By Nagyon Kim and Yeaji Park 

Due to a small student and faculty population, there is a limited number and variety of AP courses offered at SIS. This lack of diversity in teaching ultimately hinders students from pursuing interests in other subjects that are more career specific or less common, as in the case of foreign languages. However, the implementation of a greater variety of courses is imperative in order to ensure a more international education and to better prepare students for their futures after high school.

Unlike other schools, such as Korea International School, SIS only offers classes in Spanish and Chinese. As the world becomes more and more interconnected, communication and cooperation have become crucial for students to engage effectively in the global arena. Thus, SIS should offer courses in other popular languages, such as French, German and Japanese, all of which are at the heart of international cooperation.

Another aspect of the SIS curriculum that could be improved upon is the lack of career specific courses. Although students should utilize their time in high school to explore their different interests, the courses available at SIS do not encompass the variety of future careers students want. For example, while there are numerous AP courses related to history, there are no courses related to law or music. These subjects may be touched upon in other courses, but those short briefings will not be sufficient for students to determine their passion and future interests.

Having semester-based courses is one way to expose students to a greater variety of subjects. However, according to Peter Kahl, Director of Curriculum, issues such as staffing and scheduling currently prevent such changes from being implemented. Although it is absurd to ask that such drastic adjustments be made within the next few years, these obstacles must be overcome as soon as possible in order for SIS to not fall behind in providing a top-notch international education to its students.