The Communications Office is proud to present a new monthly feature, the TAS Tiger Thinker. In this recurring series, we will hear thought leadership articles written by key school leaders to discuss high-level and important updates that relate to our school's mission, strategic plan, and vision for the future. We invite all Tigers to think and learn alongside us this year!

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By Larry Kraut, Chief Operating Officer

For the school facilities and operations team, the school year is a carefully choreographed dance between the facilities, services, and service providers that help Taipei American School create a safe, healthy, and excellent learning environment for everyone on campus. Well before our final day of classes in June, the facilities team is hard at work, planning the next act of this well-organized production: the summer rejuvenation of our large and bustling campus. Although often working in the background, this team takes a substantial number of ideas from the 'dreaming’ to the ‘doing’ stages, in addition to maintaining the existing campus infrastructure.  

 Once the last bus has departed, and the final student has tapped their badge on our e-gates, the next act in this dance begins almost immediately, and the operations team springs into action. For this part of our school community, the year is truly just beginning. In order to operate for nine months without interruption, each corner of the school, from our Lower School playground to our Upper School science labs, must be in prime condition.  

The manpower, effort, and planning that goes into this uninterrupted nine months of teaching and learning are considerable, and it takes an incredible amount of effort to pull off the amount and depth of work on the docket each summer. 

Collaborating with outsourced service providers like Sincere, the team delves into the considerable task of deep cleaning every corner of the school. From the classrooms where ideas are exchanged to the instructional areas that shape futures, no space is left untouched.  

Carpet shampooing, tile floor waxing, and surface scrubbing are all part of the service team’s annual routines, made even more impressive because of TAS’s sprawling indoor campus, which occupies over 60,000 square meters across five buildings. 

With cleaning well underway, the maintenance staff takes center stage, coordinating over 30 external contractors to perform vital maintenance tasks, and execute special capital projects, which vary from year to year. These skilled artisans, engineers, and specialists attend to the heartbeat of our School's infrastructure—our water systems, electrical networks, air-conditioning, sewage facilities, and fire protection mechanisms—with meticulous attention. These kinds of systems are easy to forget about during the school year precisely because they are maintained with such thorough attention and care during the summer. Students, employees, and parents who enter campus never have to worry about whether the lights and air-conditioning will work, these systems simply do, thanks to continuous maintenance and the summer special maintenance work.  

Summer isn't just about maintenance. Just as students and employees are resting up over the summer and coming back even more energized in August, the operations team is proud to support the innovation and enhancement of our campus, through capital projects that enhance, maintain, and support the School's infrastructure. In 2023 alone, the operation's team coordinated and accomplished the following major projects:  

• Constructed a ramp in the Upper School Courtyard that included the installation of a steel-reinforced concrete slab 
• Replaced 800+ square meters of roof waterproofing and tiles in C-Block 
• Created three new flexible space rooms in the Upper School Information Commons to meet student studying and collaboration needs  
• Replaced 21 exterior doors located in A, B, and C buildings, as part of a multi-year exterior door replacement project to keep our campus secure 
• Relocated a Lower School meeting room from the first floor to the third floor of the A-building, allowing for the first-floor meeting room to become a Mandarin classroom 
• Replaced the surface and exterior protection netting of the Outdoor Tennis Courts 
• Installed LED lights in all three libraries, replacing the older fluorescent light bulbs 
• Installed LED lights in the US hallways, indoor tennis court, and US cafeteria in the first year of a multi-year project to upgrade the entire US lights from fluorescent to LED 
• Replaced LED lights in the pool and relocated them to improve lighting coverage 
• Replaced the composite exterior decking and benches in the US cafeteria, Golf Center, and MS courtyard 
• Replaced rooftop air-exhaust fans and motors in year two of a three-year project 

As the final projects conclude, and the sounds of work begin to fade away, the excited and joyful voices of our students quickly return to take their place. As our community returns to campus, the facilities and operations team are proud of their accomplishments and take great pride in the changes, both visible and behind the scenes, that ensure a safe and healthy learning environment. Their work, though, is never done, and as the curtain rises on a new school year, these dedicated teams are already planning for the next summer and continuing to improve the TAS learning environment. 

 

學校設備與營運團隊為美好的新學年做好準備 

營運長 柯良睿 

對於學校的設施和營運團隊來說，在新的學年提供校園裡每個人安全、健康和優質的學習環境，全仰賴設施、服務和服務供應商之間緊密共同合作，就好比一場精心編排的舞蹈。這場井然有序的演出其實很早就開始規劃了。設施團隊早在六月最後一天上課日之前就已經開始前置作業，計畫利用暑假期間把這個寬廣且熱鬧的校園整理得煥然一新。這個團隊的工作多半在幕後，但除了維護現有的校園基礎設施之外，他們也將大量的理念從「夢想」階段帶到「實踐」階段。 

當最後一輛校車離開，最後一名學生在我們的電子閘門上刷過卡後，這場表演的下一幕緊接著開始，營運團隊也立刻行動起來。對於學校社群的營運團隊來說，新的一年才剛剛開始。為了能夠連續運作九個月，從我們的小學遊樂場到我們的高中科學實驗室，學校的每個角落都必須處於最佳狀態。 

要讓連續九個月的教學和學習運作正常，所需的人力、精力和規劃相當可觀，因此每年夏天我們需執行的工作清單，不管是量還是深度廣度，都需要付出難以置信的努力才能完成。 

例如我們與信實這樣的外包服務供應商合作，他們團隊必須對學校的每個角落進行深度清潔，這是非常可觀的工作量。從交換靈感的教室到塑造未來的教學區域，每個空間都不會被忽略。 

地毯清洗、瓷磚地板打蠟和表面擦拭都是信實服務團隊每年例行的工作，由於台北美國學校佔地廣闊，室內校區跨足五座建築，總面積超過六萬平方公尺，這些工作更顯得不容易。 

隨著清潔工作的進行，保養人員走上舞台中央，協調超過30家外部承包商執行重要的保養任務，並實施每年不同的特別資本預算專案。這些熟練的技工、工程師和專家細心照料著我們學校基礎設施的核心──水系統、電力網絡、空調、污水處理設施和消防保護機制。這些類型的設備在學年期間很容易被遺忘，這正是因為我們在暑假期間為這些設備進行如此徹底的維護和保養。進入校園的學生、員工和家長永遠不必擔心燈光和空調會出問題。這歸功於平日持續進行保養工作，暑假還會進行特別加強保養，因此這些燈光及空調系統永遠運作正常。 

暑假的工作並不僅僅是保養設備。就像學生和員工在夏季休息，並在八月充滿活力回歸一樣，學校的營運團隊非常自豪能夠透過資本預算專案來增強、保養、維護我們學校的基礎設施，在校園的強化和創新上提供支援。光是在2023一年，營運團隊所協調且完成的工程項目就包含了以下： 

• 高中部廣場新增了一個斜坡，包括鋼筋混凝土層的鋪設 
• 更換了C棟800多平方公尺的屋頂防水層和磁磚 
• 高中部資訊共享空間新增了三個多功能房間，以滿足學生學習和協作需求 
• 完成部分外門更換工程，今年已更換A、B和C棟的21扇外門，我們預計用幾年時間來完成此項工作以確保我們的校園安全 
• 將小學A棟一樓的會議室遷移到三樓，原一樓的會議室改為中文教室 
• 更換了戶外網球場的場地表面材質和外部保護網 
• 在所有三個圖書館安裝了LED燈，取代了過往的日光燈管 
• 在高中部走廊、室內網球場和高中部餐廳進行了LED燈的安裝，我們計畫用幾年時間將整個高中部的照明從日光燈升級為LED燈，此為第一年進度 
• 更換了游泳池的LED燈並重新調整位置，以改善照明範圍 
• 更換了高中部餐廳、高爾夫中心和中學部廣場的戶外環保塑木地板和長凳 
• 更換了屋頂排氣風扇和馬達，這是我們三年計劃中的第二年進度 

隨著期末工程結束，施工的聲音逐漸消退，取而代之的是學生興奮歡樂的聲音回歸校園。這些幕前幕後的工程確保了學校安全健康的學習環境，設備和營運團隊也對暑假的工作成果感到十分自豪。然而，他們的工作從未結束，在新學年的幕起之際，這些盡責的團隊已在計畫明年暑假的工程，讓TAS 的學習環境越來越好是他們每一天的工作。