Our school is called Handong International School in English. In Korean, the name has been changed to 한동글로벌학교 (Handong Global School) following our accreditation as an alternative school by the Office of Education in 2011.

HIS is a certified alternative school under the category of “Various Schools” (Elementary/Middle Grade Education Law, paragraph 8 and Elementary/Middle Grade Education Law, article 60, paragraph 3). As an alternative school, HIS has an extent of autonomy in school operations such as in curriculum, hiring, student records, grade level system, and textbooks.

Yes. Although the school is legally different from Korean public schools, all academic credentials in elementary, middle, and high school are academically recognized.

Yes, it is possible. In high school, transfer to another school may depend on the other school’s admission policies and requirements.

College entrance is roughly divided into domestic universities and foreign universities. Due to our school’s system of education, HIS students generally apply to domestic universities through early admissions (school records, interviews) rather than regular college admissions (taking the KSAT). Each university has different early admissions policies, so students will need to prepare their foreign language grades, school records, extracurricular activities, volunteer work, etc. accordingly. Foreign university entrance usually requires TOEFL, SAT/ACT scores, student transcripts, teacher recommendations, and personal essays.

You can see a list of universities students have been accepted to for the last three years here

HIS and Handong Global University (HGU) are both under the same foundation and HIS is located on the HGU campus. However, legally HIS and HGU are separate educational institutions. Therefore, attending HIS has no particular advantages in the admission process. To enter HGU, the student must satisfy the university’s admissions requirements. You can see the rate of acceptance of HIS students to HGU at the link above.

Generally, about 65% of elementary classes, 45-80% of middle school classes, and 20-80% of high school classes are taught in English. (In middle and high school, percentages vary depending on the elective courses the students take.)

(Elementary School) The purpose of clubs in Elementary School is to help children discover and develop their God-given talents. Club offerings may vary between semesters.

(Middle/High School) Clubs are divided into regular clubs and student-led clubs. Regular clubs take place every Wednesday during 7th period. Student-led clubs take place after school at various times depending on the students. Clubs are largely divided into three groups: Culture & Arts, Sports, and Academics. HIS encourages active participation in various clubs and gives students many opportunities to participate in school events as well as sports competitions through club activities.

Please see the Co-curricular Activities page for more details.