Chingshin Academy

Chingshin Academy is a non-profit, private day school offering both a Mandarin language and bilingual English curriculum. Graduates matriculate with a Taiwanese high school diploma, with the option for a dual TVO-ILC Canadian government high school diploma equivalent. Founded in 1951, Chingshin Academy began as a nursery school and kindergarten. Subsequently, it expanded upward to fill the needs of its student body by adding an elementary school in 1956, a middle school in 1968, and finally a high school in 2019. Now it is a pre- K through 12th grade complete school, offering students a continuous 15-year college-preparatory education.
==History==
In February 1951, Mrs. Jing-Yi Shi Chiang established a nursery school called, "Chingshin Children's Paradise", located at No. 58, Section 1, Guiyang Street, Taipei City to fill the early education needs of military families who moved to Taiwan with young children. In June, Chingshin Nursery began accepting children from ages 4 months to 3 years old. Two months later, in August, Chingshin Kindergarten was established, enrolling students from ages 3 to 6.
In 1956, General Wei Kuo Chiang donated NTD$2 million to start the elementary school, constructing a building housing nine classrooms and a multi-purpose space, named Zhongzheng Hall.
In 1968, the middle school began accepting students, allowing its elementary school graduates to smoothly matriculate upwards. Chingshin Elementary School was moved to a new site in August of the same year.
In 1975, Chingshin Kindergarten was legally merged under the Private Chingshin Elementary School. In 1978, the kindergarten and nursery school, still at the original site of Guiyang Street, were moved to join the elementary and middle school. In 1982, a modern four-story activity center was built as a nursery school and multifunctional classrooms. In 1984, another four-story building was built to serve as the middle school, featuring various specialized classrooms.
In 2008, the Board of Directors initiated a full campus remodel hiring internationally renowned Taiwan architect Kris Yao, head of Artech. The renovation resulted in a new and more spacious, technology advanced campus. In the same year, the Board merged the primary and secondary schools for streamlining administrative and resource efficiency. They officially changed the school’s name to "Taipei Private Chingshin Elementary and Middle School”.
On October 3, 2018, Chingshin Academy received approval by the Education Bureau of Taipei City Government to be restructured into the "Taipei Private Chingshin Senior High School with Elementary and Kindergarten Attached”. On March 29, 2019, Chingshin Academy’s high school division known as "Taipei Private Chingshin High School was officially inaugurated. 
==Campus==
Chingshin Academy completed an 11-year campus wide renovation project in 2019 with three new buildings and a gut renovation of its original elementary school building from 1968.
The new facilities include a new kindergarten, English center, multi-sport ball court, HACCP certified in-house kitchen, 25 meter 6 lane pool, award winning technology center with robotics lab, 4 English libraries, laboratories for all sciences (physics, chemistry, life sciences, earth science), 324 seat auditorium, cafeteria, calligraphy rooms etc.
==Academics==
===Courses===
Chingshin Academy follows the curriculum standards promulgated by the Taiwanese Ministry of Education. It also houses specialty centers for inhouse curriculum research, development, and implementation.
===Chingshin’s Center for International Education===
Chingshin Academy has a dedicated English Center to implement bilingual education and to directly hire foreign teachers to teach English courses. The center hosts in-school as well as national English competitions, curates literary resources for students, and acts as a testing site for SAT and English proficiency tests (Cambridge Assessment English). For high school students, the center offers Spanish, French, and German language courses.
Every year, the center arranges exchanges and seminar activities with international schools from Japan and India, to Canada and the United States. Chingshin Academy’s fifth graders participate in a home-stay exchange with San Francisco based Chinese American International School (CAIS) where students take turns hosting each other in their home country. Additionally, it also plans student exchanges with UK Kent County Public School, Yisheng Elementary School and participates every year in the Volunteer Service Course in Los Angeles, California.
===Chingshin’s Technology Center===
On May 26th, 2017 Chingshin Academy became the first school in Taiwan to introduce STEM courses in Mandarin to its student body. The curriculum designed by Chingshin Middle and Primary School, added the field of art and humanities, “Art” to the four STEM curriculum to develop a meditation-specific STEAM curriculum.
The team further integrated Carnegie Mellon’s specialized "STEM" program into its own “STREAM” curriculum for elementary to high school students. It differentiates itself from Carnegie Mellon’s STEM program with the addition of “Art” and “Research” to the original acronym. 
===Chingshin’s Outdoor Education Center===
In 2017, Chingshin built an outdoor experiential learning classroom in partnership with a 50 acre exploration park. The Outdoor Education Center developed a K-12 spiral model curriculum to scaffold facing challenges and problem solving through a variety of tasks including river tracing, mountaineering, tight rope walking, and a plethora of team-based activities.
===Chingshin’s Music Center===
The music center oversees the school’s K-12 music program and manages its nationally recognized symphony orchestra, string orchestra, and chamber music bodies. All ensembles perform and compete on both national and international stages. Chingshin Academy’s symphony orchestra, string orchestra and choral groups won top honors in Taiwan’s National Music Competition, most recently in 2019. In 2018, the music center invited acclaimed German conductor- Günther Herbig for a musical exchange workshop. Every summer, students also participate in international music exchanges, past countries visited include China, Japan, Austria and Italy.
==School tradition==
===School Badge===
Chingshin Academy’s logo can be described as a plum blossom shape that outlines Chingshin’s name written in traditional Chinese characters. The plum blossom, Taiwan’s national flower, symbolizes its culture and history. The heart that lies below the characters represents the school’s values of sincerity, love and passion. The two strands of wheat, with ten leaves on each side, symbolizes its students’ wholesome personalities and the nine grains represents the fruits of education that bless the school with continued success.
===School Journal===
Chingshin’s main publication is "Chingshin Academy Newsletter", which is published monthly during the academic year. The publisher is Principal Shang-Chi Tong.
==Past Principals and Chairman of the Board==
Service time	Chairman name
1956-1968 	Wei Kuo Chiang
1968-1973 	Feng-Zhang Lu
1973-1976 	Er-Xi Shi
1977-1981 	Sheng-Nong Wang
1982-1994 	Zhao-Yuan Zhou
1995-2000 	Kai-Guo Nie
Since 2000 	Yvette Yi-Hui Wang
Service time 	Principal name
1956-1973 	Hua-Xiu Chiang, Elementary School
1973-1996 	Zhen Qian Du, Elementary School
Liu Zhang Du, Middle School
1996-2001 	Jing Po Wu
2001-2015 	Yu Ling Chien
2015 - current	Shang-Chi Tong
==Critical reception==
* In the 106th National Council Examination (June 2017), Chingshin Academy students’ cumulative examination results broke all previous Taiwan Ministry of Education examination records. Among the 263 graduates, 45 students scored a 5A++, and 18 of them scored a 6 out 6 in composition; 75 students achieved the estimated top school score of 34 points, allowing the 28.5% of students to be accepted into their first choice of high schools.
* February 1, 2020, Chingshin Academy’s symphony orchestra made its debut on Taiwan’s National Concert Hall stage in a charity event with Taipei Philharmonic Foundation for Culture and Education, donating ticket revenue to the Noordhoff Craniofacial Foundation.
* In 2020, Chingshin Academy officially partnered with Borderless Education, offering the Ontario, Canada high school program from TVO ILC. Chingshin Academy’s high school students enrolled in the Dual Diploma OSSD program, graduate with both Taiwan and Canadian high school diplomas.
* Chingshin Academy won two Paris Design Awards in 2021; won Gold in Interior Design “Fluidity of Space” for Elementary School and Silver in Interior Design “The Winding Sunlight” for Preschool.
* Chingshin Academy won Muse Design Award 2020; won Gold in Interior Design “Fluidity of Space.”
* 2015 & 2019 Recognized by the Taiwan Ministry of Education as a first-class school in 8 categories including principal leadership, curriculum development, student learning, pedepolical teaching, professional development, administration management, resource planning, and school environment.
* Junior High School honored by "The Golden Safety Award" for Road Traffic Safety in National Traffic Safety 2017, by the Ministry of Education.
* June 2015, Chingshin Orchestra gave a charity concert at the 903 seat Taipei City Government Music Hall, benefiting Wu Ja Educational and Nursing Institution, raising NTD $2 million through ticket sales and donations.
* First prize winning in 2016 National Music Competition for Orchestral Ensemble.
* 2009 & 2013 Recognized by Taipei Ministry of education as a model school.
* Chingshin Elementary School won the National Silver Prize at the Elementary Science Fair in 2005.
==Notable alumni==
===Industrial management===
* Steve Shi-Jun Chen (Founder of YouTube): Attended Chingshin Elementary School from 1984 – 1986. Yu-Ling Jian (Principal) and Yvette Yi-Hui Wang (Chairman) of Chingshin Academy, presented Steve Shi-Jun Chen with the "Light of Meditation" outstanding alumni trophy, in 2007.
* Hao Guangcai: Author of picture books, host in the communication industry, and publisher of Green Culture.
* Wang Wenhua: Principal of Wang Wenhua’s dream school, and host of News98.
* Ping-Yun Wang: 19th Chingshin Elementary School and 13th Middle School alumni, lawyer, former secretary, counselor, Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission.
===Government of the Republic of China===
* Ying-Jeou Ma (politician, former president of Taiwan): Attended Chingshin Kindergarten from 1955 -1956.
* Xue-Sheng Chen (politician, and a legislator of the Chinese Kuomintang): Attended Chingshin Kindergarten and Elementary school from 1962-1970.
* Wei-Zhe Huang: Alumni of the 15th Chingshin Elementary and Middle School, a politician, and the current mayor of Tainan City of the Democratic Progressive Party.
* Ruo-fang Yan (politician): Formerly a Taipei City Councilor from the Democratic Progressive Party.
===Performing arts media===
* Chen Chang (actor): Attended Chingshin K – Middle School from 1989 – 1992.
* Ke-Gin Fan (advertising producer).
* Han Chang (actor, singer, director): Attended Chingshin Elementary School from 1980 -1986, born in an acting family.
* Yi-Fang Cai (researcher at the Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia Sinica): Attended Chingshin Elementary and Middle School from 1967-1976.
* Jean Tsien (filmmaker, editor, producer): Attended Chingshin Elementary School from 1967-1972. Known as an awarding winning documentary film editor, producer, consultant for more than 35 years, most recently won the Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking in the 73rd Annual Creative Arts Emmys.
==Gallery==
==References==
Category:Educational institutions established in 1951
Category:Private and independent school organizations
Category:Private schools
Category:Mandarin language
Category:Bilingual schools