Tibetan Cultural School

Registration Form for Tibetan Cultural School (Click here to download)

Tibetan Culture School, an educational program of Tibetan  American Foundation of Minnesota was founded in 1997 by its members. The  mission of this Culture School is to assist MN Tibetan children to learn their Language,  History, Religion and Cultural Heritage and instill in them basic values of  compassion, humility, respect and nationalism. One of the TAFM board members,  the Chair of Education Committee, is entrusted with the responsibility to  ensure smooth functioning of the school and other educational programs. The  program coordinator, a staff of TAFM runs the Tibetan Culture School with the  help of dedicated and committed staff members.

SEE learning:

Tibetan Cultural School is beginning a program in Social, Emotional, and Ethical (SEE) Learning in 2024-25 school year. This is part of our efforts to fulfill one of his holiness the Dalai Lama’s four principal commitments which is to promote human values like warm-heartedness, compassion, tolerance, contentment and self-discipline. SEE Learning is about students learning how best to take care of themselves and each others.

TCS New Student Admission Announcement 2023/24

This is to inform to all concerned parents that the admission for new students for this academic session is open from now onwards and the last date will be June 30th 2023. Registration form (linked above) needs to be submitted to TAFM office.

Objectives:

  • Read, write and comprehend  the Tibetan text at the grade level
  • Speak Tibetan with fluency
  • Understand and become  knowledgeable about basic Tibetan history, religion, and cultural  practices as contained in the textbooks
  • Become competent in Tibetan performing arts
  • Develop and demonstrate unique Tibetan cultural values like compassion, humility, and respect.

School Year and Days:

  1. The  school year consists of 10 months: September (first Saturday) to June (last Saturday) of the following year. Month of July and August is left for summer break.
  2. School operates for 4 hours every Saturday from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM.
  3. School year is divided into two semesters. First Semester starts on the first Saturday in September and ends on the last Saturday in February. Second Semester runs from first Saturday March until last Saturday in June.

Enrollment conditions:

Currently there are 160 students enrolled in the school for the school year 2022-23. Families who want to enroll their child/children  should meet the following conditions:

  1. Child must be 5 years old as of August 31st of the calendar year or older.
  2. Child’s  parent(s) must be TAFM member/s in good standing.
  3. Child’s  parent(s) must be DhanglangChatrelDebchung (Tibetan Green Book) holder/s.
  4. Non-TAFM  members will pay a monthly fee of $ 60/- per child instead of $30.

Enrollment Date: 

  • Applications for the  following school year are accepted from January 1st to June 30th with an  enrollment fee of $10.00 per child.
  • Late application will also be accepted only if there will be any available seats with late fee of $25 per child from July 1st to August 31st.
  • No applications will be accepted for the coming school year after August 31st deadline.
  • Families  that have moved/immigrated to Minnesota recently can enroll their child/children  anytime during the school year.

Curriculum:

Syllabus for each grade level consists of the textbooks (adapted  version) prescribed by Department of Education, Central Tibetan Administration  in Exile, Dharamsala. Supplementary reading materials collected from other  sources including Tibetan Children’s Village, Dharamsala are also used.

Classes and staffing for 2022-23

TCS has grade KG to 8 and this year, there are 12 classes. A team of 12 Tibetan language teachers teach these classes. Class assignment and teacher contact information is as follows:

Parent’s involvement and community support are the backbone  of this program. To further increase parent involvement and support, a Parent  sub-Committee has been instituted. The Parents subcommittee members are elected  by the parents for a two-year term.

The responsibilities of Parents committee include but not  limited to:

    • Organize fundraising events
    • Collect fees and give receipts to the parents
    • Help during mid-year and year-end events
    • Help parents sign up for volunteer work
    • Organize year-end TCS Families Picnic
    • Help program coordinator with any other school  related work

Questions may be directed to :

KALSANG TOPGYAL  (Education Chair)
education@tafm.org
Cell: 443-220-9356