Parent's Review of Taipei American School in Taipei
What is the name of your child's school? (Please report on one school per survey.)
Taipei American School
In what town or city is this school located?
Taipei
How would you describe this school? (i.e. American, British, International, Local, etc.)
American
What grade levels are represented at this school?
K-12
How do most children get to school everyday? (bus, train, walk, etc.)
Bus, drivers, parents
How would you describe the facilities at this school? What extra-curricular activities are available?
The school has a nice campus that is badly in need up updates. Ther are many opportunities for after school activities. The ones for elementary school are pricy.
What has this school done to help your child transition from the curriculum in your home country into the curriculum in your new country? Are there programs to prepare your child for repatriation?
Little. They test for placement and then hope for the best. There is nothing available for repatriation. Most students are ABCs and will ultimately reside in Taipei.
How would you describe the social activities available for parents through this school? Are there parent-teacher organizations?
Excellent PTA. Friendly.
What advice would you give to someone considering enrolling their child in this school?
If you are coming from the states, it will be difficult for your child, as most students (although foreign passport holders) are from Taiwan. There are minimal native English speakers. The standards are incredibly high and you have a bunch of exhausted kids who subscride to their parents ideals for teens: ESS (Eat-Sleep-Study. Even high achieving studnts from the US will question their confidence and have trouble acclimating. That said, it is a quality education in a relatively safe environment. There are better options if you desire a whole-student approach.
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Comments about this Report
guestTotaly agree with these comments that there are better options around. I would add something else indeed. This school doesn't offer a high standard level of education academically. 50% of the student body receives tutoring at home in every discipline, so most of the teachers' job is done at home by private tutors, including music :((
guestTAS is the leader of international schools in Taipei, but it is not for everyone. The academic expectations are high and greater variety of courses are offered in MS and US. Many students take tutoring classes to keep up with their home-country curriculum (particularly Korean and Japanese children) and to advance (test out of classes in the US).
guestI am researching international schools for my son who will start first grade this fall in Taipei. We currently live in the US. Regarding the last statement above, what are the "better options if you desire a whole-student approach?"
guestComing new to this school in High School is very difficult. For children, the administration does not help out at all. You as the parent have to fight for every class option for your child as they only want the Asians in the top classes. They consider white people stupid. For parents there is NO welcoming committee, PTA is closed minded and not welcoming. Good luck!
guestIf you are coming from the "west" this is a diffcult school to enter in High School. The administrators do their best to discourage honors placement of western children because they only want Asians performing at the highest level. Your kids just try to figure it out on their own. And parents have to fight for every high level class. School only wants grade 5 on AP tests when in fact colleges will take a 3, 4 or 5. Super competitive, thanks to this. No welcoming committee for new parents. PTA is a competitive, unfriendly organization which is typical of all PTAs, but more so in Taipei.
guestI completely agree with this comment. This is really not an American school or western school. It is 98% Asian! with tiger parents and teachers that just want to make money. There is a lot of bullying of white kids. Very unfriendly for non Asians.
guestAfter coming from 2 other "International Schools" this school is a Chinese School with the word American. The administration only cares about the wealthy Chinese parents. The board just asks for money parents whenever there is an event. And there is a lot of bullying of the whites that is ignored by the administration. And the Asian groups only help each other.
guestDon't be fooled by the name American. This is a Chinese School with a very few amount of westerners. Asian parents pushing their kids, not friendly administrators. White kids are seen as stupid. Big bullying problem. School asks for money all the time. Elementary school classes have kids who don't speak English. We moved our kids to the European School. More tolerant.
guestMoved back to the US and realized how my children suffered in this very Asian school. They were thought of as 'dumb' by all the kids. Teachers don't help this srerotype. This is a Asian school, not American at all. Looking back should have done the European School. Lots of bullies in the middle school.
guestIn Taipei there are not better educational options for foreign kids. Taipei American School is a local Taiwanese school with mostly 99% of Taiwanese students, but better than several other so-called "international schools" around. Not a friendly school to expats and extremely and unreasonably costly. Foreign parents with children in this school feel very unwelcome by administration and faculty.
guestGood facilities and courses in high school but this school doesn't care about foreigners. Very closed social circle of Taiwanese with an American passport. School constantly asks for money. Support and attention from the administration only goes to the wealthy Taiwanese families. My kids barely are surviving and as parents from Europe we are non existent to everyone
