Shimen Elementary School

Shimen Elementary School is located in the southernmost indigenous township area of Taiwan. Its catchment includes four distinct communities: the Damei tribal community near the Sichongxi hot springs, the Shimen tribal community at the site of the Mudan Incident's Shimen Historic Battlefield, the Anteng community near Mudan Reservoir, and the Zhongxing community, relocated after the 2009 Typhoon Morakot. The school is nicknamed the “Snail Village” (蝸牛部落) school — decades ago, when the community faced economic hardship, women and children gathered snails as a protein source and to earn pocket money, and the school adopted the snail as its emblem in tribute to this history. It was recognized in the 2019 “Education Innovation 100” list by Parenting (親子天下) magazine.

石門國小位於台灣最南端的原住民鄉。學區涵蓋四個不同社區：位於四重溪溫泉附近的大梅部落、牡丹社事件石門古戰場所在地的石門部落、牡丹水庫附近的安朔部落，以及莫拉克風災（八八風災）後遷村的中興部落。學校暱稱「蝸牛部落」——數十年前社區經濟困頓時，婦女與孩童曾採集蝸牛作為蛋白質來源並貼補家用，學校因而以蝸牛作為紀念這段歷史的象徵。學校並於2019年獲親子天下雜誌評選為「教育創新100」。