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Wilshire Private School, previously called the Wilshire School,^[1] the Hankook School,^[2] and the Los Angeles Hankook Academy,^[3]^[4] was a primary and secondary school located in Koreatown, Los Angeles.^[2]^[5] It was in the Mid-City^[6]/Mid-Wilshire area.^[7] It was sponsored by the Korean Institute of Southern California (KISC, 남가주한국학원/南加州韓國學院).^[2]^[8] Its primary target students were Korean Americans. In 1994, the principal, John Regan, stated that Hankook School was the only educational facility that targeted Korean students in the United States.^[2]

In August 2018, the school closed its doors and ceased due to lack of fundings and enrollments. This closure marked Wilshire Elementary School's 33rd year of service.

History

The Korean Institute of Southern California opened the school in 1985.^[1]

According to Regan, First Lady of South Korea Son Myeong-sun visited the school on one occasion.^[2] In 1994 Regan stated that the Hankook School planned for a larger student body in the future.^[2] The school's name changed to Wilshire Elementary School in 1998.^[9]

Wilshire Elementary School's first economic crisis struck in 1998. KISC assigned a new headmaster to help take care of the issue and was granted financial aid by the South Korean Government. But not so long after the struggles worsened, and debt to the South Korean Government increased instead. The financial issue re-surfaced even worse in 2008, and by this point school enrollment shrunk approximately 75% with just 56 students, compared to its 1992 records which had over 200 students.

By its final year on 2018, the school only had 18 students, and no further enrollments occurred ever since. The head of KISC commented that Wilshire Private School's "euthanasia was predicted 20 years beforehand", and that it "wasn't a surprise."^[10]

Campuses

As of 1994^[update], the school had two campuses- students in Grades K-5 would attend the Wilshire Boulevard campus and students of Grades 6-12 would attend the Melrose Avenue campus which had a capacity for 240 students.^[2]^[11] The Melrose Campus is in the Greater Wilshire/Hancock Park area.

The Melrose Campus was the first to experience financial decline. In 1998, services for high school came to a halt, and the playground for middle school students were confiscated by the city government the year after.

Melrose Campus, along with their middle school service closed in 1999, and the Wilshire Campus, which serviced elementary school, completed the closure nearly two decades later in the summer of 2018.

Curriculum

Its classes are conducted in the English language. The school offers Korean music classes. The school's programming incorporates Korean culture and traditional Korean music.^[2]

In 1994 K. Connie Kang of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the school had "high academic standards".^[12]

Operations

As of 1994^[update] the school collected tuition in monthly installments. As of 1994^[update] the annual total tuition was $3,750 {$7708.8 when adjusted for inflation).^[2]

Student body

In 1994 the school had 171 students in grades K-5 and 24 students in grades 6–12, giving the school a total of 195 students. There were two Kindergarten classes that year. As of 1994 there was about 20-1 student-teacher ratio.^[2]

As of 1994 Koreans make up about 95% of the school's students. Students born in Korea who immigrated to the United States make up the majority of the students. This group is called the "1.5 generation." Regan stated that 90% of the Kindergarten students spoke only the Korean language.^[2]

Teacher demographics

As of 1994^[update] the school had 20 full-time teachers. To serve students with little English proficiency, some classrooms have aides who speak Korean. As of 1994^[update] few of the full-time teachers are bilingual.^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b "About Us" (Archive). Wilshire School. December 18, 2005. Retrieved on March 8, 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Park, Andrew. "The ABCs of Asian schools." Transpacific, Transpacific Media, Inc. 9.4 (June 1994): p46+. Available on General OneFile, Gale Group, Document ID: GALE|A15239827 - "The school, located in LA's Koreatown district, was established in 1972 and caters to Korean Americans rather than Korean nationals." and "The Hankook School is sponsored by a non-profit agency called the Korean Institute of Southern California."
^ Patterson's Elementary Education, Volume 6. Educational Directories Incorporated, 1994. ISBN 0910536597, 9780910536592. p. 82. "Los Angeles Hankook Academy 4900WILSHIREBLVD 90010 Carol Feig"
^ Holley, David (December 8, 1985). "Koreatown Suffering Growing Pains." Los Angeles Times. p. 2. Retrieved on March 8, 2014. "[...]said Ji Soo Kim, a businessman who also is chairman of the board of the Hankook Academy, a private school on Wilshire Boulevard."
^ "Contact Information" (Archive). Wilshire Private School. Retrieved on March 8, 2014. "4900 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles CA 90010"
^ "Prop. 174: Who Does it Leave Out in the Inner-City? : For Many Parents, School Vouchers Are the Only Ticket to a Private Education. But Most Private and Parochial Schools in the Central City, Which Has a High Percentage of Limited-English and Special-Education Students, Aren't Equipped to Fill Their Needs." Los Angeles Times. October 31, 1993. Retrieved on March 8, 2014. ""I would rather not buy food than send my daughter to a public school," said Jinah Sihn, whose daughter attends first grade at Los Angeles Hankook Schools, which have about 200 elementary and junior high students at its two Mid-City campuses."
^ Kang, Connie F. "Year of the Ox Greeted With Food, Family : Asian Americans Use Start of Lunar New Year to Teach Children About Heritage." Los Angeles Times. February 8, 1997. Retrieved on March 8, 2014. ""New Year's Day makes me think of home," said Chun Rea Kim, a Koreatown mother of a fifth-grader, who was waiting to pick up rice cakes to take to her daughter's school party at Hankook Academy in the Mid-Wilshire district."
^ "slide-3.jpg" (Archive) Wilshire Private School. Retrieved on March 8, 2014. - The image shows the sign of the school: "Wilshire Private School Korean Institute of Southern California"
^ Kim, Michael Namkil (Director, Korean Studies Institute, University of Southern California). "Some Problems of Korean Language Education in Southern California" (Archive). University of Southern California. Retrieved on March 8, 2014.
^ "남가주-한국학원-윌셔초등학교-폐교-이미-20년전부터". Sunday Journal.
^ California Private School Directory 1998-1999. Bureau of Publications, California State Department of Education, 1998. p. 47. "Los Angeles Hankook Middle (6-12 E: 95) 5120 Melrose Ave."
^ Kang, K. Connie. p. "The Old Man and the Boy: a Father-Son Bond Grows : Parenting: In Koreatown 13 years ago, a black man finds an abandoned baby. 'Roy is God's gift to me,' he says." Los Angeles Times. June 19, 1994. 3. Retrieved on March 8, 2014. "Graves is pleased that Roy is attending Hankook School, where 80% of students are Korean, because of the school's high academic standards."