Busan Foreign School

Busan Foreign School opened its doors to the Busan community and its surrounding areas in October of 1996. Since that time, the school has expanded to encompass nursery to twelfth grade, currently educating over 200 students from 20 different nations. In addition to the increase in enrollment, the curriculum has developed into a highly rigorous American standards-based program that offers students a wide variety of courses and activities.

Located in the popular Haeundae New Town area, Busan Foreign School is situated among modern high rises, an array of Asian and western-style restaurants, scenic hiking trails, and the picturesque Haeundae Beach. This neighborhood has seen continuous growth of foreign business and development since its inception and shows no sign of slowing down.

BFS is the only international school in the Busan area that is fully accredited from kindergarten to the 12th grade by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). Other affiliations include the East Asia Council of Overseas Schools (EARCOS), the Minister of Education, Republic of Korea (certification), Korean Council of Overseas Schools (KORCOS), American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM), European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea (EUCCK), National Honor Society (NHS), and the National Association of Student Councils.

Busan Foreign School offers all core subject areas to all grade levels. In addition, for middle and high school students in 2009/2010, the school provides a variety of electives and courses such as: physical education, health, band, music theory, art, speech, writing, Spanish I, Korean, French I and French II, ELL center, world religions, current events, speech and presentation, writing and grammar, language arts, orchestra, yearbook, psychology, research methods, multimedia, AP U.S. History, AP Statistics, AP World History, AP Calculus, and AP Biology.

BFS faculty members are professional certified teachers with years of teaching experience in Korea and their home countries of the USA, Canada and New Zealand.  Our teachers are dedicated to an inclusive, participatory approach to instruction in which the students’ individual needs and learning styles are accommodated. This is accomplished by maintaining small class sizes and offering additional assistance through after-school programs and individual tutoring. In addition, BFS offers an inclusion and placement program for students who require extra guidance in learning English (ELL classes).

The BFS academic year consists of two semesters. The first semester begins August 24th and ends January 22nd. The second semester runs from January 25th to June 11th. The three major holiday periods during the year are the Christmas and New Year holidays, the spring holidays, and the summer holidays. Korean and some American national holidays are also observed.