The construction of an international school in New Taipei City, the first school of its kind in the municipality, broke ground in Linkou District (林口) on Wednesday and prospective students are to be enrolled in the fall next year.
The school, whose Chinese name translates as New Taipei City Huamei International American School (新北市華美國際美國學校), adopts the middle-school system of California with a US-based curriculum and includes grade six through grade 12.
The school plans to enroll 356 US or foreign-passport holding students, school board spokesman Chen Sheng (陳盛) said.
College admission consultants are to be employed to help students who want to attend colleges and universities in the US and other countries, Chen said.
Many New Taipei City-based foreign nationals send their children to Taipei for school, where the majority of international schools are located, but those schools have been overwhelmed, with up to 800 students waiting to be enrolled each year, he said.
School founder Liang Hao-hsi (梁顥曦) got permission from the American Institute in Taiwan in 2011 and the authorization of the New Taipei City’s Education Department last year to establish the school, Chen said.
The Liang family has been living in the US for more than 40 years and said that the Californian education system encourages the potential and creativity of young students, Chen said.
Non-American foreign students can be admitted to the school if they pass an entrance exam, Chen said.
The first stage of the campus construction project will cost about NT$110 million (US$3.5 million) to build classrooms and administrative units, and the second stage of the project is to include a gymnasium and a swimming pool, he said.
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