Pacific American School
| Established | 2007 |
|---|---|
| School type | Private International School |
| Head of School | Ms. Pamela Chu |
| Location | 3F, No. 151, Section II, Kuang-Fu Road, Hsinchu 30071 Taiwan, Republic of China |
| Phone | +886.3.571.7070 +886.3.611.5056 |
| Tuition | Grade 1 - 5 NT$ 155,000 Grade 6 - 12 NT$ 205,000 |
| Campus | Urban |
| Sports teams | Typhoons |
| School colors | Red and Blue |
| Website | www.pacificamerican.org |
Pacific American School (PAS) (Chinese: 亞太美國學校) is a private, for-profit, international school with an American curriculum based in Hsinchu, Taiwan ROC. The school was founded in 2007, offering an American Curriculum, with complete instruction in English for students grades K to 12. PAS has recently become a candidate for accreditation by the WASC. It is recognized by American Institute in Taiwan and the Taiwan Ministry of Education.
Admission requires a non-Taiwanese passport. English competency is tested for, but due to the school's young age, limited English students are currently allowed quite regularly into the ESL programs offered. Current enrollment for the 2009-10 school year is near 200 students.
Tuition is upwards of 400,000 NTD (12,000 USD) per year.
Contents |
Operation: Typhoon
Pacific American School provides students with a diverse education focusing on integrity, critical-thinking, leadership and creativity that enable them to thrive in the knowledge-based economies of the 21st Century. The school’s rigorous and engaging curriculum utilizes cutting-edge technology in a supportive environment involving parents, students, teachers and administration as a community to ensure life-long achievement.— Pacific American School Mission Statement
Facilities are supported by Kuang Fu High School and National Tsing Hua University. PAS has their own playground equipment including a climbing wall. The roof is also used as a multi-purpose surface for basketball, volleyball, hockey and tennis. A 200m outdoor track is also available.
PAS is equipped with a complete wireless network covering all indoor areas of the school. Indoor facilities encompass 4 science laboratories, 1 computer lab, 1 library, 1 dance studio, 1 auditorium, 2 art rooms, 1 music room, 1 clinic, 1 table tennis lounge, 1 cafeteria and various classrooms. The school also supports dormitory facilities for students from various cities of Taiwan.
Pacific American School has two tracks for grades 9-12. The first track is the University Preparatory Track. It consists of a minimum of 23 classes designed to prepare students to enter American and international universities. Graduation requirements include 2 credits of Social Studies/History, 4 credits of Language Arts, 3 credits of Math, 2 credits of Science, 3 credits of Foreign Language with French, Mandarin, and Spanish as choices, 2 credits of Fine Arts Appreciation, and seven elective credits. Electives include Applied Technology I and II, Individual and Team Sports, Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science Electives.
Seniors are required to complete a Presentation/Senior Portfolio. The course is designed to ensure seniors have essential skills for university. The course consists of Speech, university-level writing, and reflection on the student experience at Pacific American School. All senior students present their portfolios to the graduation board as a final condition of graduation.
Sixty hours of Community Service are built into the Presentation/Senior Portfolio. Community Services is a requirement for graduation. Students present their portfolios to the graduation board as a final condition of graduation.
The Advanced Placement Track at Pacific American School is designed to graduate students with advanced standing. The purpose of the program is to allow students to earn university level credits while still in high school, so that they can focus on upper division courses when entering universities. This also helps students enter graduate school at a younger age.
Part of Pacific American School’s philosophy is that all students should have the right to an advanced education as an essential in order to survive and thrive in knowledge-based societies.
Twenty five courses are available in the Advanced Placement Track. They include 2 credits of Social Studies/History and one credit of either AP American History or AP World History. Requirements for Language Arts are 3 credits, with 1 credit of AP Language Arts. Four credits of Math are required, with AP Calculus as the final requirement in Senior year. Science requirements include 3 credits plus either AP Chemistry of AP Physics. Foreign Language requirements are 3 credits plus one credit of either AP French, Spanish or Mandarin. Two Fine Arts credits are required, and 4 elective courses are required in Applied Technology and Individual and Team Sports. Courses are offered as needed.
In order to assist students with low-level language ability to mainstream into grade level classrooms in the shortest possible time, Pacific American School offers a Sheltered Program to boost language learning through the content areas. Pacific American School’s Sheltered Program includes Literature, Science, and Social Studies. It allows the student to participate in classes at his/her own grade level on a part-time basis and reducing the isolation tendencies of traditional ESL programs. As soon as language skills are adequate to succeed in regular classes, the student leaves the program.
Pacific American School’s Sheltered Program teaches strategies for efficiently understanding advanced subject areas and develops the four language skills through Group Work, Projects and Presentations. It adopts simpler language, graphics, and organization to make content more understandable, while giving students opportunities to use English in class without embarrassment and fear. Students with motivation and incentive can move through the program rapidly for early integration into at-level content classes.
Pacific American School offers a variety of club activities for all the elementary and middle school students. High school students are free to organize their own clubs according to their interests and needs. In participation of the club activities, students learn to be part of a team and to respect each other as different individual. Some high school clubs include:
PAS offers an extremely rigorous Model United Nations program for selected high school students. Ranging from local to international conferences, PAS students have participated actively as delegates, ambassadors, and chairpersons in conferences such as:
http://pacificamerican.org/pas/