Private Schools in Taiwan Thread (For Teachers)

Work Teaching English in Taiwan
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Hi everyone,

I was thinking that there is a lot of info on this forum about private schools but it is really scattered throughout many different posts. By private schools I mean regular schools that are not buxibans. There is another thread under the Parenting topic about schools, but that is more geared toward people who want to send their children to those schools. What I am proposing is that we make this a stickied thread on the Teaching English topic about private schools from the perspective of working there as a teacher. I donā€™t want this to be solely a blacklist type of thread, but a thread where we can share both negative and positive information about private schools in Taiwan. Something similar to International Schools Review, but focused just on Taiwan. This being the internet, most of the posts will probably be negative stuff about people bitching about how so and so school sucks but I hope that we can also try to get some positive information as well and if people ask about certain schools they can get an idea of what itā€™s like to work there.

I havenā€™t worked at any private schools in Taiwan so everything I know is second hand information. However, there seems to be a general trend among private schools with two types that I have identified so far.

The first type are schools where the parents seem to be pretty serious about their childrenā€™s academic performance. Many times they can push their children very hard to study. Some might even be the ā€œTiger Parents.ā€

Then there seems to be another type of school where parents donā€™t really seem to give a shit and just see the place as extended babysitting. From what I have read and heard, Dongshan around Xindian seems to be a good example of this.

Iā€™m sure there are plenty of schools that are in the middle and other categories. For example, a school like Kang Chiao seems to have had a bad reputation in the past but seems to be improving very steadily. There also seem to be serious differences between the different school levels. The kindergartens, elementary school and upper school are all run completely separately there. So for the sake of accuracy, please take into consideration what level the school is when you post and when you read, you might have to consider that the situation might not be the same at the other school levels.

Anyway, I hope this can kick start a good thread that will be stickied that will help teachers sort out which schools are like what when they go out looking for a job. Iā€™ll put in some effort and make a list of schools and see what info I find on here, Taiwanease and other places on the web.

Hereā€™s a list of private schools that hire foreign teachers in Taiwan. This is by no means scientific at the moment, I am just posting schools that I know off the top of my head. Please post here or send me a PM if you know of more schools or if anything I posted is incorrect.

Taipei area:

-Wego

  • Nanshan

-Dongshan

-Kang Chiao

-Grace Christian Academy

-Yan Ping High School

-Li Ren (elementary and middle school only)

-Fushing (Fuxing)

-Yu Teh

-Yu Tsai (elementary only)

-Taipei American

-Taipei European

-Dominican (Catholic school)

-Morrison aka Bethany in the Taipei area (Christian)

-Kuei Shan (Christian school, only through grade 10)

-Wesley Girlsā€™ High School (boarding school for girls)

  • Chi Jen (not even sure if this school is around anymore, havenā€™t found any info about it on the web other than their own website which hasnā€™t been updated since 2011.)

-Taipei Adventist (Christian)

-Ching Shin (elementary and middle school only)

-Saint Ignasius (Catholic. Anyone know if this school hires foreigners or not?)

Keelung

-Sacred Heart (Catholic school, elementary only I believe)

Taoyuan Area

-Taoyuan American School

-Columbia International College Taiwan (Canadian based curriculum and high school only. Used to be in the Taipei area but they have apparently moved)

Hsinchu & Zhubei

-Korrnell (elementary and middle school only now, but they seem to be adding a high school soon)

-Pacific American School

-Hsinchu American

-Hsinchu International

-Hsinchu Bilingual School

Taichung Area

-American School Taichung

-Wagor International

-Washington High School

-Ivy Collegiete Academy (boarding school)

-Morrison (Christian)

-Ming Dao High School

Yunlin County

-Victoria Academy (located in Douliu)

Tainan

-International Bilingual School at Tainan Science Park

Kaohisung Area

-Koahsiung American School

-I Shou International School (they may want to revise the pinyin on this considering what acronym this makes)

-Morrison (Christian)

-Dominican (Catholic)

Nantou County

-Pu Tai (Buddhist school)

Taidong County

-Junyi (seems like an interesting school. many students are boarding there and there are a number of Aboriginal students from Hualien and Taidong there on scholarship. only through grade 9 now, but they will be adding a high school soon)

Yilan County

-Chung Dau

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Hi future teachers,

I have experience with columbia international college taiwan (CICT). PM me if you want more information about it.

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It would also help if anybody knows of a school who does not insist on ā€˜office hoursā€™ where you have to be onsite all day. I spend hours lesson planning but not to that extent and that puts me off working in the School sector private or Gov.

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For anyone interested in teaching at Junyi in Taitung, please be aware that this is a Waldorf school (Rudolph Steiner, Anthroposophy). I donā€™t want to post negative opinions here, as we are all different and can tolerate different situations. If you would like to know more about my personal experience at this school, feel free to send me a private message.

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hey, would you help me to find job please contact me in my email
watashidess@gmail.com

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I think most of the schools listed here are salaried positions, and not paid-by-the-hour, so office work would be included. Itā€™s part and parcel of being a ā€œteacherā€, and not a dancing monkey.

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Wondering what this person is up to. I kind of suspect a private school owner (or lackey of one) is fishing for people talking smack. Or maybe Iā€™ve gotten paranoid about this thread already.

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Could you explain Waldorf school. Iā€™ve not heard of this before. Was that the reason that made it less tolerable for you? Or was it due to other factors?

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Yeah man, pretty tough to find schools that wonā€™t have office hours. It will be required if you are to be a proper teacher. I guess what he means though is schools that have specific required hours, such as 8am-5pm at most public schools and Iā€™ve even seen some private schools with hours from 8am-6pm! I think he wants to work at a school that letā€™s teachers determine their hours outside the classroom. I canā€™t say that I know of any in Taiwan. I have heard perhaps that TAS is like this, but they often load a lot of extracurricular stuff on top of your normal teaching load so youā€™ll still be working there all the time.

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Hi All!

Iā€™ve read a lot of bad vibes about Kang Chiao but most of it were directed to the Elementary School. Just to clear that out, High school and Elementary dept are separate from each other. There are specific regulations that apply only to elementary or high school dept. I canā€™t say much about the elementary but in high school, most people think that because its always hiring, teachers are always leaving. Thatā€™s not the case. Although, yes there are teachers leaving each year but the retention rate of the school is actually higher. There are a lot of teachers who have 4-10 years residency in KC.

The school is expanding and it needs more teachers. The number of students is steadily increasing the last 4-5 years. Aside from the regular&honors program and AP courses, the school is launching the IB program since it was already authorized this year. Kang Chiao high school is also accredited by the WASC.

Development in all aspect of the school is ongoing. Of course PD is a big factor in the school development thatā€™s why teachers have PD meetings. The salary package is competitive especially if you decide to stay after your first year. Since it is a bilingual school, the school follows the chinese calendar.

Anyway, if you have other questions just send a private message. Iā€™ll be happy to help. :slight_smile:

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The Kaohsiung Dominican school seems to change its name. There have been posts calling it the Dominican International School. Kaohsiung Dominican School, Kaohsiung Dominican International School, and Dominican International School Kaohsiung.

This person said the contracts were not honored and that there were poor administration decisions.

internationalschoolsreview.c ā€¦ school.htm

This person says she was fired for having a serious medical problem that lasted a week and a half. She said her child would be charged tuition, regardless of whether the kid attended the school.

Thereā€™s another post about a nun trying to change the contract terms after an employee had started, but I canā€™t find the link.

I figured Iā€™d post about this school because of a recent conversation. I talked to a former teacher there who was promised summer school hours. However, the teacher said the principal (who is a nun) told the teacher she forgot about it and gave the hours to someone else when the summer started. I figured potential teachers would want to know about these kinds of things.

I heard at least one teacher was fined by the school for not returning the next year, but I donā€™t know if that actually happened or if the teacher(s) had some other consequences. So Iā€™ll leave it to someone else to comment about that.

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Hi everyone!

I need to add the two schools to the list. Huaxing Elementary School in Tianmu and Suntek Elementary School in Tamsui. I believe that to each their own. They were not good fits for me, but it depends on the person. Suntek is has homeroom teacher system with one Taiwanese homeroom teacher and one English-speaking teacher in the classroom. This is just like Yu-Teh and Yu Tsai.

Huaxing Elementary School has no fully foreign teachers on staff. They are all have spent time in a Western country for school, are Taiwanese that were raised in a Western country, or are half Taiwanese. There is currently no one on staff that is on an ARC or APRC. In case youā€™re wondering why that was included, it does mean the working culture is decidedly Taiwanese and requires you to follow Taiwanese cultural norms.

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Iā€™m so happy I found this thread!

I left Taiwan last year (after teaching at a buxiban for 2 years) in pursuit of a teaching certification and a masters degree. Iā€™ve nearly got my paws on the first and the masters degree will be started shortly too. :discodance: My 2 year goal is to get back to Taiwan and try to get a job in one of these private international schools. Do any of you know if they usual hire from people already on the island or at international job fairs like most other ISā€™s? :ponder:

The school I am most interested in is Taipei American School. I know itā€™s a pretty coveted position for many teachers so I am looking at a few others on the island. American School Taichung also looks interesting to me. Does anyone have experience interview/hiring with these schools or related ISā€™s around the island?

Thanks!

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[quote=ā€œAmerican in Taipeiā€]Hi everyone!

I need to add the two schools to the list. Huaxing Elementary School in Tianmu and Suntek Elementary School in Tamsui. I believe that to each their own. They were not good fits for me, but it depends on the person. Suntek is has homeroom teacher system with one Taiwanese homeroom teacher and one English-speaking teacher in the classroom. This is just like Yu-Teh and Yu Tsai.

Huaxing Elementary School has no fully foreign teachers on staff. They are all have spent time in a Western country for school, are Taiwanese that were raised in a Western country, or are half Taiwanese. There is currently no one on staff that is on an ARC or APRC. In case youā€™re wondering why that was included, it does mean the working culture is decidedly Taiwanese and requires you to follow Taiwanese cultural norms.[/quote]

Is Huaxing basically somewhere in Yangmingshan? I know there is a private school somewhere just up in the hills (not too far from town though) is that this school? I think I know a Canadian teacher who worked there, no Taiwanese heritage at all. This teacher didnā€™t seem to like it that much. Seemed to complain that the kids were too privelged and the like.

Is Sun-tek a Christian school?

Unfortunately, I can no longer edit my original post, so we will just need to keep adding posts like these. Thanks for your input!

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I guess your best bet would be to go to one of the international job fairs they have Stateside and interview with them there. Where did you do your masters degree if you donā€™t mind me asking?

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@gavmasterflash Iā€™ve just started my first year teaching in North Carolina and I will be doing my masterā€™s at Johns Hopkins in June. I guess I will just have to locate which IS fair the Taiwanese schools attend and go from thereā€¦

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To answer the question about Sun-tek, it is Christian, Episcopalian denomination. I heard of someone who just started working there and they said that the Christian stuff is pretty low key, which is pretty much par for the course for Episcopalian run schools. If youā€™re non-religious, you could almost certainly tolerate an Episcopalian run school. Iā€™ll follow up with that person and ask what they think about the school after working for a little while.

@helloitswill Yeah, just see where they are having the job fairs. I know that there is one in Iowa and then ones on the East and West coasts. Just look at the first one and see who is there. A lot of times they fill the positions early on, Iā€™ve heard. Big one in Bangkok each January too.

If youā€™re doing a masters degree at John Hopkins, I think you shouldnā€™t have much trouble getting a job here, even at TAS. They like the ā€œname brand schoolsā€ a lot.

You can also try Search Associates, and The International Educator www.tieonline.com

Not sure exactly how helpful they are or is their fees are worth it, but they are agencies that help place people in international schools.

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Awesome. Great info!

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Sorry, I have been off of the forum recently, so just realized a question was asked of me. Yes, the answer about Sun-Tek is correct. And yes, Huaxing is up in Yangmingshan. Itā€™s really not that far up the mountain from the Shilin area.

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That sounds a bit politically correct. If you mean its fucked-up, you should just say so.