The Grauer School Hosts Taiwanese Students

San Diego, CA, February 22, 2015 --(PR.com)-- The Grauer School recently hosted eleven students and the Director from Taichung, Taiwan’s National Taichung First Senior High School (NTFSH). The weeklong visit during the first week of February culminated in a collaborative Asian New Year Celebration. Grauer students served as buddies to the high school visitors and both Grauer families and faculty acted as host families.

NTFSH was the first school in Taichung founded by the Taiwanese to educate their children and is celebrating its 100th year anniversary. Johnson Liao, the Director of NTFSH’ Library and International Exchange Program, has been working diligently to provide NTFSH students with a global perspective. NTFSH has already visited schools in China, Japan, and France this year. Liao enjoys bringing back new ideas from his trips.

“The main difference between NTFSH and The Grauer School is the size. NTFSH has 3,000 students while The Grauer School has 150 students. NTFSH is changing from having parents who only want their child to become a doctor or lawyer to providing support for all passions. Supporting students’ passions is something that The Grauer School does well,” stated Liao.

NTSFH Sophomore, Ken Chen, elaborates that “teachers at The Grauer School have personal relationships with their students. They don’t just talk about the subject they are teaching. They know the personal interests of the students as well.”

Chen also commented that, “After visiting The Grauer School, I can see that how the United States is portrayed in movies – with bullies and nerds vs. jocks – is very wrong, or at least I’m not seeing those things at The Grauer School. Everyone was amazing and kind.”

In addition to attending class at The Grauer School, the NTSFH group visited Encinitas City Hall and met Encinitas Mayor Kristin Gaspar, played beach volleyball at Moonlight Beach, participated in an archery lesson on campus, and ate both American and Taiwanese food at a potluck in Encinitas and a barbecue in Coronado.

Jillian Bourdon, Coordinator of The Grauer School’s International Study Program, worked with Cicely Meng, Founder of San Diego Study Tours, to arrange this visit. As a UNESCO affiliated school with over 175 sister schools world-wide, The Grauer School receives multiple inquiries for exchange programs and strives to provide one to two weeks of cultural exchange each year.

“These sorts of exchanges are vital. They give Grauer students an opportunity to develop personal relationships with students from all over the world. But, perhaps more importantly, these exchanges also spread the word about Grauer’s holistic educational model, and students can bring that back to their home countries and potentially initiate real change in local education,” stated Bourdon.

About The Grauer School
The Grauer School, founded in 1991, is a grades 7-12 private, college preparatory school located in Encinitas, California. The school is accredited by WASC and CAIS, and serves as a successful educational model for hundreds of private schools around the world through the Coalition of Small Preparatory Schools (CSPS), established by Dr. Stuart Grauer in 2011. To learn more about The Grauer School, visit www.grauerschool.com or call 760-274-2116.