as the first superintendent of the school. In 1959, TAS purchased a 22 acre (89,000 m2) site in Shilin for a new campus. In March 1960, the kindergarten and lower school moved into a 36-classroom 5-wing complex on the site. The upper school remained at the Chang'an campus until 1964, when the last upper school facilities were completed. By 1969, TAS enrollment reached its highest point with nearly 3,000 students. Bordered on two sides by a river, the Shilin campus was prone to flooding during the typhoons experienced on Taiwan when the protective dikes were breached. Cleanup took several days as classrooms were dried out and mud and silt was removed. In the 1970s, Taiwan's transforming economy brought foreign businessmen and overseas Chinese into the local economy, setting the stage for TAS's later transformation even as enrollment shrank dramatically due to the U.S. military pull-out from Taiwan. By the late seventies, student enrollment dropped to approximately 700 students. Within a few years, enrollment started to increase again as overseas Chinese with foreign passports arrived in Taiwan searching for American educational facilities for their children. By the early eighties, the majority of students were ethnically Taiwanese and also U.S. citizens. In September 1989, TAS relocated to its present campus in Tianmu, Taipei. To obtain use of the government land in Tianmu, TAS exchanged title to its Shihlin property for a long-term lease on the Tianmu site at a concessionary rent. The 50th anniversary of Taipei American School was celebrated in 1999. As part of this celebration, TAS published a book documenting the history of the school: "Ties That Bind", authored by Richard Vuylsteke. In 2019, TAS celebrated its seventieth anniversary. Campus The current campus, completed in 1989, consists of a four-story complex with approximately 200 classrooms. In September 2010, TAS broke ground for the construction of three new buildings on its current campus: the new upper school building featuring science and technology classrooms with research and robotics laboratories, the Liu Lim Arts Center, and another gymnasium with covered and outdoor tennis courts. The independently operated Taipei Youth Program Association (TYPA) is located at TAS and uses the campus facilities. The school is located directly across the street from Taipei Japanese School. Organization TAS is divided into three divisions: lower, middle, and upper schools. The lower school (elementary) includes pre-kindergarten (known as Kindergarten A), kindergarten, and grades 1 through 5. The middle