International High School of San Francisco
International High School of San Francisco is a private high school in Hayes Valley, San Francisco, California. Graduates earn either the International Baccalaureate or the French Baccalaureate. The IB curriculum is taught in English, while the French Bac is taught in French. 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.
IB and French Bac graduates earn substantial college credit from pursuing these programs. Many graduates attend respected universities. At IHS, for example, 61 out of 239 graduates in the last three graduating classes matriculated at University of Chicago, UC Berkeley, NYU, Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, UCLA, King's College London, St. Andrews, Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, Washington University, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, MIT, Brown, Williams, Penn, University College London, Carleton, Davidson, Emory, London School of Economics, and Wellesley.
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.
Campus
International High School's campus consists of a main building at 150 Oak St., a gymnasium and outdoor recreational space across the street, and an Arts Pavilion on 66 Page St. 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. 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, Head Royce, Redwood Day, Bentley
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 Ingrid Lacy, Fernando Rivera
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. Students are able to take native level classes in French and Chinese beginning in their freshman year. During the IB years in 11th and 12th grade, the school offers both Level A and Level B courses in French and Chinese. Spanish, Italian and Arabic are offered at Level B level in the IB years. 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, 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 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 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.
Athletics
International sponsors twenty athletic teams that compete with other high schools throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. As of 2017-18, 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. The athletic program at IHS consists of eleven different sports at the Varsity and Junior Varsity levels and around 55 percent of the student body participates in athletics throughout the academic year. The sports are as follows:Fall: co-ed cross country, men's soccer, women's tennis, women's volleyball, sailing
Winter: men's basketball, women's basketball
Spring: co-ed badminton, co-ed swimming, co-ed track, men's baseball, men's tennis, women's soccer
Notable results: In Fall 2017, the men's soccer team went the North Coast Section 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. Thus, many students take art for four years at International.International opened the Dennis Gallagher Arts Pavilion in September 2009. 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.