International Christian School
(Uijongbu, S. Korea)

Founded: 1983; NICS Managed: 1983
Grades: Kindergarten - 12

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International Christian School (ICS) - Uijongbu is located in the sports complex district of Uijongbu. ICS-Uijongbu is a K-12 school serving the international community of North Seoul and Uijongbu. ICS-Uijongbu began as Liberty Christian School in 1983 when US Army chaplains requested Dr. Joe Hale to begin a school to help in the education of "their" children. Because Uijongbu was north of Seoul, no command sponsorship of families was given to the military, therefore no schools in English were provided.

In the past 20 plus years Uijongbu has grown from a small community to a city of nearly 500,000 in population. While Korean is the main language, well over 35% of the people in and around the neighborhood understand English. Literally thousands of residence apartments are being built within a 1/2 mile radius of the school. Just 1/2 mile down the road is the province's science complex that houses an observatory, telescope, and neutron microscope that is available for use by appointment to any school in the province. The climate in Uijongbu is similar to Washington D.C. in year round temperature although very little snow accompanies the "cold weather".

Korea emerged as a first world country near the end of the 20th century and the country is literally on the cutting edge of technology. The average Korean trades in their cellular phone every 4 months! The economy is strong and prices of goods and products are on the rise. It is getting more difficult to find the "good deal" while shopping.

The mission statement of ICS-Uijongbu is to provide an education that enables the student to be a productive, responsible citizen with a positive worldview. Education being the pursuit of truth is taught in the context that Jesus Christ is the absolute truth. ICS-Uijongbu has a reputation of having a close knit family atmosphere. God has had HIS hand on this the first of all the NICS schools and our prayer is that HIS hand of blessing never be withdrawn.

Many different passport countries are represented at ICS-Uijongbu, but if you were to tour our school you may not identify most of them. The greatest ethnic group would be Korean, but the Koreans at ICS-Uijongbu hold passports from different countries.

We use a variety of different curricula at ICS-Uijongbu. There is a 5 year cycle that encompasses every subject taught. Several subjects each year are reviewed by the department and recommendations are made that fit into our curriculum and goals. In some instances secular books are chosen because of content or they present our goals more clearly then a Christian publisher. In these cases the teacher knows that they will need to be more direct in the integration of the Bible into their lessons. The steering committee reviews the recommendations and the director approves the recommendations for implementation the following school year. In most cases, the curriculum used in the science courses comes from a Christian publisher.

ICS-Uijongbu follows the American school year with 180 teaching instruction days. Because the school is international in nature the administration has chosen to take a three week vacation at Christmas time. Because student turnover is high in the middle of the year (Christmas time), the administration has chosen to end its first semester at Christmas break. School begins a bit earlier than most schools, around mid August.

The average teaching staff member has stayed at ICS-Uijongbu over 4 years. In an age of working transitions that is good for nearly any profession in any place. Because ICS-Uijongbu has been around since 1983 most of the "bugs" a new school has to go through are worked out and the staff is able to set the pace on improvements on "our" time, not out of necessity. The school is totally networked and 100% online with every computer. The buddy system ICS-Uijongbu has put in place connecting a new teacher with a returning teacher makes the transition into Korea and the school setting easier than it has ever been. ICS-Uijongbu is beefing up its benefit packages to help ease the burden of worrying about money. Our salaries are not "high". That is because we do not want money to be the reason for missionaries coming. We want ministry to be the reason. However, a modest salary that meets the need is present plus airfare, insurance, retirement, bonuses, and professional development are provided. In November, 2005, the school sponsored 58 faculty, spouses and children to take a week off and attend the ACSI teacher conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand called ICEC "International Children's Educator Conference". It was a time of great reward for teachers AND SPOUSES. Our spouses are very important and they need to be rewarded for their sacrifices as well.

If you would like to learn more about this school please visit their website.

If you would like to learn more about the teaching opportunities available at this school or any of our other schools please visit our opportunities webpage. If you would like to be considered for a teaching position at any of our schools you must first fill out our online profile. If you have any questions do not hesitate to give us a call or send us an email.