Well I searched and all I got was where rich kids could go. Does anybody have any hands on experience about Morrison and so can they tell me. What is it really like there? Is it worth the money?. How much money? How much Chinese is spoken/ taught there? How much English is spoken/ taught there? After all the TAS news is there any news on Morrison? Where the hell am I going to put my kids down south? Anybody got any suggestions? Do I have to move to Taipei for a school or to Singapore… Where do all the expats who live in the south send their children? Does anybody else live down here?
I went to Morrison for junior high and part of high school many years ago and was a boarder there. Can’t tell you a whole about about the present, but you could check out their website. It wouldn’t hurt to pay them a visit, as well if you are in the area. The campus is really nice and they have done a lot to create an up to date facility. Keep in mind that it is a Christian school with strong value systems in place, which, depending on your personal point of view, can be really good, or really bad. Some of the staff there were students when I was there but we’ve never kept in contact. You could contact Tim McGill, the superintendent at (04) 2292-1171 for more information The Taiching campus is located at 136-1 Shui Nan Road.
Would anybody like to add more information about Morrison Academy? These posts are somewhat old and there was only one reply. My wife and I are very seriously considering this school for our daughter starting in junior high school (which will be in two years).
Try searching for “Bethany” if you are interested in the one by the Gongguan area. Also, you and I know a couple of different men who have kids that either currently go there or have gone there in the past. Let me know if you aren’t sure who I’m talking about.
I asked one person’s opinion (his birthday is today) and he seems to be very positive about the school. He warned me only of the religious aspect of the school, but my wife and I are okay with that. Let me know who else we know.
The tests these last two days for my daughter at the local school and the stress over the last few weeks leading up to the tests have turned me off of the Taiwanese school system- again. I know there are many positive things about the local schools but if only they would not be so damn intense! I think two more years is the most my daughter and me and my wife can take!
I’ve had kids at the Bethany campus in Taipei for the last 5 years (elementary school). Very positive experience overall. My only real complaint is the lack of green space for the kids to play, but they can’t do too much about that. We’ve been pleased with the academics, the teachers, the extracurricular activities, the emphasis on character and community service, and the social atmosphere. It’s a small school, so it doesn’t offer as much as a TAS can, but it has a nice family atmosphere and caring environment. My boys feel valued and cared for and are receiving a quality education.
Ditto the positive experience. Religious side was okay, attend chapel once a week for like 1 hour, and one bible class through out high school. Some faculties also went as far as offering after school help for tough subjects like Math.
Thanks for the replies AmoyMama and abovik. These comments really do help in our decision process. I haven’t heard any real complaint about Morrison Academy and that’s a very good sign.
I’m in the same boat! We are moving to Taiwan in fall 2015, and would really prefer to live down south. But it’s so hard to find any info on schools! We could maybe afford KAS at a stretch, but looking for all the options. We have a 10 yr old who has zero Mandarin, and two littles who could go anywhere.
A couple of people have answered me elsewhere about Morrison - similar comments (experience positive, very Christian, try Bethany). Have you found out anything else?
A few months ago when I was searching I found a public elementary school in Tainan that supposedly does accept foreign kids, but since then I’ve not been able to find it (I apparently failed to bookmark it). I remember that it started with a C (I know, lame). And I assume you know about Xinsheng, right (public school in Da’an)?
Anyway, I think I’m going to take a scouting trip there in November. When are you moving (or are you there now)?
As far as I understand, all public elementary schools accept foreign kids. Some might have more foreign kids than others, but I’ve never heard a of a student being denied enrollment to a public elementary school for being foreign. Even in Taiwan, people aren’t quite that racist.
Providing the child has an ARC or other legal entitlement to reside in Taiwan and lives within the school’s catchment area the school has to accept them, generally speaking. However, we met some passive resistance from schools when we were first looking and I wouldn’t advise parents to send their child to a school if the staff don’t really want them there.
I would not put a western child through a regular Taiwanese elementary school.
A bi-cultural kid with a local parent, yes, no worries, and I am putting no 3 through elementary school now. If none of the parents are culturally Chinese, I would not do it, though.
It depends on the school and the teacher. Our son is very happy at school and doing well. I also know of other children without Taiwanese parents who have done well in the local school system, so I don’t think it’s all necessarily doom and gloom.
I also know of children with one or both Taiwanese parents who have been very unhappy and suffered under the system.
You asked about what else I heard and the positive comments here pretty much sum up what I’ve heard outside of this forum. We’re already in Taipei and have been there (we’re in the US now for vacation) for a decade. I’m not really considering a bilingual program and want either an American school in Taiwan or to move back to the US. I know that our daughter will be bilingual after this experience (as close to being fully, truly bilingual as probably possible with these two very different languages), and so my negative feelings toward the Taiwan school system are tempered somewhat. And since we have a little one as well, I’m starting to think I want the same (bilingual abilities) for him as well. So that’s why I’m seriously considering American/foreign school options in Taiwan. Good luck to you and feel free to PM me when you get to Taiwan.
Oops…wudjamaha, I meant that there was a public school in Tainan that had seem to have some support services (like ELL…CLL, I guess) for foreign kids whose Mandarin was not up to snuff - like some of the public schools in Taipei do.
Marasan, thank you! May I contact you when I’m there this November?
A decade later: I swung by Taipei City’s Tingzhou Road to pick up some baked goodies from Mr Bruno whose shop is now on that street. Along the way, I saw that Morrison Academy and the adjacent church are boarded up, apparently awaiting demolition.
Is Morrison finished? Or have they relocated to another part of town?