Daewon Foreign Language High School

Daewon Foreign Language High School
Hangeul: 대원외국어고등학교
Location
Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, Korea, Republic of
Information
Type	Private
Motto	Koreans Branching Out Around the World (세계로 뻗는 한국인이 된다)
Established	1984
Principal	Choi Won-ho (최원호)
Faculty	approx. 85
Number of students	approx. 1,250
Tree	Wisteria
Flower	Lilac
Song	대원이여 영원하라
Website	[1]

Located in Seoul, Daewon Foreign Language High School (Hangeul: 대원외국어고등학교, 대원외고) is one of the most prestigious private preparatory high schools in South Korea. A Foreign Language High School by the Korean Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology's categorization of Special Purpose High Schools, Daewon FLHS's curriculum is centered on the specialized education of various European and Asian languages. However, due to its experienced faculty, competitive applicant pool, and selective admissions process, Daewon students show remarkable talent not only in linguistics or the study of any one language, but also in many different fields in academia. Daewon's average 수능(national college application test) scores are the nation's highest, consistently ranking first for several years.^{[citation needed]} Daewon foreign language high school also has its own admission tests. Usually only top 3% of middle school students can get an offer from this school. Daewon students choose one primary language as a major upon application from Chinese, French, Japanese, Spanish, or German to study during their three years at Daewon. Korean and English are mandatory subjects, regardless of which focus language students choose when entering the school.

The school's primary language of instruction is Korean.

Like most schools in Korea, Daewon starts its school year in March, starts its second semester in September, and ends the school year in February.

Extracurricular activities

There are more than 30 extracurricular activities available to students, including a newspaper club, sports clubs, choir, etc. All students are required to join one extracurricular club, and students in the GLP who are preparing to attend a university abroad may join two to four additional clubs, including some American-style club activities such as Debate , Model UN , and Model Congress that are unavailable to non-GLP students.

Admissions

The school receives applications from around the country. Students can gain admission to Daewon Foreign Language High School by demonstrating ability in a variety of areas, but the most common way students are accepted is through Daewon's own admissions test, which includes written exams and an interview. In its promotional material, Daewon claims to draw students from the top 3% of Korean middle schools.^{[citation needed]}

Faculty

The Daewon faculty includes graduates of various Korean universities as well as a small number of foreign instructors who teach Chinese, French, Spanish, German, and English conversation classes. Current and former GLP teachers include graduates of Harvard University, Princeton University, Johns Hopkins University, Stanford University, Duke University, Cornell University, Columbia University, Williams College, the University of Virginia, UC San Diego,and the University of Michigan.^[1]

Global Leadership Program

Daewon FLHS hosts the Global Leadership Program (GLP), a special academic block scheduling course intended to prepare students for colleges abroad. The Global Leadership Program is run on a sign-up basis: students may choose to take GLP courses after regular school hours in addition to the Korean-language curriculum offered by the school. GLP courses are centered on critical and academic use of the English language, with classes such as English Literature, Critical Reading, Speech & Debate, and English Composition. However, additional voluntary courses that cover academic disciplines ranging from Mathematics to Psychology are also offered. Themes covering a wide array of other academic disciplines such as International Relations and Philosophy are also discussed and covered in regular GLP classes. These classes are taught almost exclusively by distinguished foreign instructors with degrees from schools such as Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University, University of California, Williams College, and other prestigious American colleges, and are operated on a very rigorous basis. It is not unusual for students to spend six to eight hours per day to complete reading and writing assignments, and students are expected to meet the highest academic standards.

The Global Leadership Program was launched in 1998 as the Study Abroad Plan (SAP), but has since changed its name. However, GLP's tradition is one that cannot be ignored: GLP is the largest and oldest preparatory program for high school students intending to study overseas in Korea as of current, with approximately 250 current students and almost a thousand graduates. It is also the most successful, having consistently sent the most students to the best schools in the world.

Although Daewon does not follow the AP or the IB curriculum, GLP courses are intended to be comparable in depth and rigor to such classes. Most GLP students study for AP Exams in their own time. The most popular was the Calculus BC Exam, and 52 of the 63 students who took the exam scored a 5.

As of June 2006, the average SAT Reasoning Test score (75 students tested) was 1485 on the 1600 scale and 2171 on the 2400 scale. The most popular Subject Tests were Math Level II (78 students tested) and Chemistry (56 students tested), and the average scores were 787 and 745, respectively.

Since the first class of 2000, the vast majority of GLP graduates have matriculated at US colleges and universities. ^[2]

Additional ventures

In recent years, Daewon has sought to pursue partnerships with secondary schools outside of Korea. May 2008, Daewon entered into a partnership with Bromsgrove International School Thailand, establishing the Bromsgrove Daewon Foreign Language School in Thailand (BDST) in eastern Bangkok. ^[3]

In 2008, the Daewon Education Foundation, the organization that founded the school, applied to the Seoul Ministry of Education for permission to build an international middle school, tentatively named Daewon International Middle School.^[4]

References

1. ^ Sam Dillon, "Elite Korean Schools, Forging Ivy League Skills," New York Times, April 27, 2008
2. ^ Ellen Gamermann, "How to Get into Harvard," Wall Street Journal, November 30, 2007
3. ^ "Bromsgrove Welcomes Daewon Foreign Language High School from Korea," May 18, 2008
4. ^ The Edu Times, "Heat on Int'l Middle School," 2008