Courses to Help Enter Famous Universities

Construction on the New Songdo City International School (NSCIS), the first foreign educational institute in Korea’s Free Economic Zone, began in the morning of March 8 at New Songdo City near Incheon, Korea.

Scheduled to open in September 2008, the NSCIS will be built on an area of 21,000 pyeong as a five-story building with an underground floor.

The NSCIS, an internationally certified educational institute, will be operated by the International School Service or ISS, a non-profit U.S. organization.

Its curriculum covers pre-school to high school courses. Domestic students out of the total of 2,100 are expected to take up about 10 percent according to the school bylaws. But up until five years from the school opening, the principal has the right to adjust the rate to within the 30 percent range.

For its first year, 350 students will be admitted; that number will increase step by step by 2012.

The tuition per year is expected to reach around $20,500 (approximately 20.5 million won).

Professional teachers who are native English speakers will deliver the courses in English. One teacher will be allocated for every 10 students.

Besides the dorm, a digital network library, media center, multi-purpose theater, running track, a soccer field, and a swimming pool will be constructed.

The high school will offer Advanced Placement (AP) courses as well as an International Baccalaureate (IB) option for students to enter world-prestigious universities.

Application information for admission will be posted on the school website, www.nscis.com around January 2008.

Last October, the school signed a MOU with the Milton Academy, a U.S. prestigious private school, to cooperate with it in educational program development and student exchanges.

Manager Jon Mills of the Harvard University Asia Center, who helped establish the school, said, “The NSCIS will establish itself with world-class facilities and quickly turn it into one of Asia’s best international schools.”

Sun-Woo Kim sublime@donga.com