Excellence is defined by how well we are achieving our mission, and our strategic plan is meant to support our fulfilling of the mission. Every school’s mission statement is aspirational, and the strategic planning process allows us to prioritize focal points for excellence and resource management, and to focus our work in five-year increments.

Taipei American School strives for excellence, and one of the places where this is most evident is in the professional development offerings provided to employees. Our faculty have attended over 98 individual professional learning events this year with more planned for the summer. In addition to individual events, the school has provided divisional and cross-divisional PD for all faculty to ensure that our teachers, counselors, and administrators are up to date on the latest pedagogical research and have the skills necessary to make our strategic plan a reality for the children we work with. 

It's a sincere pleasure to be able to write this year-end reflection after an incredible first year of headship.  I want to thank every member of our Tiger community, past and present, for your compassion and understanding of all that we have had to collectively face this year, much of which has been unpredictable, confusing at times, and unprecedented. Managing an American school in Taiwan amidst constantly changing parental opinions along with widely varying global, islandwide, and municipal mandates has been the most challenging job I have ever encountered.

Each year, in my role as Dean of Students, I remind departing seniors of the importance of expressing gratitude during the important transition-from-TAS-to-college phase. The students in the Class of 2022 were just 2-years-old when I arrived at TAS in the fall of 2006 - and this year we leave together.