Taipei American School (TAS) anticipates the arrival of Mr. David Frankenberg (he/him) as the new Head of School for the 2024-2025 school year. Currently, Mr. Frankenberg is serving as the Head of School for Drew School in San Francisco, California. Originally from Argentina, Mr. Frankenberg grew up as a student at Hong Kong International School (HKIS)

It was during his time at HKIS that he first heard about TAS. “I’ve always respected and admired [TAS] so much,” he said. “I always had this dream in the back of my mind where I would go back and work with or lead a school like [HKIS and TAS].”

Mr. Frankenberg began his career in business consulting before becoming a teacher and entering the field of education. “I was kind of a difficult kid at school sometimes so I never imagined I was going to become a teacher,” he said. “But then I started teaching and saw this ability to be able to impact kids in their transformative years and I just found my calling.”

So far, Mr. Frankenberg has been working extensively with the Interim Head of School Ms. Evelyne Estey to help ease his transition to TAS. “She’s been amazing. I’m very glad that she’s there [at TAS]. I think she’s an extremely capable, thoughtful, and caring leader,” he said.

As a part of his transition, Mr. Frankenberg visited Taiwan in January to meet school faculty, parents and administrators. “I was most impressed about the seriousness of purpose in the people at TAS. Everybody is very passionate about education—very passionate about what they do,” he said.

Besides his passion for education, Mr. Frankenberg is also a foodie and chef. Despite his heavily booked schedule during his January visit, Mr. Frankenberg still made sure to make time to experience Taiwanese cuisine. “I remember sneaking out to the night market just to be able to try some authentic food and it was amazing,” he said.

Mr. Frankenberg believes that learning about the community’s expectations and goals is an important first step as the head of school. At TAS, Mr. Frankenberg looks forward to immersing himself in and learning about the school’s culture and values.