Yongsan International School of Seoul was founded as the International Christian School of Seoul in August 1990 by Dr. Joe Hale. The school first opened its doors to students from kindergarten to grade six in a small building in Bogwang-dong, Yongsan-gu. In response to demand, an additional grade was added each year with the first graduates in 1997. With a growing reputation as an international school with a high quality curriculum and teaching faculty, enrollment began to climb steadily, compelling the administration to open an additional campus on Yeouido in 1997 for its secondary students.

In order to reunite its two campuses and to accommodate the ongoing demand in admissions, the school re­located to a much larger campus in Huam-dong, Yongsan-gu, in August 2000. By August 2003, the school had reached the campus' enrollment capacity of 520 students and began its search for a larger, better-equipped school facility. The lack of a full-size gymnasium, soccer field, and auditorium required the school to rent public gymnasiums and facilities to accommodate the school’s full-range of athletic teams, arts, school clubs, and other extracurricular activities.

In June 2006, the school was selected by the Korea Foreign Schools Foundation to serve as the operator of a newly constructed, state-of-the-art school facility located in Hannam-dong. In July 2006, the school relocated to the beautiful 10,000 pyong (33,000 square meters) campus in Hannam-dong. In tandem with the move, the school name officially changed to Yongsan International School of Seoul. On August 16, 2006, an opening ceremony was held to commemorate the first day of classes at the new campus. The event was attended by many of Korea's top business and government leaders who were instrumental in this partnership project that would benefit both the international and Korean communities residing in Seoul.

Since its opening at the new venue in Hannam-dong, the school has grown to nearly 1000 students and has opened an Oasis track in the elementary, middle, and high school grades. While this allows for non-sectarian options for foreigners seeking educational op­portunities for their children, the heart of our school remains decidedly Christian.

Our students come from all over the world, with the majority of them being from East, Southeast, or Central Asian countries though there are increasing numbers of Europeans and Africans in attendance. These third culture children come from families that traditionally embrace an academically rigorous educational process as many of the parents at our school are doctors, lawyers, diplomats, professors, scientists, and ministers. The vast majority of our graduates go on to universities in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and many attend presti­gious universities as a direct result of the family's focus on academic achievement throughout their elementary, middle, and secondary careers.

Due to the transient nature of our student's lives, you may find that children in your class speak English fluently, even though it is their second, third, or fourth language. Others may be struggling to learn English as they have been previously educated in other languages. Naturally, this brings with it a wealth of cultural, linguistic, and educational opportunities. This also means that as teachers, we cannot assume that our paradigm is the start­ing point for the learning process.