Dear AST Families,
It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Elementary School at American School in Taichung. Elementary school is where the foundation of learning is strongly established. The dynamic and dedicated professional educators provide support and foster students’ curiosity, creativity, and confidence by helping students reach their intellectual, social, physical, artistic, and creative potentials.
AST’s core belief of excellence, integrity and responsibility coupled with the fundamentals of Responsive Classroom approach of cooperation, assertiveness, empathy and self-control are embedded in every aspect of the elementary classrooms. A key component of Responsive Classroom is the practice of a daily Morning Meeting. Morning Meeting creates a sense of belonging for all students and nurtures empathy by giving children a chance to take care of others, listen to each other, and allows students to create a safe, joyful and inclusive classroom together.
The students delve into the core subjects of Math, English Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, and DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) time with their homeroom teachers. Additionally, AST offers a rich diversity of specialized classes including art, music, physical education, information communication technology (ICT), STEM makerspace, social emotional learning (SEL), Chinese and library time. To enrich students’ learning experiences, we offer a unique set of extracurricular activities, athletic opportunities, field trips and community service experiences that provide opportunities for students to inquire, explore, and develop the necessary skills to be balanced, well-rounded, and empathetic global citizens.
Students will soon learn that AST is a big family community. With the advantage of having small class sizes, the classroom teachers work closely with their students. The homeroom teachers also collaborate with the teaching and learning director and student support team to ensure students’ needs are met. Using the Standards-Based Grading system, students understand where they are in their learning journey, what their learning targets are, and what they need to do in order to reach their goal. Students take risks and learn from their mistakes within a growth mindset culture and community.
Residing in the beautiful mountains of Da- Ken Scenic area of Central Taiwan, we welcome you to come and learn about AST and be a part of this beautiful and vivacious community. We value and encourage parents to be actively involved in their child’s education in order to help them accomplish their hopes and dreams, and we continue to be excited about learning!
In partnership with you,
Annie Tung
Deputy Head of School/ES Principal