International High School of San Francisco

International High School
Address
150 Oak Street San Francisco , California 94102 United States
Information
Type	Private, Coeducational
Established	1962
Head of school	Melinda Bihn, Ed. D.
Faculty	65
Enrollment	364
Average class size	16
Campus	Urban
Color(s)	Red/Blue
Athletics	10 sports, 20 Teams
Athletics conference	BCL Central
Mascot	Jaguar
Website	www.internationalsf.org

The International High School of San Francisco (familiarly known as International or IHS) is a private high school affilliated with the French American International School (San Francisco) ("FAIS") located in the Hayes Valley neighborhood of San Francisco, California, United States. Graduates earn either the International Baccalaureate ("IB") Diploma or the French Baccalaureate ("French Bac") Diploma. (French is not required for the IB.) Both the IB and French Bac are recognized by universities and colleges globally, and graduates are able to earn significant college credit for pursuing these challenging programs. Many of its graduates attend the most respected universities in the US and abroad, including Ivy League schools and small highly selective liberal arts colleges. In 2015, 26 out of 83 graduates (or 31%) received offers from universities that accept 15% or fewer of its applicants, including Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, Yale, U. of Chicago, Brown, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, UC Berkeley, Georgetown, Washington University, and UCLA. In 2015, IHS students also received acceptances at prestigious universities abroad such as King's College London, London School of Economics ("LSE"), St. Andrews, University of Edinburgh, McGill, and the dual-degree program Columbia-Sciences Po. The school offers extensive language offerings, with freshmen able to take native language level classes in French and Chinese. The school also offers Spanish (IB Levels A and B), Italian, and Arabic (beginning in Fall 2016). Each student takes a minimum of four years of a language other than English; many take a third language as well. The IHS faculty is unique in that it 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 75% of the faculty hold masters degrees or higher.

The Main Campus at 150 Oak St.

The Arts Pavilion at 66 Page St.

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 land at 98 Franklin and is currently in the process of selecting a design for development of the space. The main building 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 (CAIS) and French American International School (FAIS), both K-8 schools.

Student body

Each entering class at International is composed of 90-100 students. Around half of the entering class come from middle schools not affiliated with French American (FAIS). In 2015, there were 270 applications for the approximately 50 open spots in the entering freshman class. Many of the students come from other international and bilingual middle schools in the Bay Area such as Chinese American International School, Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley, International School of the Peninsula (French and Chinese bilingual school), and Alice Fong Yu (public Chinese immersion school in SF). Most of the rest of the students come from middle schools that represent the wide diversity of independent, parochial, and public schools in San Francisco and the Bay Area, including Live Oak, San Francisco Day, Presidio Hill, SF Friends, Adda Clevenger, Brandeis, Children's Day, Katherine Delmar Burke, Marin Country Day, St. Paul Episcopal, Aptos, Hoover, and Everett, among others. A small number of students enter from schools abroad.

Global travel

International High School's students make yearly cultural, service, and language trips to multiple destinations across the world. In 2015-16, groups of 10-20 students from grades 9 to 11 will travel to Malawi, Peru, Ecuador (Galapagos), France (Tahiti), Senegal, Taiwan, and India for approximately two weeks. The school also offers longer 6-8 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 have 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

International High School is known for its community service projects, most prominently raising money to build schools in Jemjem Legabatu, Ethiopia, and M'bour, Senegal. Each year, International organizes 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. The high school has also held benefits for the survivors of Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 Indian Ocean 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. More generally, service learning is an integral part of the curriculum at International as it is a core component of the IB diploma program. Students perform approximately 100 hours of service activities throughout their years at IHS. 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.

Athletics

International sponsors twenty athletic teams that compete with other high schools throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. The school competes in the BCL West league. 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 ten 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 (Varsity and JV), Men's Soccer (Varsity and JV), Women's Tennis (Varsity and JV), Women's Volleyball (Varsity and JV), Sailing

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), Sailing

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 the entire year. In 11th grade, students can choose to continue with art for the next two years. This IB art course is a rigorous two-year program at the same level of depth and commitment as any of the other five IB courses taken by each student - English Literature, Math, Science, Humanities/Social Science, and Literature/Language in a language other than English. 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 school is especially known for its strong theater program (known as Back à Dos). The program is inclusive and demanding and well loved by the IHS community. 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), and a play. Past performances include: Spamalot, Cabaret, and Spring Awakening, among others.

International also has a growing music program and hosts the IHS Orchestra and the Jazz Combo. The music department holds at least four major music concerts during the year - Songs of Senegal (used as a fundraiser for a school in Senegal), the Black Box Recital (for chamber, jazz, and acoustic performances), the Winter Concert (for rock and pop ensembles), and the Spring Concert.

The Visual Arts department puts on exhibitions throughout the year, with the work of the IB students on display at the year-end May Arts Festival.

Accreditation

International High School is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), the French Ministry of Education (MEN), the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS), and Council of International Schools.

See also

• San Francisco high schools
• French American International School

External links

• International High School homepage