The Dragon's Tale
The Biweekly Newsletter of the Kaohsiung American School
2019-2020, Issue #10: January 13th
Dear KAS Families,
親愛的家長您好:
Happy New Year and welcome to 2020! We hope every KAS family enjoyed the winter break, and we are glad to come back together for a new school term. During the winter holiday our facilities team was hard at work improving and refreshing the campus to provide an even better environment for learning, and we hope as you visit campus you enjoy the improvements.
新年快樂以及歡慶2020的到來!我們希望每個KAS家庭都充分享受了寒假的時光,我們很開心看到大家回來上學。在寒假當中我們的設備團隊很努力的在維修保養學校的設施,為大家創造一個更佳的學習環境,我們希望您來校園時都能感受到設備的更新。
You may notice fresh paint on the front of the school, including the waiting areas on Cuei-Hua, the refreshed KAS sign on the corner of Cuei-Hua and Sheng Li, fresh stain and repaired wood in our high school courtyard and railings, new outdoor bench surfaces outside of several classrooms, and fresh paint throughout our performing arts center and on our stairs by the soccer field. We also installed 19 brand new countertops with improved materials throughout our classrooms, and remodeled a classroom to better support science learning. These are just some of the many projects completed over the winter break to ensure that KAS remains the best campus for student learning. Kudos to the facilities team for their work over the break. Thank you to our Board of Directors for allowing and supporting these improvements.
也許您已經注意到大門以及翠華路上的等待區域的新上色油漆,翠華與勝利路轉角上新的KAS標誌,高中廣場的木頭修補以及新補漆、校園內扶手欄杆的維修補漆。幾間教室外也有換上新的戶外木製長凳,延伸到表演中心補上油漆,還有在足球場旁邊的大樓梯重新粉刷。另外,還有19間教室中流理檯更換較適合的材質面板。我們重新規劃設計1間教室來支援更好的科學教學環境。這些只是一些在寒假中所完成的許多維護計畫的一部分,確保KAS依然是對學生學習最好的校園。全都歸功於設備團隊他們在寒假中努力的工作。也感謝學校董事會應允及支持學校的維護改善工程。
Speaking of campus improvements, if you walk by the history hallway on our 3rd floor behind the lecture hall you will see some changes in progress. As we approach our 30th anniversary celebration on February 22, 2020, we are reimaging this space to tell the story of the last 30 years of Kaohsiung American School. We are even saving space to tell the story of our next 30 years. We look forward to opening this newly designed space to the entire community on February 22. Stay tuned for more details soon.
說到校園環境的改善,如果您有經過3樓演講廳後方的歷史走廊,您也會發現到一些新的改變正在著手進行中。當我們即將在2月22日迎來30週年校慶活動,我們重思了該如何在這個地方展示關於高雄美國學校過去30年來的故事。我們很期待在2月22日與大家分享這塊重新設計過的展示空間,持續鎖定,我們將為您送上更多消息。
Please note that we will have school during normal hours on Thursday, January 23. On Friday, January 24 will begin our Lunar New Year school holiday. School will reconvene on Thursday, January 30.
請注意我們1月23日星期四還是有正常上課。1月24日星期五開始放農曆年假期,1月30日星期四開始上課。
We wish each and every KAS family a happy and prosperous Lunar New Year!
希望您以及每個KAS家庭都有一個開心且豐收的農曆新年!
Kind regards,
Dr. Ploeger, Superintendent 總校長
Ms. Rock, High School Principal 高中校長
Mr. Payne, Middle School Principal 國中校長
Mr. Coyle, Elementary School Principal 小學校長
MS News
Dear KAS Middle School Families:
親愛的中學部家長們:
Happy Year of the Rat at KAS Middle School and start of the spring 2020 semester. I am so proud of our students’ outstanding achievement. Fall semester International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Program (MYP) grades were excellent. The whole school Grade Point Average is over 3.0, making KAS MS truly an honors school. Individual student honor roll certificates will be distributed in Advisory classes next week. Congratulations on all our students’ hard work!
祝中學部的大家鼠年快樂以及2020學年春季有個好的開始!我非常以學生傑出的表現為傲。上學期學生的IBMYP成績都很出色。全中學的平均成績都超過3.0,這使KAS真的成為一所榮譽學校。學生個人的榮譽獎狀將在下週的各Advisory教室頒發。恭喜學生的努力獲得成果!
At this time I’m also happy to announce that at our spring annual awards assembly, we will recognize our first ever IB MYP Learner Profile Awards. Students in each grade level will be recognized in each category. Students will be nominated by peers and staff, and selected by staff panels. The IB Learner Profile represents our goal for each of our students upon graduation and is deeply connected to the core values of our school:
同時,我也很開心宣佈我們春季的頒獎典禮將會舉行有史以來第一個IBMYP學習者特質的獎項。各年級學生都會在各類別的獎項中得到認可。同學、教職員將會提名學生,並由教職員小組選拔。IB學習者特質代表了我們期許學生在畢業時都能達到這些特質,也是與學校的核心理念是密切相關的。
Alumni corner 校友天地
Meet Herbert Chang
A class of 2014 KAS alumni, Herbert attended Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, and triple majored in mathematics, quantitative social science (economics), and a design major called the Senior Fellowship. This creative approach to learning meant that Herbert was able to write a novel and essay about one of his favorite topics, artificial intelligence (AI). He credits being inspired by teachers at KAS who were great at teaching and passionate about their own subjects. Discovering a passion for AI led Herbert to pursue and achieve a Master’s degree in Artificial Intelligence.
Herber是畢業於2014的校友,就讀於就讀於新罕布什爾州的達特茅斯學院,並同時修讀於數學、經濟學、和設計學三個學位。這個創新的學習方式代表著Herbert能夠寫出一篇小說和論文有關於他最喜歡的人工智能的題目。他認為KAS裡擅長於教學且對自己學科充滿熱情的老師啟發了他。對於人工智能的熱情促使Herbert去追求並取得了人工智能的碩士學位。
Herbert described KAS as a place with a tight-knit community where it’s easy to tune in to your friend’s interests. He shares, “College admission can feel like a competition, but I learned at KAS it’s really possible to help each other succeed,” as he points out that his fellow KAS alumna, Jennifer Kuo, was accepted and enrolled at the same Ivy League school during the same graduation year.
Herbert 描述說,KAS是個容易喜歡朋友興趣的緊密聯繫社區。他說,“大學申請感覺就像一場競賽,但在KAS裡幫助他人成功是可能的,”他指出Jennifer Kuo,他的KAS同學也同樣在畢業的那年獲得了同樣是長春藤盟校的入學許可。
He describes his high school academic experience as critical to his success. “The IB diploma emphasizes understanding over memorization. The ToK essay is a similar example. In college and during job interviews, the argument is more important than the answer. I liked the IB program a lot and at Dartmouth, it prepared me better than the students who took APs.”
他將自己的高中學習經驗描述為自己成功的關鍵。“國際大學預科文憑課程強調於理解大於記憶。知識論的論文就是個類似的例子。在大學裡,或是工作的面試中,論點比答案更重要。我喜歡國際大學預科文憑。在達特茅斯學院,比起修習AP的學生,國際大學預科文憑使我準備得更好。”
Herbert’s future is even brighter and connects him back to Taiwan. He is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism where he is studying social movements such as the political situation in Hong Kong by using ‘big data’. Herbert shares why he is so invested in this topic: “The next few years will be important for Taiwan’s democracy, and I’ll also be back to research the elections.” KAS is very proud of you, Herbert, and you inspire our students to follow in your path!
Herbert的未來更加明亮並且把他和台灣聯繫起來。他現在是南加州大學的安納伯格傳播暨新聞學院的博士生,修讀有關於以大數據研究社會運動,例如:香港的政治局勢。他分享為何他對這個話題如此投入了的原因:“未來的幾年對台灣的民主至關重要,我也將回來研究選舉。”Herbert~KAS以你為榮!你激勵我們的學生跟隨著你的道路!
KAS alumni stories are featured regularly in our newsletter. To share an update or join us at an upcoming reunion or on campus, get in touch at alumni@kas.tw or via our Official KAS Alumni Facebook page.
KAS校友的故事會定期於KAS週報上刊登。想與我們分享你的近況,或參與即將到來的校友會活動,請與我們聯絡alumni@kas.tw 或是KAS校友會於臉書的官方粉絲團。
College Corner
Greg Bishop College Counselor 大學輔導老師
Jill Newman College Counselor 大學輔導老師
Happy New Year everyone!
Each year, statistics seem to be on everyone’s radar, especially when it comes to ED and top tier schools. We are all interested in past year’s admit rates as well as exact percentages and the reasons behind them. The following excerpt is directed to the class of 2024 and taken from a US company that relies heavily on statistics for its college placements.
大家每年似乎都有錄取雷達, 尤其提早錄取或是被名校錄取。我們對於過去的錄取百分比以及錄取的原因都相當感興趣, 以下是美國一間公司針對2024年將申請大學的學生所做的大學排名統計數據。
UPS AND DOWNS
Unlike past years that saw big gains in everyone’s early numbers, this year was more of a mixed bag. Brown saw its number of early decision applicants grow by 8 percent, on top of a 21 percent increase in ED last year. Cornell, too, saw its pool grow by 7.4 percent and a news release from the university reminds us that the number of early decision applicants has grown 90 percent over the last decade.
Harvard saw its pool decrease by nearly 8 percent over last year to 6,958 early applicants. The last time Harvard saw its early pool decrease was in the fall of 2013 for applicants to the Class of 2018. Duke’s early decision pool decreased by 552 students (11.4 percent) over last year. Dartmouth’s early decision pool decreased by 16 percentage points over last year to 2,069. Likewise, Penn saw its early decision applicant pool drop by 9 percent from the record level reached last fall.
Natural disasters, global economic uncertainty, teacher strikes, and demographic trends are cited by admissions deans as possible explanations for declining early pools. It could also be that savvy students are being more strategic in how they use their early option, aiming for a surer bet rather than going for the long-shot.
WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR
Diversity of background continues to be a key priority in the selection process. Schools are working actively to build more diversity into their applicant pools through targeted outreach and partnerships with organizations like Questbridge.
Several schools made particular mention of greater numbers of low income and first-generation college students among the group offered admission. These hooks are clear institutional priorities increasingly supported through the admissions process.
Both Cornell and Penn are schools that went big for legacy admits, with 22 percent and 24 percent of the ED admits, respectively, being the children of alumni.
Many schools with binding early decision programs will admit 45-50+ percent of their incoming class through the early process. Doing so ensures that they can lock in a solid foundation for their incoming class and reduce yield volatility.
As you can see, institutional priorities change every year in the college selection process so the focus isn’t necessarily on top GPA, top grades & perfect SAT scores although they still play an important part in most acceptances.
如您所見, 錄取的優先順序每年都在變, 所以不見得GPA很高, 或是各項成績, SAT拿高分就一定錄取, 但是這些仍然是重要的環節。
We Are KAS
KAS strives to be one of the finest American International Schools in the World. KAS challenges students to achieve academic excellence and prepares them to be balanced individuals, independent learners, and global citizens.
Kaohsiung American School (KAS) is a private, non-profit, co-educational Pre K – 12 institution offering an American, college preparatory program leading to a US high school diploma and the opportunity for an IB Diploma.
KAS is located in the northern area of Kaohsiung city, the second largest city in Taiwan with 1.5 million inhabitants. Kaohsiung American School was established in 1989 as an elementary school serving the needs of local and expatriate families with children.
Email: admissions@kas.tw
Website: www.kas.tw
Location: 813, Taiwan, 高雄市左營區翠華路889號
Phone: 07-586-3300
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KaohsiungAmericanSchool/
Twitter: @kaohsiungas