Seoul Metropolitan government will hold the ground-breaking ceremony for Digital Media City’s international school on Monday, March 7.

Construction of the 29.2 billion won ($25.9 million) five-story school building in Sangam-dong, Seoul, is expected to be completed by August 2011.

The DMC international school will be one of the international branches of private academy Dwight School, which was first founded in Manhattan, New York.

Dwight now has branch schools in London, Beijing, Victoria and a number of other cities in different countries.

The school will cater for 540 students from kindergarten to high school.

Foreign students will be granted priority admission with Korean nationals accounting for 20 percent of the total.

Seoul City had attracted bids from 180 foreign academies to operate the school since September 2009, with Dwight School chosen as the preferred operator last May.

(john.power@heraldcorp.com )