics and robust co-curriculars. We also provide social emotional care and learning through a comprehensive counseling program, morning meetings, and advisory groups.

This school year, Seoul Campus elementary school and Pangyo Campus middle school adopted Character Strong, an evidence-based approach to creating a school culture that values belonging, well-being, and engagement. What’s fantastic about Character Strong is that all students within a division learn about the same topic like kindness or responsibility. But lessons are tailored to meet the developmental needs of different grade levels.

With Character Strong, social emotional learning is integrated into the school day. Students use the ideas and language explored through Character Strong to include their peers, resolve conflict, and check their own responses and choices. Teachers return to Character Strong conversations to guide and celebrate student growth. Parents are included in the conversation too, through newsletters introducing ways to talk about and practice character building and via resources shared on the Character Strong site. You’ll learn more from our students and teachers in the video below.