In order to be eligible for PK2 for the 2024-2025 school year, your child must be two years old by September 1, 2024. 

Our PK2 program is a full-time, 5 days/week (8:15 a.m. - 3:15 p.m.) program. Before and after school child care are also available at an additional cost. Before-school care begins as early as 7:30 a.m. and after-school childcare is available until 6:00 p.m. 

The PK2 program will align with the Maternelle grade levels and be on a school year calendar from late August to mid-June. We do offer childcare during some school breaks and closures.

Our curriculum is designed and approved by the French Ministry of Education. Grounded in French education, like the rest of our Maternelle program, the PK2 curriculum is centered around the natural rhythms of early childhood and will focus on developing students’ linguistic, social, and emotional skills, creativity, and autonomy in a safe, nurturing, bilingual environment. All of our French teachers are trained and certified educators to teach Grades PK2-Grade 5. 

As in the rest of the Maternelle, PK2 classes are 90% in French. The children are taught in French with a ½ day morning each week of English class, building a strong foundation for their bilingual journey at The International School of San Francisco.

At the Maternelle campus, families prepare and provide lunch for their children. Snacks are provided by families on a rotating schedule using a sign-up sheet. Sample snacks are cheese sticks & crackers, fruit platters & crackers, or butter & baguette. 

No, your child does not need to be toilet trained to be eligible for PK2. Our faculty will support your child and your family through the journey through toilet training

Parents will provide diapers/Pull-Ups and wipes for their child to International. The school will provide gloves for faculty to use when changing diapers and helping students with toileting. 

The tuition fee for PK2 will align with our current tuition model. Tuition fees for PK2 through Grade 8 share the same tuition. 

At The International School of San Francisco, we are committed to socio-economic diversity, which is made possible by our robust financial aid program, which allows every student to have full access to our program. Families who may need aid can apply for financial aid here.

Applicants to our Maternelle program must be born on or before September 1st (3 years of age for PreK3; 4 years of age for PreK4) in order to be eligible to enroll for the next academic year. The birthday cut-off for French citizens is December 31st.

PK3 and PK4
8:00-8:40 Welcome time in classes
8:40-3:15 Class (including nap time, recesses and lunch break)
3:15-3:30 Dismissal

Before and After School Care
Childcare and special after school activities are available for an additional fee from 7:30am to 8:00am and 3:30pm to 6pm. Read more about our After School program.

70% of our families speak no French at home.

Parents can do much to support the learning of their bilingual children by modeling appropriate and correct language in their native tongue. When children have meaningful and varied reinforcement in all their languages, bilingual acquisition is optimal.

The cognitive advantages of immersive bilingualism are well researched and documented. Early on there may be some lags in reading scores and other measurable skills, but this is temporary. By Grade 3, there is little interference or confusion, and students are able to thrive studying a single curriculum taught in their two languages.

Yes. Our teachers are used to accommodating learning differences and view this as part of reaching and engaging every student in every class. Students who have learning differences work with our counselors and learning specialists to develop personalized strategies, and are later allocated extra time on standardized tests.

Every one of our students benefits from interactions, discussions, and shared activities with other students from various backgrounds, including: countries of origin, cultures and religions, ethnicities and races, family structures, income levels, learning styles, native languages, physical abilities, political beliefs, gender expressions, and sexual orientations. For us, bilingualism, internationalism, and an early appreciation for diversity in all its forms are keys to understanding and communicating across other cultures. We engineer this deliberately by bringing together families and educators from a wide range of backgrounds. Together we strive to create a shared culture that develops compassionate, confident, and principled students who will make the world better.

Since our founding in 1962, we have been proud to be a part of the global network of French schools abroad. We consider the French educational tradition to be one of the very best, as it is highly rigorous and maintains its standards by a high degree of direct control from the Ministry of Education. French citizens place a very high priority on the role of education and educators in society, and this has greatly contributed to its success internationally as well as domestically.