International High School of San Francisco

Last updated
International High School
Address
International High School of San Francisco
150 Oak Street

,
94102

United States
Information
Type Private, Coeducational
Established1962
SuperintendentMatt Wayne
AdministratorNicholas Chan
Assistant PrincipalsBrittany Ueno
Faculty65
Enrollment390 (2017-18)
Average class size16
Campus Urban
Color(s)   Red/Blue
Athletics10 sports, 20 teams
Athletics conferenceBCL Central
MascotJoel the Jaguar
Website https://www.sfusd.edu/school/san-francisco-international-high-school

International High School of San Francisco (also known as International, or SFIHS), is a private co-educational high school in Hayes Valley, San Francisco, California, U.S.. Graduates earn either the International Baccalaureate ("IB") or the French Baccalaureate ("French Bac"). The IB curriculum is primarily taught in English, while the French Bac is primarily taught in French.

Contents

A common misconception is that French is required to attend IHS. This is not true. Non-French speakers follow the IB curriculum. Approximately two-thirds to three-quarters of the students graduate with the IB diploma. [1] (The IB is an internationally recognized degree program, with the fastest growth coming in the United States. Stuart Hall/Convent in San Francisco [2] and Berkeley High School are two schools in the Bay Area that also offer the IB diploma.) [3] IB and French Bac graduates earn substantial college credit from pursuing these programs. [4] Many graduates attend respected universities. [5]

The IHS faculty is recruited from all over the world and represents over 20 nationalities. The average number of years of teaching experience is just under 20, and more than 80% of the faculty hold master's degrees or higher.[ citation needed ]

The Main Campus at 150 Oak St. 611-Oak door vertical-Leica.jpg
The Main Campus at 150 Oak St.
The Arts Pavilion at 66 Page St. 66pageSF.jpg
The Arts Pavilion at 66 Page St.

Campus

International High School's campus consists of a main building at 150 Oak Street, a gymnasium and outdoor recreational space across the street, and an Arts Pavilion on 66 Page Street. The school has acquired the lots at 98 Franklin and 84 Page and is currently in the process of selecting designs for the development of an expanded urban campus. The main building at Oak Street houses classrooms and science labs, teacher workrooms, administrative offices, the library, the design lab, as well as the rooftop deck. The Arts Pavilion houses the music, film, visual arts, and theater programs. The lower floors of the main building house Chinese American International School and French American International School, both K-8 schools.

Student body

Each entering class at International is composed of 90-100 students. In the past few years, there have been around 250 applications for the approximately 50 open spots in the entering freshman class. (The remaining 40-50 students that made up the entering class came from the affiliated French-American K-8 school.) Incoming students arrive at IHS from the following middle schools in the Bay Area, among others:

a) Independent schools: Presidio Hill, SF Day, Hamlin, Live Oak, Town, Burke, Friends, Adda Clevenger, Children's Day, Marin Country Day, Alta Vista, Head Royce (Oakland), Redwood Day (Oakland), Bentley (Oakland)

b) Parochial/Religious schools: Cathedral, Stuart Hall, Convent, Brandeis, Zion Lutheran, St. Thomas More, Notre Dame des Victoires, St. Paul Episcopal, Holy Spirit

c) Bilingual schools: Chinese American International School, Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley, Lycée Français de San Francisco, International School of the Peninsula

d) Public schools: Alice Fong Yu, Aptos, Everett, Gateway, Hoover, Kipp Bridge, Lawton, Presidio, Rooftop, Mill Valley Middle, Crocker Middle (Hillsborough) Ingrid Lacy (Pacifica), Fernando Rivera (Daly City)

A small number of students enter from schools abroad. Over 30% of the families receive financial aid.

Languages

The school offers extensive language offerings in French, Chinese, Spanish, Italian, and Arabic. [6] Students are able to take native level classes in French and Chinese (and Spanish if there is sufficient demand) beginning in their freshman year. For IB students in 11th and 12th grade, the school offers both Level A (native/bilingual level) and Level B (non-native) courses in French and Chinese. (The school offers Level A in Spanish when there is sufficient demand.) Spanish, Italian, and Arabic are offered at non-native levels in both the IB and French Bac. All students take a minimum of four years of a language other than English; many take a third language as well. All of the language teachers are native in the tongue that they teach.

Global travel

International High School's students make yearly cultural, service oriented, and linguistic trips to multiple destinations across the world. The extensive travel program at IHS is unique in the Bay Area. In 2017-18, groups of 10-20 students from grades 9 to 11 will travel to Vietnam, China and Tibet, Denmark and Germany, the American South, England, Ecuador, Galapagos Islands, Tahiti, Senegal, Thailand, and India and Myanmar for approximately two weeks. The school also offers longer 6 to 8 week exchanges intended to enhance the students’ globally focused education outside the classroom and enrich their linguistic proficiency. The trips often consist of exchange programs in which IHS students are hosted by local families in the foreign country. In 2015-16, IHS students had the opportunity to undertake exchanges in France (Paris, Bordeaux, Tahiti), Spain, Bolivia, and Peru. In return, IHS families host students from the various foreign countries in their homes in San Francisco.

Service learning

Service learning is an integral part of the curriculum at International as it is a core component of the IB diploma program. Students perform at least 100 hours of service activities throughout their years at IHS. The service component culminates with a month-long Creativity Action Service (CAS) project fully organized by each student. Examples of CAS projects in the past have been: an annual student-run TEDx program, a student organized community development project in Nicaragua, a fundraising evening of music and food for the Chigoli organization in Malawi, a student-organized and run summer volleyball class for girls at John Muir Elementary, a student founded and led LGBT club ("LASER") to raise consciousness about LGBT issues, among many others. The school partners with an extensive list of non-profit organizations that the students regularly become engaged with, including Amigos de las Americas, Breakthrough San Francisco, Family House, Habitat for Humanity, John Muir Elementary After School Beacon Program, My Yute Soccer, Reading Partners, Rocket Dog Rescue, and Teens Teaching Elders Technology, among others. The student body is also active in annual blood drives for Blood Centers of the Pacific, day-long volunteer efforts at the S.F. Food Bank, and others.

IHS is also known for its international community service projects, most prominently raising money to build schools in Jemjem Legabatu, Ethiopia, and M'bour, Senegal. Each year, students at International organize an evening of musical performances by students and faculty known as Songs for Senegal to raise funds to support École Natangué in Senegal. IHS has had a key role in the construction and growth of École Natangué. [7]

Athletics

International sponsors twenty athletic teams that compete with other high schools throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. As of 2021-22, the school competes in the BCL Central league in team sports. Scott Kennedy joined the school as Athletic Director in 2015-16, after 16 years at Mission High School. Scott is the recipient of several leadership and coaching awards, including the California State Athletic Directors Association "Athletic Director of the Year" Award and the Positive Coaching Alliance "National Double-Goal Coach" Award. [8] The athletic program at IHS consists of eleven different sports at the Varsity and Junior Varsity levels (including two clubs sports - sailing and skiing) and around 55 percent of the student body participates in athletics throughout the academic year. [9] The sports are as follows:

Fall: co-ed cross country (varsity and JV), men's soccer (varsity and JV), women's tennis (varsity and JV), women's volleyball (varsity and JV), sailing (varsity and JV)

Winter: men's basketball (varsity and JV), women's basketball (varsity and JV)

Spring: co-ed badminton (varsity), co-ed swimming (varsity), co-ed track (varsity), men's baseball (varsity), men's tennis (varsity and JV), women's soccer (varsity)

Notable results: In Fall 2017, the men's soccer team went to the North Coast Section (NCS) playoff tournament and earned a quarter-finals slot. In 2016-17, IHS attained the following additional results in BCL league play: first in men's and women's basketball; first in baseball; and second in badminton; third in women's volleyball; third in men's tennis. The women's varsity soccer team reached the finals of the NCS playoff tournament. The women's basketball team made it to the CIF State tournament in 2016-17.

Arts

Students at International have the option of taking art - whether it be music, theater, visual arts, or film - in each of their four years. In 9th grade, students explore two art forms, one each semester. In 10th grade, each student chooses one art form for a deeper exploration lasting the entire year. In 11th grade, students can choose to continue with a two-year art course as part of the IB Diploma. This IB art course is a rigorous exploration at the same level of depth and commitment as any of the other five IB courses taken by each student. (The five other IB courses fall in the following categories: English Literature, Mathematics, Science, Humanities/Social Science, and a Second Language other than English.) [10] Thus, many students take art for four years at International. (If a student does not choose the art course, the "sixth course" as it is known can be in any of the other academic disciplines, e.g., a second Science course or a second Humanities course.)

International opened the Dennis Gallagher Arts Pavilion in September 2009. [11] The Pavilion includes a black-box theater, a state-of-the-art film and video editing classroom, as well as music and visual arts studios. Student engage in a broad range of artistic activities and classes there: from writing and directing one act plays to making short films, from painting murals to composing music. The arts are not limited to classes during the regular school day. The Visual Arts department puts on exhibitions throughout the year, with the work of the IB visual arts students prominently on display at the March Arts Reception and at the end-of-year May Arts Festival. The after school performing arts program includes theater and music.

Theater

The school's after school theater program is known as Back à Dos and it is the heart of the performing arts at IHS. The program enjoys the largest participation of any school sponsored extra-curricular activity other than athletics. Every year, Back à Dos produces at least three major shows, including a set of student-directed one act plays (many of which are original student-written pieces), a musical with live musical accompaniment by IHS musicians, and a play. Past performances include Spamalot, Cabaret, and Spring Awakening.

Music

The after school music program holds auditions at the beginning of the year for the ensemble that performs during the Spring Musical. Rehearsals take place twice a week after school from January until the end of the musical, usually in mid to late March. Student-musicians also participate in the IHS orchestra, which rehearses twice a week after school in the fall culminating in a recital at the Florence Gould Theater in the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. There are several major music concerts during the year: Songs for Senegal (in the Fall and used as a fundraiser for an IHS backed school in Senegal, consists mostly of small group pop/rock, jazz, and vocal performances), the Florence Gould Recital (for chamber, jazz, and acoustic performances in January), and two Rock/Pop/Jazz Concerts (in January and May).

Design Technology

The school offers Design Technology courses beginning in the freshman year (required for all entering students) and continuing in 10th and in the IB years (11th and 12th) as an optional elective. The freshman course includes a coding component taught by a computer science teacher. The IB Design Technology course incorporates elements of physics, engineering, and art and design. The school partners with SF's Tech Shop in offering its IB design courses and participates in the Maker Faire in San Mateo, California.

Accreditation

International High School is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, the French Ministry of Education, the International Baccalaureate Organization, and the National Association of Independent Schools, and Council of International Schools.

See also

Related Research Articles

La Costa Canyon High School (LCC) is a public high school in Carlsbad, California. It is an International Baccalaureate World School and is part of the San Dieguito Union High School District, serving northwestern San Diego County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Braulio Alonso High School</span> Public secondary school in Tampa, Florida, United States

Braulio Alonso High School is a public high school located in Tampa, Florida, United States. It serves grades 9-12 for the Hillsborough County Public Schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Marin High School</span> School in Novato, California, United States

San Marin High School is a public high school located in Novato, California, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graded School</span> International school in São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Associação Escola Graduada de São Paulo, most commonly referred to as Graded School or Graded, is an American school in São Paulo, Brazil. The school opened on October 17, 1920, in a small schoolhouse on Avenida São João, and in 1961 the current campus was built on Avenida Giovanni Gronchi, in a terrain now facing Paraisópolis, located in Morumbi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sturgis Charter Public School</span> Charter high school

The Sturgis Charter Public School is a dual-campus charter school located in the village of Hyannis, Massachusetts, United States. The school received its charter in February 1998 and opened in September for the 1998–1999 academic year with 162 freshman, 15 faculty and staff, a newly renovated facility, and a $1.2 million budget. The school philosophy is International Baccalaureate for all students.

The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a two-year educational programme primarily aimed at 16-to-19-year-olds in 140 countries around the world. The programme provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry into higher education and is recognized by many universities worldwide. It was developed in the early-to-mid-1960s in Geneva, Switzerland, by a group of international educators. After a six-year pilot programme that ended in 1975, a bilingual diploma was established.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Hill High School</span> Public school in San Jose, Santa Clara County, California, United States

Andrew Putnam Hill High School is a public secondary school, magnet, International Baccalaureate World School, and located in the Edenvale neighbourhood of San Jose, California, United States. The school opened in 1956, and educates approximately 2,173 students in grades 9–12. It is one of eighteen schools of the East Side Union High School District (ESUHSD). It is named after Californian painter and preservationist Andrew P. Hill.

Plano East Senior High School is a public secondary school in Plano, Texas, serving grades nine through 12. It is part of the Plano Independent School District. Students at Plano East attended one of two feeder high schools: McMillen or Williams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinity High School (River Forest, Illinois)</span> Private school in River Forest, Illinois, United States

Trinity High School is a Roman Catholic college preparatory high school for girls located in River Forest, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. Located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, it was founded in 1918 by members of the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters. Originally the school was built on the grounds of Rosary College, which is now Dominican University, but in 1926 the campus was relocated a few blocks away from the original site. Today, Trinity High School has an enrollment of 500 young women divided among four grade levels. Trinity students come from 45 zip codes and 144 different grade schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Millbrook High School (North Carolina)</span> Public school in North Carolina, United States

Millbrook Magnet High School, commonly known as Millbrook High School (MHS), is a public magnet high school located in Raleigh, North Carolina. It is one of thirty-two high schools in the Wake County Public School System. In 2006, Millbrook finished the renovation of its campus which includes a new three-level building, a courtyard for students, and a larger cafeteria making MHS one of the largest and up to date facilities in the area. In 2009, Millbrook High School was granted International Baccalaureate status by the North Carolina Board of Education. The school was named a Magnet School of Excellence by Magnet Schools of America in 2020 and 2024 for its innovative curriculum, strong community building, and success in removing barriers to student success.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garibaldi Secondary School</span> High school in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada

Garibaldi Secondary School is a grade 8–12 school located in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada. The school presently has about 1,040 students, and 62 teachers.

John R. Hirschi Math/Science International Baccalaureate Magnet High School, commonly known as Hirschi High School or HHS, was a four-year public high school in Wichita Falls, Texas, located at 3106 Borton Lane. It was an accredited International Baccalaureate (IB) World School offering the Diploma (IBDP) and Middle Years Program (MYP) to students wishing to pursue advanced academic study in mathematics, science, English, Spanish, French, history, and the arts. Hirschi, an award-winning member of the Magnet Schools of America Association, also offered its students hands-on instruction in aviation, studio/visual art, and nursing. Hirschi was one of three high schools prior to 2024 that were overseen by the Wichita Falls Independent School District (WFISD) and the Texas Education Agency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northcoast Preparatory Academy</span> Public secondary school in Arcata, California, USA

Northcoast Preparatory Academy, formerly known as Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy and abbreviated as NPA, is an independent public charter high school located in Arcata, California. It is currently the top ranked high school in Humboldt County, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Escola Maria Imaculada (Chapel School)</span> American school in Brazil

Escola Maria Imaculada, founded in 1947, also known as Chapel School, is an accredited American private day school located in a residential suburb of São Paulo, Brazil, the largest city in South America, with a metropolitan population of approximately 19 million. It possesses the IB Diploma Programme. Chapel's pre-school, elementary and high school are housed on a single campus with an enrollment of 650 students.

Seoul Foreign School is a Pre-K/Reception to Grade 12 international school located in Seoul, South Korea. The school was founded in 1912 by Christian missionaries to Korea and emphasizes Christian values. The Elementary, Middle and High Schools offer an international curriculum within the International Baccalaureate framework of PYP, MYP and DP. The High School offers the IB Diploma Programme. The British School offers the English National Curriculum - Key Stages 1–3. Seoul Foreign School has been located in Yeonhui-dong, Seodaemun-gu, since 1959.

Louis St. Laurent Catholic School is a fine arts oriented Junior and Senior High School in the Edmonton Catholic School District, located in south western Edmonton. It is also known as "Louis" or "LSL" by students and staff. The school averages a student body of approximately 1,000 or more pupils each year, spanning grades 7 through 12. From 2009 to 2022, the entire school participated in the International Baccalaureate program. As of 2016, a few students participate in the Spanish bilingual program. As of 2021, the school incorporates the Advanced Placement curriculum. In 2022, Spark Academy was introduced.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">French American International School (San Francisco)</span> Private school in San Francisco, US

The French American International School (FAIS) is a private co-educational school for PK–12 grade in San Francisco, California, U.S. The lower school (PK-8) is known as "French American" or simply "FAIS," FAIS is a bilingual French-English school from PK to 8th grade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stamford American International School</span> Private international school in Singapore

Stamford American International School (SAIS) is a co-educational international school in Singapore. The school is owned and operated by Cognita and enrolled its first students in August 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International School of Kuala Lumpur</span> Private international day school in Malaysia

The International School of Kuala Lumpur is an American non-profit school in the Kuala Lumpur metropolitan area, Malaysia. The curriculum is international-based, and offers students the chance to earn a High School Diploma, an International Baccalaureate diploma, and to attend Advanced Placement programs. It is accredited by the United States-based Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and internationally through the Council of International Schools (CIS).

A high school diploma is a diploma awarded upon graduation of high school. A high school diploma is awarded after completion of courses of studies lasting four years, typically from grade 9 to grade 12. It is the school leaving qualification in the United States and Canada.

References

  1. "College Counseling Page IHS" (PDF).
  2. "Stuart Hall/Convent IB Program".
  3. "Berkeley High Overview". 19 October 2011.
  4. "IB Credit Chart | Registrar's Office". registrar.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  5. "French American International School and International High School: College Counseling". www.internationalsf.org. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
  6. Chávez, Lydia (2011-09-27). "Who Is San Francisco International High School?". Mission Local. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  7. "Songs for Senegal Celebrates Record Success!". www.frenchamericansf.org. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
  8. "French American International School and International High School: All School w/Column". www.frenchamericansf.org. Retrieved 2015-10-16.
  9. "French American International School and International High School: Welcome from the AD". www.internationalsf.org. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
  10. "Study the Arts | Diploma | International Baccalaureate". International Baccalaureate. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
  11. "International High School - Arts". Internationalsf.org. Archived from the original on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 2010-10-30.

37°46′31″N122°25′19″W / 37.775381°N 122.421907°W / 37.775381; -122.421907