The International High School of San Francisco (familiarly known as International or IHS) is a private

Private school

Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...

 high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 attached to the French American International School (San Francisco)

French American International School (San Francisco)

The French American International School is a French and English PK-12 school based in San Francisco, California which allows students to study for the French baccalauréat and the International Baccalaureate...

 located in the Hayes Valley neighborhood of San Francisco, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Graduates may earn either the International Baccalaureate Diploma or the French Baccalaureate Diploma. Both IB and French Bac are recognized by universities and colleges globally, and graduates may be able to receive college credit. Many of its graduates attend well-known international universities and Ivy League

Ivy League

The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...

 schools, with a high percentage of students attending small liberal arts schools. In 2009, 68 graduates received 104 acceptances from the University of California

University of California

The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...

 school system.

Mission statement

"Guided by the principles of academic rigor and diversity, the French American International School offers programs of study in French and English to prepare its graduates for a world in which the ability to think critically and to communicate across cultures is of paramount importance."

Accreditation

International High School is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges

Western Association of Schools and Colleges

The Western Association of Schools and Colleges is one of six official academic bodies responsible for the accreditation of public and private universities, colleges, secondary and elementary schools in the United States and foreign institutions of American origin. The Western Association of...

 (WASC), the French Ministry of Education (MEN), the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS), and Council of International Schools

Council of International Schools

The Council of International Schools is a non-profit association of international schools and post-secondary institutions which aims to improve international education...

.

Facilities and location

International High School's campus consists of a main building with classrooms, teacher workrooms, offices, library, media lab and rooftop deck; a gymnasium; and music, film, visual arts and theater facilities at the Arts Pavilion which opened in September 2009. The school is located near the city's cultural center, including the San Francisco Conservatory of Music

San Francisco Conservatory of Music

San Francisco Conservatory of Music, formerly the California Conservatory of Music, founded in 1917, is a music school, with an enrollment of about 400 students. It was launched by Ada Clement and Lillian Hodgehead in the remodeled home of Lillian's parents on Sacramento Street. It was called the...

, San Francisco Ballet

San Francisco Ballet

The San Francisco Ballet is a ballet company, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, under the direction of Helgi Tomasson. SFB is the first professional ballet company in the United States...

, Davies Symphony Hall, the Main Branch of the San Francisco Public Library

San Francisco Public Library

The San Francisco Public Library is a public library system serving the city of San Francisco. Its main library is located in San Francisco's Civic Center, at 100 Larkin Street at Grove. The first public library of San Francisco officially opened in 1879, just 30 years after the California Gold...

, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco

Asian Art Museum of San Francisco

The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco is a museum in San Francisco, California, United States. It has one of the most comprehensive collections of Asian art in the world....

 & San Francisco City Hall

San Francisco City Hall

San Francisco City Hall, re-opened in 1915, in its open space area in the city's Civic Center, is a Beaux-Arts monument to the City Beautiful movement that epitomized the high-minded American Renaissance of the 1880s to 1917. The structure's dome is the fifth largest in the world...

, and is close to BART and MUNI

Muni

"Muni" is a common abbreviation for "municipal" or a city-related service or organization:*The Muny, an outdoor musical theatre in St. Louis, Missouri*Municipal bond*San Francisco Municipal Railway, the public transit agency for San Francisco, California...

 lines of public transportation. Students and faculty often enjoy the proximity to restaurants and cafes on Hayes street and around the school.

Trips abroad

International High School's students make yearly cultural and language trips to Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, Tahiti

Tahiti

Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...

, and countries in Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

. The two to eight-week excursions are 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 the visiting students are hosted by a local correspondents in the foreign country.

Community service

International High School is known for its community service projects, most prominently raising money to build schools in Jemjem Legabatu, Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

, and M'bour

M'Bour

M'Bour or Mbour is a city in the Thiès Region of Senegal. It lies on the Petite Côte, approximately eighty kilometers south of Dakar. It is home to a population of 153,503 . The city's major industries are tourism, fishing and peanut processing....

, Senegal

Senegal

Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...

. It has also held benefits for the survivors of Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

 and the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake...

. The student body is active in annual blood drives for Blood Centers of the Pacific, day-long volunteer efforts at the S.F. Food Bank, and others.

Athletics

International sponsors thirteen athletic teams that compete with other high schools throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. The athletic program consists of 9 different sports at the Varsity and Junior Varsity levels, and over 60 percent of the student body participates in athletics throughout the academic year. The sports are as follows:

Fall: Co-Ed Cross Country (Varsity), Men's Soccer (Varsity and JV), Women's Tennis (Varsity)

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), Women's Soccer (Varsity)

Arts

International opened its brand new Arts facility in September 2009. Student exploration of the arts ranges from directing one act plays to making short films, from painting murals to composing music. Every year, the after school performing arts program (Back à Dos) produces four major shows, including a set of student directed one act plays (some of which are original student-written pieces), a musical, and a play. There are also concerts, exhibitions, visiting artists and a year-end May Arts Festival.

External links

• International High School homepage
• International High School Curriculum from Rubicon Atlas