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The KIS mission is to inspire students with a passion for learning and to cultivate the competence, self-assurance, initiative, and creativity necessary for success in the global community.

KIS welcomed its first group of students in 2000 at our current Seoul campus. Our founders dreamed of preparing Korean and international students to pursue further education as our future thinkers, innovators, and leaders. As a young school, we committed to applied learning and a strong STEM program, creating makerspaces and developing an inquiry-based and transdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning. In 2006 KIS opened the PK-12 Pangyo campus now housing 1200 students. 

We continue to provide our students with academic and co-curricular opportunities that empower individual and collective growth. Our commitment to applied learning centers on authenticity, service, and sustainability. KIS students matriculate at top colleges and universities around the world.

We are proud of our history of innovation. Over twenty years later, we still imagine, hope, and plan as we design the future.

 

 

Our Core Values

 

Global Citizenship

Understand and value our planet, diverse cultures, communities, and perspectives with compassion

Integrity

Choose to be ethical fair, honest, and responsible citizens who create supportive, inclusive environments

Adaptability

Embrace challenge, transfer knowledge, and apply learning to meaningful contexts

Balance In Life

Nurture physical, social-emotional, creative, and intellectual wellness
 

Empowerment

Personalize learning, take positive risks, and lead with confidence

Single Hero

Young girls and boys, along with two girls, are taking pictures with smartphones.

OUR COMMUNITY

KIS Voices

Brady Baildon

High School Basketball Coach

Brady Baildon | high school basketball coach.

“Development is a lifelong process,” says Brady. “At each level I’ve continued to grow.” He coaches players to prepare them for the next level of competition while also instilling a lifelong love for the game.

Read Brady’s Story

Brady Baildon started coaching basketball while he was still in high school. After school once or twice a week, he taught four and five year olds how to dribble the ball, pass, and shoot. “It was a lot of craziness and fun,” he says, smiling. Brady continued coaching through university – basketball summer camps, skills workshops – and was later excited to coach at schools where he taught. Now at KIS, Brady teaches middle school social studies and coaches high school junior varsity basketball.

Coaching makes sense to Brady. He grew up watching his father and grandfather coach a variety of sports and for one season, was on his father’s basketball team. The court is a great place to connect with students and challenge their development. Being part of a team requires cooperation, perseverance, and willingness to learn from failure. 

"Development is a lifelong process,” Brady says. He played basketball on high school and college teams and now plays in a recreational league. “At each level I’ve continued to grow and develop certain parts of my game,” he says. Brady coaches players to prepare them for the next level of competition while also instilling a lifelong love for the game.

Jack Brown

Secondary Music Teacher

Jack Brown Secondary Music Teacher.

Jack believes that art inspires joy. As a music teacher, his mission is to connect the joy of music to the joy of life.

Read Jack’s Story

The fine arts department believes that the creative process and an appreciation of the arts is an essential part of being human. Fine arts teachers like Jack Brown model the practice and evolution of their own craft. Jack’s decades of writing and performing music inform how he encourages young musicians to integrate art in their life.

Jack started teaching music in 1987. A couple of years later, his younger brother died of cancer. The loss was profound and in the months and years after, Jack responded to his grief with a radical appreciation for joy. “I feel lucky to be alive,” he says. “I celebrate the wonder and joy of being alive.”

Jack believes that art inspires joy. As a music teacher, his mission is to connect the joy of music to the joy of life. He acknowledges that most student musicians will not have a career in music – and that’s okay! Musicians sing or play because they enjoy making and listening to music. “The world doesn’t need a lot of music majors,” Jack says, “but we need people who understand the important place art has in being human.” He wants all people to think about how they can participate in art.

Kelly Chang

High School Math Teacher

Kelly Chang | high school math teacher.

Kelly is authentic and approachable, recognizing each person’s capacity for growth, interested in helping students succeed. She believes you do not need to excel at all things to be successful.

Read Kelly’s Story

When Kelly Chang was a child, she immigrated with her family from South Korea to the US. She enrolled in a California elementary school and remembers the challenge of learning a new language – her ESL classmates were her first new friends and they remained close for years. Kelly thought of school as her work, proud to imitate her hardworking parents.

Kelly surprised her parents by choosing to become a math teacher. She taught in California and New York City before deciding to move abroad, surprising herself by finding a position in Korea at KIS. In the classroom, Kelly is authentic and approachable, recognizing each person’s capacity for growth, interested in helping students succeed. She believes you do not need to excel at all things to be successful. “There’s a lot of pressure and competition in high school,” she says, and recalling her own experience informs the compassion she brings to her teaching.

Like many people in our school community, Kelly knows multiple cultures. After a few years teaching at KIS, she invited her parents to visit Korea for the first time since they immigrated. Kelly recalls how special that visit was. Together they marveled at where they were, the places they knew.

 

 

 

 

A teacher is sitting at a table with young girls and boys.

 

We enjoy learning! Each school day is an opportunity for fun and challenge as students engage with academic content and co-curricular activities. Design thinking and applied learning are integral to human-centered teaching and learning at KIS.



Learn

The teacher is outside with young students, who are stacking cups.

 

Our students are whole individuals. Each student is known. We support their academic and social-emotional growth, helping to identify and develop their strengths.






Student Support

A group of girls is standing together, side by side, with smiles on their faces.

 

Community is essential. Across grade levels, we create academic and co-curricular connections and nurture interpersonal relationships. Our school-home partnership centers on meeting student needs. KIS is a proactive community.



Experience

A teacher is present with two young students.

 

We value the well-being of all students, staff, and families. Safeguarding measures ensure each person is safe and welcome at KIS.







Safeguarding

 

 

Institutional Affiliations