So TAS also isn’t a real international school, and is similarly expensive.
TAS is an official international school and only admits foreign passport holders.
Unfortunately, a large majority of its students are children of rich Taiwanese locals who have managed to buy dual nationality for their children.
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What about other schools similar to Kangchiao like LiRen, WeGo and Yuteh? Those are less expensive I think, but just as good as Kangchiao.
I understood that many at the school are Taiwanese passport holders, though they are last on the list. Something like first US passports, then anywhere else, last Taiwan. However, if you have a sibling in, you can jump the line a bit.
Correct, the priority for TAS admissions are as follows:
- Dependents of AIT (US embassy in Taiwan) staff
- Children of Americans
- Children of non-American foreigner nationals
- Foreign children of local parents
Interestingly I just discovered TAS have tightened admissions, so Taiwanese parents can’t just buy a foreign passport - the parents have to have lived abroad for 5 or more years:
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Thank you for all the information…very helpful to get a better understanding and picture of the schools there. Unfortunately my son doesn’t speak Chinese otherwise I would be open to local schools. Meanwhile, curious to know if you would recommend living in Tianmu ? Looking at different neighbors to rent, Tianmu seems to make sense as it’s where the school is, and closer to the national park which is big bonus as my husband and I are big on hiking, and walking . However also find Da an quite interesting from what I read but unsure how much of a hike it is and how easy / difficult to get to say TAS from Da An … any thoughts? Thanks!
Then you are limited to the 2 American Schools in Taiwan…TAS and KAS and the only European school TES. All other private schools will require some Chinese.
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Thank you so much for all the information, Izzy …very helpful to get a better understanding and picture of the schools there. Unfortunately my son doesn’t speak Chinese otherwise I would be open to local schools. Meanwhile, curious to know if you would recommend living in Tianmu ? Looking at different neighbors to rent, Tianmu seems to make sense as it’s where the schools are, and closer to the national park which is big bonus as my husband and I are big on hiking, and walking . However also find Da an quite interesting from what I read but unsure how much of a hike it is and how easy / difficult to get to say TAS from Da An … any thoughts? Thanks!
Yeah… sad reality… would you recommend TAS and Tianmu as a neighbourhood to live in? Any other districts or neighbourhood you would recommend? Thanks !
Thank you for all your thoughts, greatly appreciated… I guess we will have to look more into the schools to make the final decision. Do you live in Tianmu? Would you recommend the neighbourhood to live in? Did s brief search on neighbours in Taipei, Da An seems to be a charming area as well but perhaps too far from the schools? Any feedback would be welcome and appreciated!
It is. Although the love for baseball is real, most of that is in the south. And also there is significantly less youth baseball organizations like travel teams and resources to coaches and facilities. It’s going to feel lacking if he is active in baseball in the US. Plus only the local kids are good, they play for their local schools. All the international schools are so terrible at baseball, he will probably hate it if he plays elite youth leagues.
In my honest opinion, TAS is the best school and seems to fit your son. They offer more sports and extra circular activities like how you’re used to in the US. I had an opportunity to work with many kids there for sports and they are really great kids.
They get a bad rep for being spoiled and stuck up, but it’s not really true. I’ve been to many really elite private schools growing up and TAS is by the least stuck up and most respectful bunch of kids I’ve met considering most of them are from affluent families.
Perhaps @GooseEgg can give you bit more information.
I worked at a few other schools for sports like Morrison. I enjoy TAS kids so much more. They are imo a bit brighter and more socially equipped. That’s where I would send my kids.
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Oh boy… that’s not good news for him then… we may need to find another selling point to get him on board instead of promising a continuation of baseball. Is there at least some local leagues for kids like him who played in their home country leagues and get together regularly for fun ? He’s also into basketball soccer skiing and recently mountain biking ,we may have to switch gear soon … thanks Andrew !
Although Taiwan is a baseball country. In Taipei, basketball is the most popular sport. There are lots of school teams. There are a few leagues and club teams, if your son like basketball, I can put you in touch with a coach I worked with and he may have some teams for know about the situation more than me right now.
I believe there are youth roller hockey leagues as well. I played on one when I was a kid here. My American coach gave me the name Andrew and that’s what I’ve been going with since.
There are youth leagues, more than before I know. He will get to play sports. But let’s just say American kids are overall more athletic and more skilled in most aspect unless we are talking about local baseball. Our youth baseball players could dominate against their American counterparts, hence the most number of little leagues World Series champions.
That’s really good to know. I understand it’s hard to give personal opinions as students and families situation vary in many ways, but having insight like yours help with our decisions tremendously. All private schools students seem to have that reputation, stigma, stereotypes attached but I personally know people who went to private schools and are thoughtful, perceptive and wonderful. I would love to get your friends opinions. Is Twitter or email the best way to get in touch?
You can send me a PM and I will give you the information in private.
FYI, you’ll find it’s often the parents that are spoiled and stuck up. Not the Kids at TAS haha.
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Just what I was thinking . Not sure how to do it through this site though…may I leave you my email address? priscillazl@yahoo.ca , perhaps you could send me a note? Thanks Andrew !
I sent you one, a notification should pop up on the top right corner.
You can click on another persons name and the option to message will show up for future references.
tianmu is a very nice neighborhood, plenty of foreign families and very convenient. most of your daily necessities like grocery shopping, parks, clinics etc are easily accessible.
however, it is very residential and boring, most places close at 21:00. and if you and your husband like going out then its 30 mins to go downtown.
in addition, tianmu is quite old, there is either old houses or new houses which are more expensive. there are very slim pickings for affordable mid range housing. again if work pays this is not a consideration, but if you pay then its something to consider.
neihu or xinyi are newer and nicer in my opinion, but then your son will have a long time getting to school.
choose to live either close to school or close to work, I think that is the best solution
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You are forgetting something about the sports aspect…
Yes there are leagues outside of schools. But…
It will almost definitely require communicating in Chinese. Does your son have any Chinese speaking ability at all?