2020-2021, Issue #8: November 30

Dear KAS Community,
親愛的KAS家人：

KAS students really shined this week in the opening session of this year’s Winter Concert. The performances we saw this week were world-class, and we all enjoyed the music we heard. When we see and hear such wonderful performances, we must also recognize what we don’t see so easily - the hard work, the hours and hours of practice, and the frustration of getting something wrong and the joy of later getting it right that happens along the journey to prepare for such an event. Congratulations to each of our performers.

KAS的學生在本週冬季音樂會的開幕式上，表現確實出眾。 本週我們看到的表演是世界一流的，我們很喜歡所聽到的演奏。 當我們看見並聆聽到如此精彩的表演時，我們還必須表揚我們不那麼容易看到的東西-艱苦的準備工作。為了這個演出，一路上不停歇的練習、出錯時的挫敗感以及後來將其修正的喜悅。 請為我們每一位表演者喝采。

In the future, hopefully sooner rather than later, we will return to our traditional Winter Concert format where we can invite families to join in the auditorium. Until then, here are a few pictures and videos of what we have seen so far:

在將來，希望是在不久後，我們能夠回到傳統的冬季音樂會模式，可以邀請家長您至音樂廳欣賞學生的演奏。在那之前，這裡有一些最近演出的照片和影片請您欣賞：

This week we’ll continue sharing more information about our efforts in our Schoolwide Action Plan to further improve learning at KAS. As a reminder, the Schoolwide Action Plan outlines goals in four key areas:
本週我們將繼續分享更多關於Schoolwide Action Plan的資訊，旨在促進KAS的學習環境，作為提醒，Schoolwide Action Plan涵蓋了四個關鍵領域的目標：

1. Curriculum 課程

2. Social-emotional learning and wellness 社交情感學習和健康

3. Implementing and reviewing our updated Child Protection Policy實施和審查我們最新的兒童保護政策

4. Staffing and compensation 職員和薪資
   
   

In the last few newsletters, we shared some details about Goals 1, 2, and 3. These important goals drive our work for improving our instructional program. Now that we’ve discussed those goals, this week we’ll focus on goal 4: staffing and compensation. Goal 4 in our Schoolwide Action Plan is: “The Board adjusts faculty compensation and salary to be competitive with the regional average within 5 years, and strategically addresses additional staffing needs.” This week we’ll share the history of why this goal was established, and what it means for students, and some recent actions taken by our Board of Directors to create a better future for KAS.
在最近幾次的信件中，我們分享了關於第一、二和三的目標。這些重要的目標帶領我們改善我們的教育課程。現在就和您分享本週的重點，目標4: 職員和薪資。在我們的SchoolWide Action Plan裡，目標4指出：董事會在五年內調整職員的薪資和津貼，使其符合地區水平、保持競爭力。 並從策略上滿足額外的人員配置需求。 本週，我們將分享建立該目標的歷程以及其對學生的意義，以及近期一些董事會為了創造更好的學校所做的重要決策。

KAS always has been and always will be a non-profit school. That means that every tuition dollar is used for education – the school never makes a profit. So, every year, the programs and staffing we offer are based on funding resource levels.
KAS一直以來，當然也包含未來，都會一直是一所非以營利為目的的學校。這也意味著學費的每一分一毫都是用在學生的教育上面，學校不會從其中獲利。因此，每一年，我們所提供的課程和人員都是根據資金的水平來決定。

As a school, over the last three decades we have grown, improved, even transformed. Starting with just 20 students in 1989 learning together in a vacant hospital dormitory, we now have the largest enrollment and largest waitlist that we’ve ever had in a fall semester, and we learn together in one of the best facilities in our region.
身為一所學校，過去30年來我們力求發展、進步、甚至是改革。從1989年創校時僅有20位學生在醫院空的宿舍一起學習，到現在我們的學生人數是有史以來最大，候補名單也是有此以來最長。我們在本地區最好的設施中一起學習。

As we’ve grown in student enrollment and prioritized building a beautiful new campus, our programs have sometimes struggled to keep up with our growth. For example, a normal ratio of counselors to students in American schools is 1:250 but at KAS the ratio is currently 1:531.
隨著學生人數的增長和優先考慮建立美麗的新校園的努力，我們的課程有時候跟不上我們的發展。 例如，在其他的美國學校，輔導老師與學生的正常比例是1：250，但在KAS，目前的比例是1：531。

Another example is in Learning Support. Some schools with students similar to KAS often have one Learning Support teacher for every 100 students, but for us it is one for every 400 students. Or ELL teachers – schools in our region with students like at KAS would have one ELL teacher for about 100 students, but right now we have only one for every 400 students.
另一個例子則是學習輔導的部分。一些與學生比例與KAS相似的學校通常是每100名學生中就配有一位學習輔導老師，但對我們而言，每400名學生中才配得一位。 還有ELL老師也是-在我們地區中其他像KAS這樣的學生比例的學校是一位ELL老師約負責100名學生，但目前，我們是每400名學生只搭配一位ELL老師。

These examples are a few priority areas where, when our staffing catches up to our enrollment growth, we will serve students even better than today.
這幾個範例是在幾個優先目標當中，當我們的人員編制能夠和我們的入學人數達到平衡，我們可以讓現有的學生更加受益。

Likewise, as the school enrollment, campus, and quality have grown, compensation for KAS faculty has gradually fallen further and further below regional averages. What this means for students is that every year it gets harder than it was the previous year to hire and retain the best teachers.

同樣，隨著學校入學率，校園和質量比的提高，KAS教職員的薪資越來越低於地區平均水平。 對學生而言，這意味著與一年一年相比，每年要聘用新老師和留住好的老師比以前困難得多。

The report from the March 2020 visiting committee of our accreditation agency (WASC) highlighted the urgency of solving these challenges, and that’s why this became goal 4 of our Schoolwide Action Plan.
從WASC (美國西部院校評鑑協會)3月份的訪問報告中強調了我們必須解決這些挑戰的迫切性，也是因為這個原因，這變成我們 Schoolwide Action Plan中的第四個目標。

The good news is that we can and we will achieve this goal! In fact, if we just gradually adjust funding resource levels over the next five years to reach the same levels as some of the other international schools in southern Taiwan, we can meet all of these goals.

好消息是我們可以也將勢必實現這個目標的！ 實際上，如果我們在接下來的五年中逐步調整資金資源水平，使其能達到與台灣南部其他國際學校相同的水平，我們就可以實現這所有的目標。

Towards these efforts, the Board of Directors recently approved a 5-year structure that will add one faculty position each year, while gradually adjusting salaries to be competitive in the region. In this process, the Board has taken extreme care to minimize the impact on families, because we all know that every tuition dollar represents a substantial familial commitment, and must be used with the greatest sense of responsibility and accountability. The result will be an outsized positive impact on both the support we offer for students and the compensation we offer faculty, while minimizing challenges for families to the greatest extent possible.
為了這些努力，董事會最近批准了一個為期5年的安排，該安排是將每年增加一名教職，同時逐步調整薪資，使其在本地區具有競爭力。 在此過程中，董事會已格外小心，盡量減少對每個家庭的影響，因為我們都知道，每筆學費都代表著重大的家庭承諾，必須盡到最大程度地的責任和義務。 結果將對我們為學生提供的支持和教師提供的報酬產生巨大的積極影響，同時最大程度地減少家庭面臨的挑戰。

Year after year our graduates move onward to success in university and beyond. But we know that, with sufficient staffing in place, our students will do so much better. We believe our entire community wants the best for our students, and we want to work side by side to create the best opportunities. Thank you for your support!

年復一年，我們的畢業生不斷在大學及其他領域取得成功。 但是我們知道，有了足夠的人員配置，我們的學生可以將可以做得更好。 我們相信整個KAS大家庭都希望能為我們的學生提供最好的，我們希望能與您並肩努力為學生創造最好的機會。 謝謝您的支持！

Sincerely,

Dr. Ploeger, Superintendent 總校長

Ms. Rock, High School Principal 高中校長

Schools with IB Programs (KAS has MYP and DP) are required to undergo an evaluation visit every five years. Our school was scheduled to undergo such a visit last March. Due to restricted travel, the visit was cancelled. This week, IB is visiting KAS virtually, and carrying out the required evaluation visit. Our “visiting” team members are from IB schools in India, Malaysia, and China. They have spoken to teachers, parents, students, board members and administration about how we educate and prepare KAS students for college and for life. Thank you to the students and parents who found time in their busy days to speak to our visiting IB team. The result of the visit will be recommendations to continue the IB quality of the school. It is always helpful to have another set of eyes on the school, an outside perspective to give suggestions and to notice where we are strong.

擁有IB課程的學校(KAS有MYP中學課程及DP國際大學預科文憑)必須每五年進行一次評估訪問。我們學校原定於三月進行這樣的評估訪問。由於旅行禁令，評估訪問因此取消。本週IB視訊訪問了KAS，並進行所需的評估訪談。我們的“訪問”團隊成員來自印度、馬來西亞，與中國的IB學校。他們與老師、家長、學生、董事與行政部門進行訪談，討論我們如何教育並為KAS的學生對大學及生活做好準備。感謝在忙碌生活中抽空前來與IB團隊訪談的學生與家長。訪談的結果是繼續保持學校的IB品質。可以從外部的角度提出建議並發掘到我們的強項總是很有幫助的。

IB Diploma Information Meeting for Parents: On Wednesday January 13, KAS will host a meeting for parents who would like to learn more about the IB Diploma Program (grades 11 and 12). This is especially helpful for parents of current grade 10 students who will be registering for 11th grade in January. The meeting will be held from 3:30 to 4:30pm in the Media Center at KAS. In January, I will email a form for interested parents to be filled out in order to reserve a seat for this meeting.

國際大學預科文憑家長說明會將於1/13星期三舉行。KAS將為希望了解有關於國際大學預科文憑課程的家長進行說明。這對於即將在明年一月為11年級選課的10年級家長特別有幫助。說明會將於下午3:30至4:30假高雄美國學校的多媒體中心舉行。我將於一月以電子郵件發送登記表格給有興趣的家長填寫，以便為此次說明會保留席位。

Ms Deborah Haines, IB/AP Coordinator IB/AP召集人

Dear Parents,

親愛的家長們：

Greetings! With a much prepared safety procedure in place, we would like to welcome you all to visit our athletics home events during school day after hours. Please fill out the visitor's form here one day prior to the event date, for us to better welcome your visit; And to better monitor our campus security, we do ask you to kindly fill out the form every time when you plan to visit your child's athletic event, for us to grant your access with clear information available to our staff personnel.

收信平安，經由相關的安全評估後，我們正式開放各位來參觀平日課後時間於校內舉行的各年級體育活動賽事，煩請各位家長於賽事前一日完成訪客參觀表格來加速我們在人員管控上的流暢。 同時為了維護校園進出安全，麻煩各位家長每次都要填寫您預定前來參觀賽事的日期，這樣我們可以把正確的資訊提供給相關人員，更便利您進出校園。

We will continue to offer streaming services for our athletic home games to your ease of game access.

透過電腦部門的協助， 我們將持續對校內主場的賽事提供線上轉播的服務給大家觀看。

Thank you for your understanding and continuous support to our KAS Athletics Program.

謝謝各位的合作， 與對學校體育活動的鼓勵和支持!

Mr. Ken Su, Athletic Director

This is an exciting week for KAS seniors who will be hearing results from their Early Decision and Early Action schools. Seniors have worked really hard to package an impressive application to top universities around the world. We are just as eager to hear the results as they are! December is a month during which it is essential to practice excellent balance and stress management. Seniors recently took a Brain Break to balance the deadlines and upcoming exams that come this time of year. We hope seniors make good use of the Winter Break for some much deserved time to relax and rest!

這一週讓申請ED或EA的準畢業生們都很興奮，終於有結果了，他們很認真的準備了各一流大學的申請，我們也期待回音！12月是相當重要的月份，學生必需練習管理各種壓力，他們最近有了一次腦力激盪，學習去平衡各個截止日和將來臨的各種考試。我們希望學生們都能好好利用自己的寒假放鬆休息一下！

We enjoyed meeting with G8 Class of 2025 parents recently to talk about what to expect as your student prepares to enter high school and introducing you to College Counseling services at KAS. Thank you for joining us!

我們很高興和8年級的家長們有個機會可以聊聊進入高中有關大學申請的事，謝謝各位參加！

The majority of colleges in the US require the submission of the Mid-Year Report (MYR) as a way to evaluate student progress. The MYR is a form provided by the Common Application or the Coalition. Counselors will submit this form to all school’s with active applications along with an updated transcript, including first semester grades as soon as they are available.

許多美國的大學會要求學年中成績報告來評估學生的學習進度，這份MYR是由Common Application 或 Coalition 提供的，大學申請輔導會將這份表格上傳至申請的各大學，並在校內學期成績出來時提交學年成績單。

Please note that all offers of admission, even in the US, are conditional upon satisfactory completion of your diploma. Colleges and universities expect that students' academic performance for the entire senior year is similar to their historic track record.

請留意在申請時，即便是美國，也同樣要求完整的高中文憑，各大學會期望學生的學業表現和他們的過往記錄相符合。

Parents of the Class of 2022

You are invited to attend a G11 College Information session for Parents on Thursday, January 21 at 2:00 PM in the KAS Lecture Hall (3F). Please sign-up in advance using this form: https://forms.gle/NcgQtwTJVVPD7iH1A

Current juniors will start meeting with their college counselor in individual meetings throughout the spring semester. This is an opportunity to start advising students on how to prepare their college application, testing, essays and forming a balanced college list. We encourage you to talk with your child about shared goals, finances, type of school, and geographic location so that everyone is working as a team. Parents are always invited to meet with us to discuss planning for college! You can contact us directly or make an appointment through Ms. Denise Wu (dwu@kas.tw) in the counseling office.

11年級家長請留意

邀請各位在1月21日星期四下午2：00，出席我們的11年級大學訊息講座，地點是學校3樓演講聽，欲參加者請在以下連結報名：https://forms.gle/NcgQtwTJVVPD7iH1A

11年級生們新學期會開始和大學輔導老師進行個別面談。這時候可以開始給學生有關大學申請的建議，如何準備大學申請，各種考試，論文自傳，以及列出適合的大學志願單等。我們鼓勵您和孩子們聊聊他們的目標，預算規劃，學校的型態以及地點等想法。歡迎家長來找我們談談相關計劃！您可以和辦公室的 Denise Wu （dwu@kas.tw）預約到學校的時間。

Class of 2023 course selection and college considerations

10年級生選課和大學注意事項

G10 sophomores will soon be making important decisions about registering for IB courses for next year. It may seem early, but these decisions will have an impact on the type of university and course of study that is available to you later.

10年級的學生很快就會需要為明年的IB課程做選課決定，看起來似乎有點早，但其實這些決定將影響未來的大學選項和課程安排。

For example, the University of Toronto’s Mechanical Engineering undergraduate program requires a minimum IB score of 30 points and prerequisite courses of either IB Math: Analysis and Approaches HL (strongly recommended), IB Math: Analysis and Approaches SL or IB Math: Applications and Interpretations HL. In addition, IB Chemistry, IB Physics, and IB English are also required.

例如，多倫多大學機械工程專業的本科課程要求IB成績至少30分，並且要求IB數學需具備 : Analysis and Approaches HL （強烈建議）， IB Math: Analysis and Approaches SL，或 IB Math: Applications and Interpretations HL的條件，再加上IB Chemistry， IB Physics， 和 IB English 也都是必需條件。

University of British Columbia’s Commerce (UBC Sauder School of Business) has a minimum requirement of IB Math Analysis and Approaches SL or HL, or IB Math Applications and Interpretations HL -- IB Math Applications and Interpretations SL is not acceptable. They also highly recommend IB English HL, IB Chemistry and IB Physics, and IB Economics.

UBC Sauder商學院對數學成績最低要求則是IB Math Analysis 和 Approaches SL 或 HL, 或是 IB Math Applications 和 Interpretations HL -- IB Math Applications 和 Interpretations SL 是不會被接受的，他們也強烈建議學生選修IB English HL, IB Chemistry 和 IB Physics, IB Economics等課程。

In the UK, for example, King’s College London’s Business Management program requires students score 35 points or higher on IB exams, with a score of 766 in three Higher Level subjects, including at least one social science at the HL level.

在英國，例如King’s College的商業管理課程，要求學生至少要通過IB測驗拿到至少35分或更高，在三科HL的科目取得至少766的總分，其中包含至少一門HL社會科學課。

The University of Washington’s Allen School for Computer Science says that most students selected have taken science and math every year of high school, and most have taken calculus. It is not necessary to take computer programming in high school, or to have computer-related work experience but it is encouraged if you have the opportunity!

The University of Washington 的艾倫學院計算機科學指出，大多數學生在高中每年都有數學和科學相關科目，而大部份都會選修微積分，其實沒有必要在高中時就選修電腦相關科目，但如果有機會，我們鼓勵學生去試看看！

If you would like to discuss course selection and considerations for college admissions, please contact us to schedule a time to meet, talk by phone or email.

若您希望聊聊選課和大學入學問題，請和我們約時間見面，或電話，email溝通皆可。

Upcoming College Visits to KAS:

即將到來的大學訪問：

12/09/20 09:30AM University of La Verne

All college visits are listed on the KAS Public calendar and also appear at the bottom of the home page on the KAS website. Students and parents are welcome to attend and ask questions.

所有的大學參訪都可以在KAS公開行事曆上找到資訊，或在KAS網站主頁的下方也都能找到。學生和家長都歡迎到場提問。

Find your student’s college counselor. Last name letter starts with:

根據姓氏排序認識您的大學輔導：

A - L Cerise Roth-Vinson, crothvinson@kas.tw

字母A-L Cerise Roth-Vinson, crothvinson@kas.tw

M - Z Jill Newman, jnewman@kas.tw

字母M-Z Jill Newman, jnewman@kas.tw

We invite you to meet with us in person to answer questions and plan for higher education.