Exploration is a part of the Personalized Learning program at APIS where our students meet weekly with teachers to begin exploring various topics of interests and passions. Students learn proper research skills, how to plan and execute projects in a flexible learning environment where students’ voices and choices are acknowledged. Students gain ownership of their learning while developing meaningful relationships with peers, teachers, and local community members along the way. At the end of each session, students are able to showcase their achievements and celebrate their learning through an exhibition.

Genius Hour is a dedicated weekly time for middle school students to explore their passions. Teachers guide students in selecting their passions and help them to identify how this passion can positively contribute to their community. Students then plan and carry out their own quest to explore their passion, master new skills, and share with others. Through independent work, peer support, and collaboration, students are able to expand their world, take active ownership of their learning, and produce programs, projects, and personal growth.

APIS academic schedule sets aside one month each year for high school students to engage in an extended internship, independent research projects, and community service. Starting with ninth-grade, students have ample choice in these three areas but must complete one activity in each of these areas at a high level of achievement in order to graduate. The purpose of the NPC Scholar program is to promote student agency, authentic experience, and deeper engagement in learning. We believe these experiences are the best to prepare our students for higher education and entrepreneurship.

The Advanced Topics (AT) program at APIS is the final stage of the school's personalized learning journey, allowing high school students to engage in advanced research or independent study. It bridges high school and college experiences by fostering critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and citizenship through self-directed projects. With opportunities for original inquiry, passion-driven learning, and potential research publication, AT equips students with essential skills for academic and career success.

New Pacific Century Early Ambassadors (NPCEA) is the signature program of our elementary school, uniting students from the APIS Seoul and APIS Hawaii campuses in a meaningful cross-cultural learning experience. Through intentional collaboration, our young learners build lasting relationships while exploring global perspectives. NPCEA provides students with unique opportunities to learn together and from one another as they develop New Pacific Century Skills & Dispositions (NPCS&D)—communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and global citizenship. By fostering these essential skills, we empower the next generation to navigate and lead in an interconnected world.

Our Grade 5 students embark on an unforgettable journey to Hawaii, designed to foster character growth, community connections, and experiential learning. This unique opportunity aligns with APIS's Key Character Strengths—Aspiration, Perseverance, Integrity, and Selflessness—while encouraging students to build meaningful relationships with peers and teachers.
During the trip, students will apply their New Pacific Century Skills and Dispositions (NPCS&D), including Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, and Citizenship, in a dynamic and immersive setting. Each carefully planned field experience ensures clear and impactful learning outcomes, enriching students' perspectives and global awareness. This trip exemplifies the importance of relationship-building and hands-on learning, helping students return with stronger bonds and invaluable personal growth.

Every year, our middle school students are allowed to participate in a month-long Project-Based Learning (PBL) collaborative between the two campuses. Students from the Seoul school will have the opportunity to travel to Hawai‘i while the Hawai‘i school students travel to Seoul during the Spring semester. Each grade will be given a chance to explore topics such as cultural identity, globalization, and sustainable development.

High school students have the amazing opportunity to participate on an international service learning trip by going on a mission trip to Cambodia. This annual mission trip is led by THEIA, APIS Christian high school student organization. Students engage in recreational activities with children, listen to personal stories from local families, and immerse in Cambodian history and culture. Students share Chrsit’s love with the Cambodian community and gain a deeper understanding of service and compassion for others.

APIS is one of the very first schools to adopt Lucy Calkin’s workshop approach to building strong literacy skills in elementary and middle schools. Students at APIS begin to master essential oral communication, reading, writing, and speaking in elementary school. Through the reading and writing workshop model, children become competent and independent readers. They can reflect on their reading as they work through the stages of reading development. Focus on literacy is continued throughout high school with a rigorous humanities program emphasizing on academic writing and research.

Students are challenged to develop their creativity, along with critical thinking, collaboration and communication skills, by embracing their passions and unique abilities in order to dive into process-based project development. Elementary School Explorations challenges students to dive into new topics of interest with guidance of teachers. Middle School Genius Hour empowers students to take charge of their learning by pursuing a passion project of their choice. High School New Pacific Century Scholars (NPCS) offers students the opportunity to do research, service learning, and to intern at a career field of their choice to discover and pursue their personal passions. In addition to NPCS, high schoolers have the opportunity to take part in the Advance Topic (AT) program to further develop research, analytical, and academic writing skills.

The Global Issues Network program is an internationally recognized group that allows students to tackle the twenty most pressing challenges to create a better future. In many schools, this is a club that students can join, but at APIS, we sanction time for this as a high school course. The values that the Global Issues Network places on taking on the challenges of the New Pacific Century aligns so well with our mission and values, that we want students to invest quality time in this cause. We are invited to join international conferences, and our students take action on these issues at a local, national, and international level.

APIS is the only international school in Korea to house a full, professional-quality recording studio. Our students learn to produce, record and mix music using the latest, state of the art software and hardware.

Our musicians travel domestically and internationally to perform at the Korea International Music Educators Association (KIMEA) and Association of Music of International Schools (AMIS) festivals. Our students are not only mastering music but are also contributing to a larger musical community through these experiences.

The Orff approach introduces and teaches children about music on a level that our elementary students can easily comprehend. Musical concepts are learned through singing, chanting, dance, movement, drama, and playing Orff instruments. Improvisation, composition, and a child's natural sense of play are encouraged. These learned concepts become springboards for further creative pursuits such as improvising or composing their own music. At the elementary level, we have ensembles of kindergarten to second-grade Orffestra and grades three to five Orffestra. Young musicians acquire foundational skills by having fun playing Orff instruments.

APIS curriculum provides various pathways, enabling students to access post-AP level expertise in specialized STEM fields, such as computer science and robotics. Our STEM program is supported by one-to-one computer access, state of the art science labs, maker spaces, and IT infrastructure. APIS graduates who complete the requirements for post-AP pathways in computer science and/or robotics will be recognized as an APIS STEM Scholar on their transcript.

APIS offers fully articulated and aligned foreign language instruction from Kindergarten to Grade 12 in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. All APIS students develop proficiencies in at least two East Asian languages.

Our annual high school retreat is an incredible way to start the school year. Life-long relationships are formed, and it sets the foundation for a powerful year of growth, learning, and success.