Kaohsiung American School

Kaohsiung American School
高雄美國學校
Location
No. 889 Cuei-Hua Road, Zuo-Ying District
Kaohsiung
Taiwan
81354
Information
Type Private International School
Established 1989
Superintendent Dr. Thomas Farrell
Elementary Principal Ms. Dawn Kenniston
Secondary Principal Ms. Dawn Rock
Enrollment 625 students
Color(s) Red, Blue and White
Mascot Dragons
Tuition Varies
Website www.kas.tw

The Kaohsiung American School (KAS; Chinese: 高雄美國學校; pinyin: Gāoxióng Mĕiguó Xuéxiào) is a private, pre-K through grade 12 college preparatory school located in Zuoying District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.[1] The school was established in 1989 and it is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The current superintendent is Dr. Thomas Farrell. The school has been accredited to teach the IB Diploma Programme since August 2010 and the Middle Years Program (MYP) since September 2015.

History

Kaohsiung American School was established in 1989 as an elementary school serving the needs of local and expatriate families with children. The first school was located in a series of apartments in the Chang Gung Hospital compound.

In 1997, KAS began to offer independent high school courses and in 1999, KAS moved into shared lease facilities in a Kaohsiung City elementary school. From January, 2003, Kaohsiung American School became the sole occupiers of a school facility, leased for 9 years from the Kaohsiung City government.

Facilities

The new school building completed in 2015

In the spring of 2015, a new state of the art campus with a strong emphasis on technology integration was completed. Phase 2 of the construction encompasses the athletics installations and are on track to be completed in January 2017.

The new facilities have been hailed as an amazing architectural, educational and technological achievement in the region. Facilities include a 400-seat auditorium, lecture hall, and a 3 story library hub. Future facilities will include a swimming pool, indoor gym, outdoor sports facilities, cafeteria and much more.

“The sequential spatial flow” reflects the spatial quality befitting the KAS educational precept by clearly delineating the building circulation that is both flexible and highly navigable. This quality enables the school occupants to access the available resources with ease while the permeable spatial borders encourage cross-pollination of various learning disciplines through integration and visual collaboration. Double quads and cohabitation of architectural volumes are combined to mold such spatial quality into a flow of spaces that are both enclosed and open as well as flexible.

Academics

Elementary Division

The Kaohsiung American School's elementary division, from Pre-K2 (4 years old) to grade six, allows students to receive classes from specialists each week in Art, Music and Physical Education. Students in grades 4-6 also have a weekly class in Information Technology. In addition, students receive Chinese language for 220 minutes a week beginning in grade 1. ELL (English language learning) is provided for students in grades 1-6 who require additional support in English language and is taught by a qualified specialist. Library classes are scheduled either weekly or on a flexible schedule with the Library specialist.

Middle School

Students who require it can be given additional support in English at Middle School level, subject to the payment of additional fees. Physical Education is mandatory.

High School

Students who require it can also be given additional support in English at High School level, subject to the payment of additional fees. Depending on their English abilities, high school students who recently enrolled into KAS could be placed in for English support. Upon reaching eleventh grade students are given a choice of choosing to take IB diploma courses or not. Normal students differentiate from Diploma students in that normal students do not have to take the arduous philosophy course TOK and also do not have to complete the extended essay. Moreover, non diploma students are given the choice of taking or not taking the IB Exams, whereas diploma students are required.

1-to-1 Environment

Students from grades 3 through 12 now evolve in a 1-to-1 environment. Each student brings her or his own laptop to class. Technology throughout campus is integrated under the supervision of the director of Learning Technology: Victor Boulanger.

AP (Advanced Placement)

The school replaced AP courses with the International Baccalaureate. Therefore, there are no AP courses at KAS.

IB (International Baccalaureate)

KAS was authorized to offer several IB courses and the IB Diploma Programme beginning in August 2010. The decision to offer the IB Diploma was to reflect the school's "belief" that the program offers the best opportunities for the students’ learning and for their university preparation. Students may choose to pursue the Diploma or individual certificates, or they may choose to enroll in courses for regular credit only.[2] The school is undergoing Middle Year Program (MYP) authorization in May 2015.

Community service

"In order to qualify for community service, the student must engage in an activity that further develops his/her moral and ethical character by giving service to others."

Recognizing that school is more than an accumulation of credits and extra-curricular activities, KAS has implemented a Community Services Graduation Requirement. In order to qualify the KAS Community Service Graduation Requirement, student must have a minimum of forty (40) community service hours during their four years at KAS. If a student enrolls during the four years of KAS, the number of service hours is determined by the number of years left for high school graduation.

Extra-Curricular activities

KAS has many student-led extra-curricular activities and clubs. There is a wide variety of extra-curricular activities including athletics, music, drama, Model United Nations, National Honor Society, Student Council and other cultural-promoting groups, such as Japanese Club or fundraising clubs such as Invisible Children.

This is a list of most of the extra-curricular activities in KAS:

This council deals with the holding of school related events such as school dances or the fun fair. It is also responsible for helping students fit into the school environment and raising school spirit.

Currently one of the two debate related club in the school. With more than 50 members each year, MUN club boasts one of the largest clubs in KAS. MUN club members participate in conferences which gather delegates to debate upon important issues around the world and formulate resolutions to solve these problems.

This council is responsible for dealing with the athletics of the school. It is responsible for helping students support school sports teams and raising school spirit.

This club encourages members to give musical performances for students of the school. Members have to go through auditions to join and will be able to perform any song or musical instrument of his or her choosing.

This club engages students in science related activities in the hopes of helping students understand science. Fun labs are provided by the club and younger students are encouraged to join.

This club was found based on the movement formed by international schools in order to tackle upon global issues. The club is more based on a fundraising club and urges to help those in need.

Sports include basketball, soccer, and volleyball. The most popular sport being basketball, with multiple championships at hand, KAS packs an robust varsity team; however, with the recent paradigm of soccer changing, the sport has become more and more popular thanks to the help of a special biology teacher.

Japanese club aims to spread the culture of Japan to its members. Japanese Club offers many activities about the Japanese culture and an exceptional amount of cooking events.

The club that participates in an event called World Scholar's Cup. The only "true" debate club in the school with formal debate as a category in the competition. WSC pulls knowledge from multiple academic areas such as the arts, history and writing and requires participants to remember the information. With multiple Taiwan round winners each year, KAS is one of the strongest WSC schools in Taiwan on par with Morrison Academy, IBSH and IBST.

The club based on the movement of Invisible Children, Inc, an organization founded to bring awareness to the LRA's activities in Central Africa. The club has in the recent years become more of a fundraising club and supports children in third world countries who cannot support themselves for a better education. Currently the club has been able to raise tens of thousands of NT Dollars making it the largest fundraising club in the school.

This club helps promote artwork in the school. Events that encourage club members to come together and create art have often been planned. Exhibitions of art are also often held by this club.

This merit organization gives out recognitions and accepts students when they are selected by teachers. With a primary selection based on grade point average, the final decision will be based on the teacher's decisions. Though technically not a club, students who join the National Honor Society have the honor of standing out from their classmates.

Students who play string instruments are allowed to join perform in front of the school during the annual spring and winter concerts.

Students who play Baroque music are allowed to join perform in front of the school during the annual spring and winter concerts.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Home page. Kaohsiung American School. Retrieved on April 10, 2015. "35 Sheng Li Road | Zuoying District (813) Kaohsiung City Taiwan"
  2. ↑ Graña, Alvaro. "IB Diploma Program". Kaohsiung American School. Retrieved 4 September 2012.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kaohsiung American School.

Coordinates: 22°40′36″N 120°17′36″E / 22.6766°N 120.2933°E / 22.6766; 120.2933

  1. ↑ "Glossary of Names for Admin Divisions" (PDF). placesearch.moi.gov.tw. Ministry of Interior of the ROC. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
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