Hello, everybody!
We might be moving from US to Taipei in February 2012 presumably for an year.
We have a son, who is 10 (5 grade).
I am worried if we’ll be able to put him in school in the middle of a year. I don’t consider local school, he won’t make it. We are Russians, he speaks a little bit of Russian, that’s it beside English.
I see there is a few in Taipei:
TAS
TBS
Bethany American School
Dominican International School
Grace Christian Academy
Yangmingshan Christian School
The most popular is TAS I guess. I found information on their website about priority they accept student according to, so probably they can not accept everybody who applies, so chances to get there in February are next to zero? We all hold Russian passports.
We are not religious at all, but I would put my kid in a religious school if I don’t have any other options.
If anybody has experience applying in the middle of a year or knows school situation in Taipei well, please, response!
I also interested in info of how big are bills for rent (family of 3), electricity, food if cooking by yourself.
Thank you for reading.
The most popular is TAS I guess. I found information on their website about priority they accept student according to, so probably they can not accept everybody who applies, so chances to get there in February are next to zero? [/quote]
If his English is native level or close the chances will be a lot better.
Tuition at Bethany is $167,000 per semester for elementary, $183,000 for 6th grade and up. There are also annual fees of about $50,000. ELL fees are $38,000 per semester for a moderate level of need–not sure if that would apply to your son or not.
I think Bethany might have slots open in that grade for the spring semester. I have a son there…I can ask.
As far as bills go, it will really depend a lot on where you live and what kind of lifestyle you’d like to have here. City center will be more expensive, of course. If you’re willing to live outside the city a bit, living costs will be much lower. I find food prices here to be a bit higher than the US, but lower than most other places I have lived.
Thank you, all, for replying. We can not afford that tuition. So it’s out of question.
I’ve heard that I have to come to the local school, tell them that my son has zero Mandarin and they will put him in the bilingual school for an year to catch up. Is that true? It would work for me since we’d go only for one year if we go at all. We can keep up with American program doing on-line for an year.
[quote=“Konatka”]Thank you, all, for replying. We can not afford that tuition. So it’s out of question.
I’ve heard that I have to come to the local school, tell them that my son has zero Mandarin and they will put him in the bilingual school for an year to catch up. Is that true? It would work for me since we’d go only for one year if we go at all. We can keep up with American program doing on-line for an year.[/quote]
You might have heard about the bilingual class at Nangang Elementary School. They have pretty strict criteria for getting a place in their bilingual program. You can read about that here: http://www.nkps.tp.edu.tw/mweb/
Honestly, I think your options are fairly limited if you have a small budget. If you are Christian or are OK with your son being in a class that is Christian-oriented, you could consider the new home school co-op that just started in Taipei City. I’ll try to get more information from the founders.
According to them, they did have a Chinese as a Second Language program, and their daughter was quite happy there. Might be worth checking it. The school is in Daan District, right across the street from Daan Park.
Yes, Amoymama is right. Xinsheng is the public school that accepts non-Chinese speaking children. You need to register your child in your local school, then ask to be transferred to Xinsheng. That’s what they told me when I went to see the school. They do run the Taiwanese curriculum but the children get some classes swapped for Chinese as a Second Language classes.
[quote=“asiababy”][quote=“Konatka”]Thank you, all, for replying. We can not afford that tuition. So it’s out of question.
I’ve heard that I have to come to the local school, tell them that my son has zero Mandarin and they will put him in the bilingual school for an year to catch up. Is that true? It would work for me since we’d go only for one year if we go at all. We can keep up with American program doing on-line for an year.[/quote]
You might have heard about the bilingual class at Nangang Elementary School. They have pretty strict criteria for getting a place in their bilingual program. You can read about that here: http://www.nkps.tp.edu.tw/mweb/
Honestly, I think your options are fairly limited if you have a small budget. If you are Christian or are OK with your son being in a class that is Christian-oriented, you could consider the new home school co-op that just started in Taipei City. I’ll try to get more information from the founders.[/quote]
I have no problem with it, though we’re not very religious, I mean not at all. So, please, do.
I looked into Nangang. The thing is my husband won’t be working at any of those places they mention. he is a software engineer, but not in research field. Though this school is relatively not far from his future possible office. So I am not sure if they accept us. Thank you for the information.
Thank you both. It’s a good news. I think my son will be fine, he is extremely social and this will be a second time for him, as it was when we came to US 5 years ago.