I’ve heard that so many people have been moving back or moving to Taiwan with their families and the schools are mostly full. We will be moving in a couple months and have been calling around but seems like there aren’t many openings. We are open to local or private schools, although not sure our kids will like the local schools since they are all in Mandarin. It will definitely pose a challenge and be a culture shock.
Any new families move over or people know of private schools that would be good and have openings for us mid year? I have two in elementary.
And Is it really that crazy finding a school in Taipei now? Help!!
many private schools are full, so unless some students move out, it may be difficult mid term.
Some change schools after the first semester, so there may be some chance for the second semester if you put your kids on their waiting list.
some private schools around Taipei are listed here
Hi Tando,
Yes, I saw that list too. Thank you for your response. I really hope we can get a spot. But sounds like we are late in the game. I appreciate any advice I can get.
Some advice from a teacher who has had a few kids come straight out of quarantine and right to school: give them a few days to interact with other humans before throwing them into a new classroom/school. After two weeks of being around no one but immediate family members and then suddenly surrounded by kids they don’t know, they’re not going to take well to school, especially if it’s at a school that is primary Chinese speaking kids (aka 99% of “international” school here). I had one student who didn’t talk at all and then sat paralyzed in the middle of the classroom before latching on to me to cry uncontrollably for two hours straight on day one. Don’t delay too long, but maybe arrange a play date or two with someone their own age before throwing them in the classroom. It’s beyond a standard fear of going to school when you’ve isolated a kid for two weeks. “Crippling anxiety” might be a better word for it. I’m not saying all kids are going to have this problem, and other kids have eased their way in more easily, but still something to keep in mind
Depending on your goals, hybrid homeschooling is an option, too. By homeschooling you are actually enrolled at a school through your homeschooling application but not required to attend classes. You can pick and choose though classes and activities you want to attend. This is ideal for families wanting to eventually return to their home country and still keep up with parts of the curriculum back home. If one or both parents arr Taiwanese, then it’s a creative money saving solution. If you don’t want to teach your kids, then obviously that’s a major drawback…
Interesting, I didn’t know hybrid homeschooling Was an option in Taiwan. Do you know which schools allow you to register and then choose classes you want to take? Local or private schools? It’s something I might consider given that we want them to have the cultural experience and mandarin immersion while keeping up with classes at home esp for my older kid. And what do you mean by we can choose classes? Schools would allow this?
Tandos post includes links to public schools that run a bilingual program. For public elementary school I believe the chances that spots are available somewhere in Taipei or New Taipei should be gauranteed. Our elementary school age son goes to the regular public school, but when I looked into bilingual public schools and called them they said yes no problem.
If we had been able to make it out to Taiwan this year we were going to have our HS student do a US based online program. Mostly because we anticipated TAS and TES being full. Looked into Kuei Shan because of their IB program, but they did not respond to requests for information.
You just apply to homeschool. Basically, you go to your local public school in the area of your household registration. If you want to live in a different place, then you’ll need to move your household reg. to where you’re living.
Anyhow, go to your local public school and tell them you want to homeschool. They will help get the ball rolling. Homeschooling works by putting your child on the local public school’s roll but not requiring they attend classes. On the homeschool application you need to specify what your learning plan is…What curriculum you’ll use and if you want to attend any classes at the school. You can choose anything really within reason at school but obviously sending your child to only one 40 minute Mandarin class per week would be counterproductive. PE and sports club are good options, too. All depends what you want and how intense the home curriculum is you are using. Nothing is perfect but it has been a good solution for us. That said, Taiwan requires a fair amount applying to homeschool. But generally it is all to give Taiwan the feel good factor that something was accomplished through paperwork…
I am looking for schooling options for my 10 year old in Taipei just for one semester (starting Feb. 2022), and since she is proficient (though not fluent) in Mandarin, public schools may be fine. Out of curiosity, I also contacted some private schools, including a Waldorf school (not sure if I would go for it though). I was surprised that they wrote that “the government has introduced new policies during the pandemic and it may be required that one parent is a native speaker of Chinese” (we are not). What would that be about??
I would try to get the policy if you can, because I’ve never heard that. It may just be that the school doesn’t want to deal with online learning and non-native speakers during Covid. Normally most public and private schools should be possible, depending on how they do admissions.
My guess is it means that it may be inconvenient for school if both of parents are non native speaker of Chinese, to make sure the parents understand and follow the new policies during the pandemic, due to the communication difficulty.
Hmm, I guess. I’m sure I could figure it out with my daughter and good ol’ Google translate. We face enough discrimination in Korea over this (not native speakers but we do fine) so a bit disappointing to hear this. (And we’ve been dealing with COVID protocols for 1.5 years here). Anyway, I know these COVID numbers are new to Taiwan and so people are freaking out. I feel pretty good about the odds of things being better by Feb. 2022, though. Fingers crossed.
Be careful about non traditional schools in Taiwan. The vast majority of them (Waldorf and Montessori) are just traditional schools with elements of non traditional education. Or, in the case of Waldorf, the school is run by crazy people. I’ve no personal experience, but I’ve met expat parents who sent their kids to the Waldorf school in Dazhi, Taipei and the one in Taichung, and they got their kids out of there and into traditional public schools very fast.
Yikes, good to know. I had my suspicions about Waldorf. Perhaps I’ll just focus on finding a place good to live convenient to NTU that has several (public) school options that could work for my kid nearby.
I appreciate any advice I can get.