Freedom and cooperation key to education at Cheongna Dalton School

With its mission to nurture talent and cultivate world leaders, Cheongna Dalton School in Incheon has become a top choice for parents seeking an international education for their children.

The school was established in 2011 by the late Lee Bong-duk and is located in Incheon Free Economic Zone. It offers students the chance to develop the skills required of future leaders through its pre-school and 12-year educational programs, according to the school.

Lee, who also founded Bongduk Education Foundation which oversees the Hangaram High School in Seoul, set up the international school after visiting Dalton School in New York.

Cheongna Dalton School is committed to the Dalton Plan which advocates freedom and cooperation in a bid to develop the creativity, adaptability and leadership of its students. In order to pursue this the school adopted a curriculum which focuses on project-based learning, inquiry-based Advanced Placement and “Capstone” style senior projects. 

Inquiry style learning and technology integration begin in elementary school where students are constantly engaged in projects that are highlighted and reflected upon in their e-portfolios.

The students enrolled in the elementary program are also given the freedom to choose where they want to study and what activities they want to try.

Close collaboration between teachers and parents has created a family-like atmosphere, which helps students feel safe and valued as individuals when they explore their options, the school said.

As students progress to middle school, the curriculum widens to include character education, which focuses on the responsibility and outcome of decision-making. Students also develop their social and academic skills through projects that foster cooperation.

During the high school years, students are given the opportunity to make multiple choices in terms of course subjects, varsity sports and senior projects, to name a few.

Cheongna Dalton School is accredited by both the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and the Incheon Board of Education, which means that students can choose whether to study in Korea or move overseas. About 40 percent of the students decided to enter Korea-based universities.
A team of college counsellors support the students during the university admissions process, the school said. Since the school opened six years ago, its students have been accepted into prestigious universities at home and abroad, including Seoul National University, Waseda University in Japan, Cornell University and New York University in the US, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Les Roche International School of Hotel Management in Switzerland.

To qualify as an applicant for Cheongna Dalton School, a student must have at least one parent who holds a foreign passport, or the student must be out of Korea for more than 1,095 days at the time of enrollment.

(laeticia.ock@hearldcorp.com)