Middle School is three years in a student’s life where growth and change are the most profound. Dr. Connie Kim’s time as Middle School Principal at HKIS may seem short. While at HKIS, she has guided Middle School growth, with students developing a sense of self and strong skills as a foundation for High School.

“My goal was to increase voice, choice, and agency among our students,” says Dr. Kim. Having arrived in Hong Kong in the midst of the Hong Kong protests, followed by two years of Covid restrictions, Connie worked creatively within the stringent guidelines. Building student clubs time within the bell schedule made experiential education and student choice a core part of the school day. Whether it was aligning schedules with the High School or building in office hours for all teachers every day, Connie’s work was unparalleled in its focus and strategic direction.
  
Connie talks about research for innovative schools and shares that “the schedule symbolizes what we stand for and what values we hold dear. Innovative schools have to have flexibility. If you’re too entrenched or too fixed, then innovation won’t happen.”
  
We certainly saw flexible schedules throughout the period of Covid-19, and Connie commends the teachers, the students, and parents on their nimbleness. “It really speaks to our fortitude and courage. That’s where I really felt the power of the community that is HKIS.”

Connie is moving to Vietnam to become the Head of School of the newly-opened Chadwick International School Ecopark in Hanoi. We wish her all the best!

Click below to listen to Connie’s Dragonwaves podcast.