Yongsan Garrison - Department of Defense Dependent Schools

Department of Defense Dependent Schools

Seoul American High School (SAHS) is located on Yongsan Garrison. The school complex comprises eight buildings, containing over 60 classrooms and special purpose rooms. The school has two combination faculty lounges and work areas. A library/media center houses 12,000 books and audio visual materials. The educator staff of 70 is composed of the Department of Defense Dependent Schools education specialists and classroom teachers. SAHS opened in 1959 with approximately 150 students. The first class graduated in 1960. The classrooms at that time were Quonset huts located across from the main Army Community Service building. Taegu, Pusan, and Chinhae students boarded at SAHS as there were no high schools in those areas until 1967. In the fall of 1967, Taegu opened its high school, which alleviated the long drive for students. Construction began on the new high school in 1981 and was completed in the fall of 1982. In addition to the main, arts, and gymnasium buildings a new structure which includes a JROTC section was opened in 1987. The JROTC facilities have two classrooms, three offices, supply room, arms room, four point indoor rifle range, and a hard top area used for inspections and drills. Additionally, JROTC formal inspections are held on the Falcon Fields, the school's full-sized artificial turf football and soccer field. School year, 1995–96 Seoul American High School had 550 students. This year enrollment is 630. SAHS is one of the larger schools in DoDDS Pacific and also has a reputation for being one of the leading academic schools. Every year SAHS ranks in the top 15% of high schools academics. Over the summer of 2009, SAHS Football/soccer field recently had "stadium lights" placed along the side of the fields, which can be easily seen when driving by the field, fulfilling their part in the "American Dream". The tennis court was also taken out and replaced with a new building due to an influx of students from the states.

Seoul American Middle School (SAMS) and Seoul American Elementary School (SAES) are also located on Yongsan Garrison. In 2008, to accommodate an increase in student population, a 7,900-square-foot (730 m2) classroom building was constructed on the SAMS campus. The new building's six classrooms – each 900 square feet (84 m2) – accommodate up to about 170 Department of Defense Dependent Schools students. The SAES campus consists of seven buildings and a cafeteria. The main building houses primary classrooms, the Information Center, the Dolphin Theater, and computer labs. Grades 3, 4 and 5 and some Kindergarten classrooms are located in outlying buildings. SAES is one of the largest schools in DoDDS and ranked as one of the highest in academic performance. There are about 1,100 students at Seoul American Elementary School. The staff consists of over 90 professional educators, 20 educational aides and 10 clerical personnel. The school's curriculum is based on the U.S. National Standards with special classes including Art, Music, Physical Education, Computer and Korean Culture.