By Lindsey Kundel, Director of Communications and Marketing 

Taipei American School is delighted to announce the appointment of four highly accomplished educational leaders who will be joining the administration for the upcoming school year. These strategic hires reflect the school's commitment to excellence and further strengthen its leadership team. 

Leading the team of integrated advancement professionals, Ms. Caroline Baugh will assume the role of Chief Advancement and External Relations Officer, a role previously held by Dr. Kathy Limmer for the last nine years. Ms. Baugh will oversee the development, alumni relations, communications, and community outreach departments, bringing her extensive experience in cultivating relationships and driving organizational growth. 

Ms. Becky Read will join the school as the new Upper School Principal, replacing Mr. Andrew Lowman. She will contribute her expertise in curriculum development, student support, and fostering a vibrant learning environment. Her leadership will play a vital role in guiding and shaping the Upper School experience for students and faculty. 

In the middle school division, Ms. Karisti Cormier and Dr. Lori Richardson Garcia will serve as Middle School Associate Principals, roles held by long-serving community members, Mr. Gary Pettigrew and Mrs. Megan Pettigrew. Ms. Cormier and Dr. Richardson Garcia’s combined knowledge and dedication to student success will contribute significantly to curriculum planning, student well-being, and fostering a nurturing middle school community. 

The recruitment process for these key positions involved an extensive search facilitated by renowned educational consultants Carney Sandoe and Associates, RG-175, and through our own recruitment methods and networks. Working closely with our faculty, staff, and administrators, the search firms and/or the school’s leadership team identified a pool of highly-qualified finalists. The final selection was made by our esteemed Head of School, Dr. Grace Cheng Dodge. 

Dr. Grace Cheng Dodge expressed her enthusiasm for the new additions, stating, "We are thrilled to welcome these exceptional leaders to Taipei American School. Their diverse backgrounds, skills, and experiences will further elevate our institution and enrich the educational journey of our students." 

The selection process included rigorous interviews, comprehensive reference checks, and careful consideration of feedback from faculty, staff, and administrators. Offers were extended and accepted based on a thorough evaluation of each candidate's qualifications and alignment with the school's mission and values. 

As we embark on this exciting chapter – working on our relatively new school mission, Strategic Plan, WASC accreditation process, and Head of School Search – Taipei American School looks forward to working collaboratively with the entire school community to ensure a smooth transition for all four new leaders. The school remains committed to providing a supportive environment that nurtures growth and delivers an exceptional educational experience. 

For more information and to learn more about these accomplished educational leaders, continue reading below. 

 

Get to Know Caroline Baugh, Your Next Chief Advancement and External Relations Officer

Caroline Baugh will be joining TAS from Paris where she is currently serving as the Director of Enrollment Management, Communications, and Community Relations at the American School of Paris. In her role, she oversees all Advancement functions including the school's enrollment, communications, marketing, and branding strategies, leads a unified community engagement approach, oversees all community events, and has restructured the school’s Annual Fund and contributed to the school’s prior 11 million euro Capital Campaign project.  

She has extensive experience in planning milestone events for schools, she organized a four-day alumni reunion and community celebrations, spanning campus and the wider Paris region for event spaces, for the school’s 70th anniversary and most recently their 75th anniversary and she is thrilled to bring this experience to TAS for our upcoming 75th anniversary. Her prior experience is fundraising focused in independent schools in the USA and she has raised over 12.5 million dollars in Annual Giving, Major Giving, and worked heavily on a $100 million Capital Campaign.  

As a leader in Advancement, Caroline’s work is centered around building strong relationships, fostering communities, and advancing schools’ missions. She is thrilled to join TAS and will be joined in Taipei with her husband Zachary and French bulldog, Gus. 

 

Get to Know Becky Read, Your Next Upper School Principal

Becky Read will be joining TAS from Casablanca, Morocco, where she is currently the deputy head of academics and principal at George Washington Academy. Throughout her 27-year career in education, Becky has stayed current with research and promoted academic excellence and pedagogical rigor, all while attending to the distinct social-emotional needs of adolescents. Becky is a proponent of shared educator efficacy and has introduced or strengthened professional collaboration at all her schools. Additionally, Becky has improved grading and reporting in her schools to make it more reflective of what students know and can do. Becky has also participated on WASC and MSA-accreditation teams and is the coordinator for George Washington Academy’s re-accreditation process. Previously, Becky was the middle school principal on the Pudong campus of the Shanghai American School and worked in public education in Vermont in the United States. 

As an advocate, as well as an educator, Becky devotes her time, effort, and resources to creating schools in which collaboration, inclusion, creativity, and excellence are parts of the dominant culture. Becky was on the Executive Council of the Vermont Principals’ Association, served on the legislative committee, and the Federal Relations Coordinator. In these roles, she advocated for children and families, and underserved populations. Overseas, Becky has worked with other schools and organizations to support families and has done outreach to improve training opportunities for local educators outside of her school. Becky sees her professional purpose being “to grow citizens that honor diversity and fairness, reach for new and better ideas, and stride confidently toward the future.” 

Becky graduated from the State University of New York at Potsdam with a B.A. in History and holds an M. Ed. in Educational Leadership from Union Institute and University. She holds a professional educator’s license for principal and superintendent from the state of Vermont. 

Becky has an adult son who works in pharmaceuticals and lives in the United States and has a partner who will be teaching in Tanzania. She is looking forward to joining TAS and becoming part of the community. 

 

Get to Know Karisti Cormier, One of Your Next Middle School Associate Principals

Karisti Cormier will be joining TAS from a career of teaching and leading from around the world. She has spent this year teaching Grade 8 English at The American School in London. Prior to that, Karisti served as both MS Associate Principal and MS Principal at the Anglo-American School of Moscow (AAS). During her six years at AAS, she led, directed, and oversaw Middle School student life, faculty development, and divisional organization. Specific areas of focus included strengthening the MS advisory program, reviewing and solidifying the MS Standards-Based Grading practices, and creating a system for student-driven electives. In addition, Karisti served as a co-lead for AAS’s NEASC ACE Accreditation self-study. 

Prior to Moscow, Karisti held the roles of Middle School Humanities teacher, English teacher, Grade 8 Dean of Students, and High School English and French teacher across four countries and five schools. In her 28 years in education, 24 of them have been spent in middle-level education. She is excited to be joining the TAS Middle School. She brings a passion for working with young adults and feels the best part of being a middle school educator is helping students find their voice and discover their passions. Creating opportunities for both the academic, social, and emotional parts of learning is at the heart of her work. Karisti earned her B.A. from the University of Northern Iowa and her M.A. from the University of Iowa. She has also earned a post-master's certification in Educational Leadership from The College of New Jersey, 

When not at school, Karisti enjoys reading, traveling and cooking. She also loves checking out the local sites in her new home city. She is excited to be back in Asia and looking forward to exploring the wonders that Taiwan has to offer. 

 

Get to Know Lori Richardson Garcia, One of Your Next Middle School Associate Principals

Lori Richardson Garcia will be moving into the role of Middle School Associate Principal after 12 years as a Middle School Counselor at TAS. In addition to her counseling role, at TAS Lori has served as MS Student Support Services Department Chair and MS Counseling Team Leader while also supporting community well-being on several iterations of the school-wide Wellness Task Force, MS JEDI team, and MS Rock Climbing Club. Lori brings a wealth of experience and understanding of middle school students to the role, and she is committed to creating opportunities for middle schoolers to connect with each other and the adults in their lives while also exploring their interests and finding their strengths. 

Prior to TAS, Lori worked in middle and high schools in Virginia and North Carolina, USA. Lori graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. in Psychology and earned her M.Ed. in School Counseling from the University of Virginia. She earned her Ed. D in Educational Leadership from East Carolina University in 2019, completing her dissertation on strengthening community partnerships in international schools.  

In her spare time, Lori enjoys reading, traveling, and exploring the restaurants and parks in Taipei. She and her husband, Raul, have a 2-year-old son and will welcome their second child this spring. She is excited to continue working with the TAS community in a new role next year!