Taipei Adventist American School
| Taipei Adventist American School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
 | |
| Coordinates | 25°06′33″N 121°33′12″E / 25.109233°N 121.553258°E |
| Information | |
| Type | Private Church-Affiliated |
| Established | 1950s |
| Principal | Elliot Fullmer, MA |
| Faculty | 28 |
| Enrollment | 126 |
| Campus | Suburban, 5 acres (20,000 m2) |
| Color(s) | Blue, white, and gold |
| Mascot | The Messengers |
| Tuition | NT$ 376,350 for K-G4 NT$ 335,400 for G5-G8 |
| Website | www.taas-taiwan.com |
Taipei Adventist American School (abbreviation TAAS) is a private foreign-registered elementary school with an American-based curriculum located on Yangming Shan (陽明山) in the Shihlin District of Taipei City, Taiwan.[1] It is administered under the North Asia-Pacific Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.[2]
History
Taipei Adventist American School had its beginning in the 1950s as a small elementary school for missionaries of the Seventh-day Adventist Church who came from overseas, especially North America, to China, Hong Kong, or Taiwan to pioneer the SDA mission work. The school was first located at an old Adventist college campus in the Xindian district of Taipei, and was later moved to the Taiwan Adventist Hospital compound. It remained there until the mid 1980s.
In 1986 a new school building was built in a compound on Yangming Shan where many of the Taiwan Adventist Hospital Doctors and other missionary families lived. The western style compound already had 6 homes and two large grassy areas for play and gardening. At this time the school board voted to build another new school building in the Yang Ming Shan compound where students could be out of the city. A 3 level building was constructed with 2 apartments downstairs and a fenced in play area on the third floor, with classrooms, a library, offices and bathrooms on second floor.
In 1991, the school was registered with the Taiwan government as a foreign school for international students. This allowed any student with a foreign passport to attend the school. The population of the school grew from 15 children of missionaries to over 120 students.[3]
Campus
The current 5-acre (20,000 m2) campus consists of:
- A main building with eight classrooms with one grade per class room, two administration offices, one auxiliary staff office, a computer lab, and a science lab.
- An English Language Learning (ELL) building with one ELL homeroom class, and one classroom for students to be pulled out from regular classes for extra English help, two Chinese language classrooms, and two auxiliary staff offices.
- A covered gym area for Physical Education.
- One large open grass field with adjacent play ground.
- A large grass soccer/sports field.
- Five western style faculty homes.
Academics
TAAS specializes in holistic individualized American-style instruction in a way not possible in a larger school setting. As part of the Adventist education system TAAS focuses on intellectual, spiritual, physical, and social education. TAAS believes that in a smaller family-type setting with a lower student/teacher ratio that not only is learning benefited, but social development is also enhanced. In fact students consistently score 12 months or 1 grade level ahead of their American peers.[4] Children that are part of the SDA education system become more independent and do better academically because the “teachers have higher expectations of students and encourage them to take hard classes. They are more likely to support the notion that ‘God doesn’t make junk’ and that students are often capable of achieving more than they realize.”[5]
Because of the western-style education students are encouraged to take responsibilities for their own learning apart from the pressures of the teacher or other authorities. Students learn how to act independently and act cooperatively. Christian morals and values are another integral part of the education system. Integrity, honesty, respect for others, and responsibility are cultivated.
TAAS offers learning support services for children with mild to significant need.
Almost 100 percent of TAAS graduates continue their education at another American-based curriculum institution either in Taiwan or abroad. The vast majority choose to continue at The Primacy Collegiate Academy, Taipei American School, or another school in the United States.
TAAS is accredited by the Adventist Accrediting Association.
Student body
The combined K-8 school enrollment is approximately 120. The student body is made up of 17 different nationalities with the majority being American, Canadian, Japanese, and Philippine, respectively. TAAS abides by the Republic of China Foreign Schools Law, which requires all international schools to only admit students who hold non-ROC passports.
References
- ^ "Taiwan Ministry of Education list of foreign schools". Taiwan Ministry of Education.
- ^ "Adventist yearbook". Seventh-day Adventist Church Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research.
- ^ "TAAS History". Taipei Adventist American School.
- ^ Kido, Elissa. "For real education reform, take a cue from the Adventists". The Christian Science Monitor.
- ^ "Study of Education Outcomes Places Adventist Schools Significantly Ahead of Public Schools". Adventist Today.
- Lin, Mei-Chun. "Life in Taiwan: Meeting the Educational Needs of Expat Families. TAS and TES are the biggest and best-known, but in fact Taiwan has a total of 19 international schools – and not all of them are in Taipei and not all teach in English". American Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved 2009-11-02.