Founding

In the latter part of 1956, permission from the Mother General of the Sisters was obtained to start a school that offered Catholic instruction to American dependents. The first school was organized for Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten and Grades 1 and 2 at a small rented house on Chang'an East Road.

In January 1957, the school was blessed by Anthony Riberi, D.D., Apostolic Internuncio, to China. Three Filipino Sisters started to teach the 16 enrolled children. Enrollment increased, and by June 1957, there were 76 students, and two additional Filipino Sisters had joined the faculty.

In the following school year, a larger house was rented on Liung Chung Street. In August 1958, a team of American Superintendents of Schools from Washington D.C. arrived. They examined the school and designated Dominican School as a U.S. Government contract school: a D.O.D. school. Grade 3 was added to the existing grades.

In 1959, a larger building was rented. Three more grades were added and more Sisters arrived from the Philippines. The first PTA was organized with volunteer officers. A vacant site was purchased for the erection of school buildings, including strips of land for granting access to the property. This remains the location of Dominican International School. Before materials could be brought in for the construction of the building, the access roads had to be completed.

The first cornerstone was blessed in a ceremony by a Dominican priest on August 4, 1959, after which construction started. On March 28, 1960, classes were held for the first time in the new school. On April 30, 1960, Thomas Cardinal Tien, S.V.D., D.D, blessed the school. Grades 7 and 8 were added in the following year. More Sisters came from the Philippines and the enrollment reached 600.

As time went by, a gymnasium was added, statues erected and a wall placed around the compound. In August 1960, 4 classrooms, a laboratory, a science room, a typing room and a music room were added to the existing school building. For the first time, there were Grade 9 classes and the enrollment reached 800. With the withdrawal of the American Forces from Taipei, Dominican School became an international school.

Twenty-first century

2006 was spent developing an electronic curriculum. This new system made the curriculum available online to all stakeholders. The initial stages of the development process were completed in time for the school's 50th Year Celebrations in 2007.

In December 2008, the gymnasium, cafeteria, and the west wing of the main building were demolished to make way for the construction of new school buildings more suitable for modern education and technology. The groundbreaking ceremony for the new construction was held in June 2009, blessed by Archbishop John Hung, S.V.D. and construction started in August 2010.

Phase One, which included classrooms, an audio-visual room, an art room, science laboratories, and a brand new library were completed in the summer of 2013. State-of-the-art technology was installed. The remaining buildings will be demolished and rebuilt in 2014 and 2015.