Cheongna Dalton School

Cheongna Dalton School (CDS) is a secular international private college preparatory school situated in Cheongna, Incheon, South Korea,^[1] offering an American curriculum following the Dalton Plan in an English-only setting.

Cheongna Dalton School opened to students on September 1, 2011, and has classes from pre-Kindergarten to the 12th grade.

The present site is 46,200 m2 (11.4 acres or 497.292 sq ft) and is located in the Cheongna area.

The school provides dormitory and day-school options but the elementary students cannot use the dorms. They share the philosophy of Dalton School in New York and accept the Dalton Plan that Helen Parkhurst established during her career. They have accreditation from WASC and the school provides AP system classes.

The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), based in California, accredited Cheongna Dalton School for a six-year term on July 2, 2012. As a condition of attending the school, a student is required to have at least one parent who holds a foreign passport, or the student must have been out of the country of Korea for more than 1,095 days at the time of enrollment.^[2]

Campus and facilities[]

The school has computers for student use, and all classrooms and facilities are fully networked. There are two libraries and several science laboratories. The auditorium, known as the Dalton Hall, is used for parent and teacher functions, fine arts productions and concerts, and it is equipped with lighting and sound systems. Music facilities include orchestra and choir rooms and sound-proofed practice rooms. Athletic facilities include a gymnasium, an equestrian course with four horses, a tennis court, a heated swimming pool, a soccer field with grass turf, and a dance room.

At the entrance of the school, there is a golden statue of Founder of Bongduk Education Foundation, Madame Bongduk Lee (1921~2010). The campus consists of the High School block, the Middle School Block, the "First Program" (Elementary), soccer field and residential facilities include the dormitory for students, and the Town House and Guesthouse for foreign teachers.

Courses[]

Students in the school must attend Korean classes, World Language classes and extracurricular activities. In Middle School, basic subjects such as Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1 geometry, social studies, science and physical education. In High School, there are more extracurricular activities such as band. Counseling sessions are offered for students, AP Courses and college counseling sessions are offered for High School students, so that they can find a suitable college to attend after graduating.

In CDS, there is a team championship known as the Dalton Cup, where students in different Dalton Cup teams compete in many subjects, such as sports, music, Accelerated Reader programs, writing competitions, and math competitions. Teams who achieve the highest score achieves the Dalton Cup trophy.

Daily schedules are oriented according to the three principles of the Dalton Plan : House, Laboratory and Assignment. House is a session in the morning where students gather in their homeroom classes, and listen to announcements, upcoming events and reminders. The Laboratory, known as Lab Time, is a 30-minute session after lunch, where students can visit teachers for assignments or play sports with friends.

The school follows the six principles known as the 6Cs: Character, Curiosity, Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration and Community. The grades split into three categories which is the first program, Middle school, and the High school. The students who are grade 1 to 8 and have Korean nationalities are required to take a Korean language course. They have two house teachers in one class and the students have the opportunity to go to the University in Korea if they fill the 102 hours of studying Korean History and Korean. Every class is operated by 75 minutes and they have 10 minutes break time. Also, the students from the school are mandated to do service works. In addition, they should take foreign languages just for the middle and high school students.

Extracurricular activities[]

There are clubs such as Golf club, Horseback Riding club, and Film Club. Also, the school provides sport activities such as basketball, soccer and swimming. The education of the school in musical area is developed by the Middle and High school Orchestra. In addition, the school provides service learning projects. The school also offers the Winter school program for the elementary and the middle school students. After school activities include Drama club, swimming, dancing, and horseback riding. Also, during the PE class they offer activities such as volleyball, basketball and hockey.

Admission[]

The middle and high school students who want to attend the school need to take Math and English tests. However, the elementary students only need a document and an interview for admission. As a condition of attending the school, a student is required to have at least one parent who holds a foreign passport, or the student must have been out of the country of Korea for more than 1,095 days at the time of enrollment.

History[]

In 1952, Bongduk Lee established Seonggwang Civil Education School for the social responsibility for the children who were not educated. She considered education important for the children, and she began to hire the teachers in the school. She built the school in the tent. Moreover, she did not have money to operate school and tuition for teachers. So she went to Busan for pleading to US battalion and she got funding from raising pigs in the farm. Also, she tried to build a rock road for connecting the islands to islands. (“Cheongna Dalton School pt.1”) In 1997, they established Hangaram high school which values self-study. The Bongduk Education Foundation raised more than 72,900 students who studied from the elementary to the high school. In 2011, the Cheongna Dalton school got a Korean education accreditation from Korean government (“Academics”).

College acceptance[]

The students from Cheongna Dalton school got 60% of a college acceptance from the foreign Universities. However, there were students who got enrolled to the Korean University and the students had an early graduation. Also the half of the students wanted to go to the Korean university when they graduated from the high school.

American Universities & Other Universities:

• Cornell University
• University of Wisconsin, Madison
• New York University
• Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Science
• George Mason University
• Saint Andrew's University
• Michigan State University
• Emory University
• Washington University
• University of Virginia
• University of the Arts
• University of Iowa
• University of Southern California
• Les Roches International School of Hotel Management (Switzerland)
• Waseda University (Japan)

And others

Korean Universities:

• Seoul National University
• Yonsei University
• Korea University
• Kyunghee University
• Hanyang University
• Kookmin University

And others

References[]

• "Admission." Cheongna Dalton School. Cheongna Dalton School, 2012. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.
• Cheongna Dalton. April 2011.Twitter.Web. 15 March 2016.
• Cheongna Dalton School. Cheongna Dalton School campus. 22 December 2009. Daltonschool.kr. Web. 14 March 2016.
• Cheongna Dalton School. Cheongna School have an experience for studying abroad. 20 October 2011. Daltonschool.kr. Web. 14 March 2016.
• "Cheongna Dalton School." YouTube. Pic CDS, 15 Oct. 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2016.
• "Location." Cheongna Dalton School. Cheongna Dalton School, 2012. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.
• Shin, Min Jae. "Cheongna Dalton School First Graduates 67% for Foreign Pathways." Yonhapnews. Yonhapnews, 2 Oct. 2015. Web. 5 Mar. 2016.
• Yu, SI Jeong. "아무도 가르쳐주지 않는 국제학교 · 외국인학교의 모든 것." Google Books. Denstory, 25 Nov. 2013. Web. 05 Mar. 2016.
• "청라달튼 외국인 학교 pt1." YouTube. Kangmin Park, 6 Sept. 2010. Web. 05 Mar. 2016.

External links[]

• Cheongna Dalton School - Tuition
• Western Association of Schools and Colleges