Middle School
Middle School Division
Patrick M. Carroll
Middle School Principal
“Middle school is the ideal opportunity for young adolescents to explore who they are and how they fit into the world. Through the iterative process, students will come to an understanding of who they are as learners, what they’re passionate about and ultimately how they will contribute to a better tomorrow.”
Curriculum Overview
KISJ students have access to a world-class education based on American standards. We seek to implement practices that are both rigorous and developmentally supportive of the young adolescent with a curriculum based on the middle school model as articulated by the Association for Middle Level Education. Our students know their teachers have a special interest in their success, and it is this type of support that makes the Middle School a special place to learn.
We use American Education Reaches Out (AERO) standards, which adapt American standards, to serve the needs of multi-national student bodies as sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Overseas Schools. We carefully design our curriculum to challenge our students, support their English language learning and purposefully use 1:1 learning. Our structure and curriculum provide students with opportunities to develop collaborative skills; provide a space for project-based learning; and embed critical thinking and problem-solving. This standards-based approach ensures that students are building a strong core of content knowledge while developing comprehension of key concepts and strengthening important skills.
Our academic program includes challenging core classes of English, Social Studies, Math, and Science. In addition, all students take Health and Fitness classes. Korean nationals take both Korean Language and Literature, while all other students take Korean as a Foreign Language (KFL). Our program is enhanced by electives such as Art,Digital Photography, Videography, Design Thinking, STEAM, Drama, Music, Robotics Data Science, Public Speaking and Debate, Economics, Philosophy, Chinese and Spanish. In addition, each grade level includes several cross curricular units each year where students connect their learning across multiple disciplines.
Co-curricular Activities
Students participate in co-curricular activities twice per week at the end of the school day, as well as after school. These activities encourage students to explore special topics outside their usual realm of learning, as well as connect with teachers through a shared interest. Some examples of current activities being offered include: Student Council, Model United Nations, Spanish, Chinese, robotics, soccer, rock band, jazz band and golf.
Middle School Exploration Program
At KISJ we strive to have our students ‘Design their Destination’, ‘Act Responsibly’, ‘Get Global’, and ‘Navigate the Present and Consider the Future’. To that end, the KISJ Middle School provides students with the opportunity to participate in an Experiential Learning program called ‘Exploration’. For a two week period the school’s schedule is adapted and all students and staff participate in the following authentic, challenging, and varied learning opportunities:
Passion Projects: Students are provided with support to pursue a topic/ project they are passionate about that may fall outside the regular school curriculum. For example, they might conduct a science experiment that does not necessarily align with the curriculum, learn a new skill like clay pottery, or develop their programming skills and create a new computer game.
Experiential Learning Activities: Students participate in a range of hands-on learning activities and listen to guest speakers’ lectures both on and off campus.
One Book, One School Activities: All students and staff read together the same novel. Students participate in various activities that are designed to help them reflect on the book and explore its themes in detail.
Advisory Program
The Middle School Advisory program is the foundation of social emotional learning and development at KISJ. Advisory works to meet the social-emotional needs of students, provide academic & life skills, and create a deep sense of belonging within the middle school. Our Advisory program gives students a small group of peers and a trusted adult with whom they can have conversations and ask difficult questions, as well as have fun and build community. Advisory in the middle school is all about keeping it REAL: Responsive, Engaging, Advocating, Learning! Within Advisory, students learn to develop their social-emotional competencies: intrapersonal, interpersonal, and cognitive skills.
Student Club and Activity Websites
Key Club (international student-led service organization)
LOL Club (photos, stories, and happiness)
Platform Post Jeju (tri-school journalism project)
World on Show (online art magazine)
Middle School Student Clubs
Middle School is a time for students to grow and to begin to discover who they are. Middle school clubs are one way for KISJ students to try new things with new people in a low pressure, safe environment. There are academic and sports based clubs as well as clubs that train and travel for competitions.
At the beginning of each quarter, there is a division wide assembly where all the clubs are showcased. Once students have been given a brief introduction to each club, they fill out a survey expressing their top choices.
The students are assigned clubs based on their top choices. Before each quarter, students also have a chance to propose new clubs. These clubs are implemented when possible.
For Quarter 3 of the 22-23 academic school year, the Middle School is delighted to be offering 23 clubs. This quarter’s club offerings are: