Letter to Alumni

HEAD OF SCHOOL LETTER TO ALUMNI

Dear Alumni, Happy Year of the Tiger to our Tigers near and far! Although we certainly think that every year is the year of the Tiger here at Taipei American School, it is exciting that in my first official year of headship I am able to yell it from the proverbial mountain tops. What an incredible year to be a Tiger. I am grateful to be able to lead such a resilient and vibrant school, a school that continues to grow just as our students, employees, and alumni continue to do throughout their lifetimes, proudly calling themselves Tigers long after leaving our campus. This year, the Alumni Office has made a concerted effort to deepen its relationship with each one of you, and it is my hope that you will join us in making this the best Year of the Tiger that it can possibly be. This year alone the Alumni Office has sponsored (or co-sponsored) over twenty events, each designed to meet you in your journey wherever you are. We hope to continue to learn with and from each of you. One area of school life that I would like to draw your attention to is our continued commitment to the principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI). In the TAS Community Commitment drafted and approved by the School’s leadership team nearly two years ago, we intentionally commit our entire community - including the alumni community - to fostering a culture of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion that embodies anti-bias action and accountability. This year, we are so proud and thankful that alumni like you have taken this commitment to heart, helping us to achieve a consistent message between our school’s past, present and future as we strive to help everyone develop a deeper understanding of our own identities, biases, privileges and choices. In this school year alone… • The Alumni Office has often partnered with the TAS Cultural

Connection (TASCC) parent group and my office to offer several different learning opportunities that bridge the parent and alumni community. Alumni Officer Connie Ma and upper school teacher Darby Sinclair offered two parent workshops on “Understanding Our Identities” in October 2021. Nine of those parents who attended volunteered to become trainers who would lead workshops for other parents and participated in a

“Train the Trainer” session facilitated by both Connie Ma and lower school librarian Brianna Pannell in February 2022. • The TASCC and the Alumni Office also brought in Shawna

Yang Ryan to discuss her book “Green Island.” She talked about her experiences in Taiwan as a Taiwanese American. The Alumni

Office also brought in author Abigail Hing Wen to discuss Asian

American Identity with the parent and alumni community. She also spoke with middle and upper school children. • Several TAS alumni have banded together to create a DEIthemed podcast to discuss topics including how aspects of our identity intersect to impact discrimination, mental health, microaggressions, and more. Victoria Yeh ’16 and Brendan

Wong ’17, created “Taipei Tiger Talk” in collaboration with

the school’s JEDI organization and have met with both the

Communications and Alumni Offices along with the TASCC to broaden its reach. Suffice to say, it’s exciting to see such a strong commitment from our historical base as fired up about this important work as we are here on campus. At the end of last school year when I wrote a letter to you as your interim Head of School, I was excited to introduce the alumni community to the revised mission statement and the TAS Strategic Plan covering the years 2021-2026. We are well into the first year of this plan, a plan which provides a clear and important framework for the School’s largest shared goals. The fifth (and final) category of this plan is called “Strengthening the TAS Community,” and it includes clear language that inspires me on a daily basis. Essentially, over the next four years, I want you to stay tuned for even more communication from me and from TAS as we continue to engage and build a culture that supports each Tiger. One part of this multifaceted strategic area relates to the TAS brand - what we stand for both internally within our own community and externally. A school’s brand is not its logo, tagline, or stationery; rather, it includes an organization’s reputation, emotional resonance, history, and much more. A stronger understanding of our brand will ultimately help us to strengthen the TAS community through a shared understanding of who we are (and who we are not). I’ve made this effort a major priority to ensure that we’re doing our very best to invite families and faculty to see TAS for who we really are. In my time as Head of School, I’ve observed that we often struggle to articulate clearly what makes us unique, and what our unique approach to whole-child education means for our students. It’s time we work together to construct a way of expressing ourselves that is both authentic and compelling, from the inside out. This project is NOT about changing who or what we are. In fact, it’s about codifying the BEST of the School so that we can all continue to talk about TAS with consistency, clarity, and confidence. I look forward to sharing more about the project with you as it progresses. Ultimately, it is our hope and objective to have a clear brand, clarified through community participation and input, one that reflects both our organization’s rich history and our aspirations for the future, as outlined in our mission statement, to guide both operational and communications decisions going forward. I invite you to come along with us for the exciting year we still have before us. Whether you attend an alumni event, volunteer your time, or return to learn on our campus virtually, we hope to connect with each one of you. May you and your family remain in good health and keep the Tiger spirit with you until we are able to see you in person again soon.

With thanks,

Grace Cheng Dodge, Ed.D Head of School