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La Scuola International School - San Francisco Mission Campus

United States, San Francisco

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The school at a glance
Instructs in Italian, English
Fees $36,100 - 48,150
Ages 5 - 14 years
Type Co-educational
Opened 2002
Bus Service No
Academic offering
Curriculum IB (PYP), IB (MYP), Reggio Emilia Approach
Taught languages Italian, English, Spanish
Strengths Languages, Visual and Creative Arts, Service and Sustainability
Clubs Arts and Creative, Cultural and Language, Community and Service
Stages Kindergarten, Elementary, Middle School
Introduction

La Scuola International School in San Francisco is a private day school that operates as an IB World School for the Primary Years Program and the Middle Years Program, and it embraces a Reggio Emilia-inspired approach. The school offers Italian language immersion with English instruction, supported by a Montreal Model grade balance and ongoing Spanish instruction in upper grades. Established in 2002, La Scuola maintains multiple campuses, including the Mission Campus (K–8), the Dogpatch Campus (Preschool), the Silicon Valley Campus (PreK–Elementary), and a Milano, Italy campus; it is recognized by the Italian government as Scuola Paritaria abroad. The Mission Campus is the Americas' first Reggio Emilia-inspired campus, with spaces such as the food atelier, dining room, art, music, and makers ateliers surrounding a central piazza. The environment emphasizes hands-on learning, cross‑grade collaboration, and inquiry through transdisciplinary Units of Inquiry, culminating in the PYP Exhibition and the MYP Community Project for students.

3250 18th Street, San Francisco, CA 94110, United States of America

The Essentials

La Scuola International School - San Francisco Mission Campus has instruction in Italian, English.

Location
Mission Campus, 3250 18th Street, San Francisco, CA 94110; Dogpatch Campus, 728 20th Street, San Francisco, CA 94107. The San Francisco campuses are named Mission Campus (K–Grade 8) and Dogpatch Campus (Preschool). A Silicon Valley Campus is located at 2086 Clarke Ave, East Palo Alto, CA 94303, and Milano Campus is in Milan, Italy.

Stages
Preschool (2-5 years); Elementary School (Grades K-5); Middle School (Grades 6-8).

Type
Private, day school; International Baccalaureate World School; Reggio Emilia-inspired; Italian Language Immersion; multi-campus.

Pupil Nationality Mix
International community with families representing many nationalities; over 30 languages spoken on campus; only 17% of families have at least one Italian speaker at home; the majority are not Italian speakers.

Additional learning support
Learning Differences is listed among the school's learning styles.

Country affiliation
Italy (Italian language immersion and cultural roots; listed by the Italian government as a paritarie school abroad).
Diving Deeper

Boarding Arrangements
The school is a day school and does not offer boarding.

Food Options
Lunch and snacks are provided. Fresh fruit and vegetables are served daily. The school partners with 54 Mint restaurant and catering to provide organic, locally-sourced daily lunches for students, faculty, and staff. Vegetarian, dairy-free, and gluten-free options are available.

Governance and Ownership
The school is governed by a Board of Directors. The Board oversees the school's financial sustainability, approves the annual budget, oversees the creation of the strategic plan, and sets policies.
Fees

Annual tuition at La Scuola International School - San Francisco Mission Campus ranges from USD 36,100 to USD 48,150 for 2026/27.

Application fees

- Sliding-scale (Clarity) application fee: USD 65 (fee to submit the Clarity financial-aid application).
- School application/portal: La Scuola uses the Ravenna application portal for admissions; no separate, fixed school application fee amount is published in the school's public admissions materials.

Tuition fees (San Francisco) — published academic year 2025–2026

- Preschool, Full Day (until 5:30 p.m.; 5-day schedule; lunch and morning & afternoon snacks included): USD 45,150 per year.
- Preschool, Half Day (until 1:00 p.m.; 5-day schedule; lunch and morning snack included): USD 36,100 per year.
- Elementary (Grades K–5; lunch included): USD 46,200 per year.
- Middle School (Grades 6–8; lunch included): USD 48,150 per year. Mission Campus extended-care charges are billed separately from tuition.

Tuition breakdown per term / per year group

- The school publishes the above annual tuition amounts for each program (Preschool full day/half day, Elementary, Middle School) for the 2025–2026 academic year. Specific per-term or per-installment amounts are not stated as fixed figures on the public tuition page; extended-care programs list separate fees (see below).

Billing schedule and payment terms

- Extended-care payments (Mission and Silicon Valley campus extended-care programs) are processed through Clarity and are scheduled over 10 payments beginning in September. Late-pickup penalties apply (base late fee USD 50 after a five-minute grace period; beyond 15 minutes an additional USD 2 per minute; escalated base fee after repeated late pickups).
- The school uses the Ravenna hub to accept and manage applications and uses Clarity for sliding-scale tuition processing; families interact with those systems during admissions and financial-aid processes. Contact information for the Business Office is provided for billing questions.

Boarding fees

- Boarding is not offered. La Scuola operates PreK–Grade 8 campuses in San Francisco (Mission and Dogpatch) and a Silicon Valley campus; programs and schedules are day-school formats.

Other costs and fees (examples and published extras)

- Extended-care / after-school program fees (2025–2026):
- Mission Campus registration options: 5 days/week USD 6,500; 3 days/week USD 4,600; daily drop-in USD 50/day. Late-pickup fees as noted above apply. Payments processed via Clarity over 10 payments starting in September.
- Silicon Valley extended-care registration options: 5 days/week USD 4,600; 3 days/week USD 3,475; daily drop-in USD 40/day. Payments processed via Clarity over 10 payments starting in September.
- School merchandise / uniforms / spiritwear and ancillary items: La Scuola Mercato (the parent-run school store) sells spiritwear, yearbooks and other items; prices vary by item and are purchased separately through the school store (Il Mercato / shoplascuola.com).
- Enrichment, camps and special programs: seasonal camp and enrichment program fees are charged separately (registration and per-program fees apply). Extended-care and enrichment have their own registration and billing processes.

Refund information

- The school's publicly available admissions and tuition materials do not publish a general, consolidated tuition refund or withdrawal policy for the academic year materials accessible to the public. For specific refund or withdrawal terms applicable to an enrollment contract, extended-care registration, or particular program, families are directed to contact the school's admissions or business office directly.

Fee payment options

- Extended-care payments and sliding-scale processing are handled through Clarity. Clarity-supported payment methods commonly include ACH (bank transfer), debit card, credit card, and wire transfer; credit-card transactions may incur standard processing fees. (Clarity is the platform La Scuola identifies for processing these payments.)
- School store purchases are processed via the school store (Il Mercato) checkout system (shop platform).

Contact for billing or program-specific fee questions: business.office@lascuolasf.org (Business Office) and admissions@lascuolasf.org (Admissions).
Academics

La Scuola International School - San Francisco Mission Campus teaches IB (PYP), IB (MYP), Reggio Emilia Approach for students aged 5 to 14.

Curriculum
IB Primary Years Program (PYP) for Elementary (K-5) and IB Middle Years Program (MYP) for Middle School (6-8). The school integrates the Reggio Emilia Approach with the IB framework. Language of instruction is Italian and English with a Montreal Model balance by grade: K-1 approximately 80% Italian / 20% English; Grade 2 approximately 70% Italian / 30% English; Grades 3-5 approximately 50% Italian / 50% English; Grades 6-8 approximately 30% Italian / 70% English. Spanish is taught in Grades 4-5. The curriculum uses transdisciplinary Units of Inquiry, culminates in the PYP Exhibition, and aligns with the Italian National Curriculum; the school is an IB World School for both PYP and MYP.

Higher Education Progression
Graduates have attended high schools in San Francisco and beyond, including the International School of San Francisco, University High School, Lick-Wilmerding High School, The Urban School, Drew School, Saint Ignatius, Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, Lowell High School, Mission High School, and others. The first graduating class of 2020 is attending universities such as Georgetown University, Pratt Institute, University of Southern California, Loyola Marymount University, UC Santa Cruz, University College Dublin, University College London, and Bocconi University in Milan.
Wellbeing

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)
Pedagogy of Relationships centers on trusting and loving relationships between teachers and students to support emotional wellbeing and learning. Responsive Classroom and Restorative Justice guide the development of classroom and school communities and provide tools to address conflicts with empathy, respect, and open communication. The school maintains a caring, safe, and supportive environment where the wellbeing of everyone comes first. Foundations for SEL come from the CASEL framework, including social awareness, relationship skills, self-awareness, and self-management. Ongoing SEL skill-building includes check-ins, grounding, active listening, body language, relaxation exercises, and the development of respect and empathy. Values such as kindness, inclusion, health, communication, peace, self-advocacy, mindfulness, integrity, respect, empathy, responsibility, cooperation, compassion, resilience, and leadership guide SEL; lessons aim to build intrapersonal and social skills and to improve well-being and academic performance.

Special Educational Needs (SEN)
La Scuola uses a Tier 1 and Tier 2 support model: strong classroom teaching (Tier 1) with small-group or targeted supports (Tier 2) to meet all student needs. Support is embedded in everyday classroom life; the approach differentiates for those who need more support or deeper challenge; it helps students leverage their strengths and learning profiles. All learners can access robust academics in both Italian and English. The school partners closely with families and specialists to support the whole child—academically, socially, emotionally, and linguistically.

English as an Additional Language (EAL)
La Scuola is a language immersion school with Italian as the primary language in PreK–Grade 3, and children do not need to speak Italian to enroll in the Italian immersion program. In Grades PreK–3 the primary language in the classroom is Italian; starting in Grade 4, students learn Spanish as a second language, and in Middle School students can follow paths with English, Italian, and Spanish. Languages are differentiated in instruction according to student ability, and the Middle School is inherently multilingual due to the languages taught and used. Many graduates continue language study in high school, and bilingualism is associated with cognitive and academic benefits.

Mental Wellbeing
Emotional wellbeing is a central focus; La Scuola strives to provide a caring, safe, and supportive environment that prioritizes wellbeing alongside learning. The SEL program builds social-emotional skills through regular check-ins, grounding, active listening, body language, relaxation exercises, and the development of empathy and respect. Tools such as the Emotional Thermometer and growth-mindset practices support students in managing pressure and stress. Core values—kindness, inclusion, health, peace, and resilience—guide daily interactions and behaviors. The school also emphasizes fostering physical and emotional wellbeing as part of its health and safety practices.

Safeguarding
La Scuola is Open to the World and emphasizes diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, rejecting discrimination on multiple grounds and aiming to empower all community members to participate fully. The Pollyanna Racial Literacy Curriculum, guided by the DEIB Director with Kindergarten through Grade 8 teachers, supports constructive conversations about race and racism. The school highlights languages spoken by families and staff, reflecting a richly multilingual community, and partnerships such as the SMART program extend opportunities to lower‑income families. These practices contribute to a safe, inclusive environment that protects and supports student wellbeing.
Parent Experience

History
Founded in 2002. It began as an Italian language playgroup and has grown to operate across multiple campuses, including the Mission Campus (K–8), the Dogpatch Campus (Preschool), and the Silicon Valley Campus (PreK–Elementary), plus a Milano, Italy campus. It is an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School and is recognized as an Italian Accredited School (Scuola Paritaria) abroad by the Italian Ministry of Education.

Community
The Parents Association (PALS) works collaboratively with La Scuola faculty and staff to support and facilitate programming, experiences, ideas, and opportunities that welcome, engage, and foster the La Scuola community and support the school's mission to inspire brave learners to shape the future. La Scuola has a long and rich history of parent involvement and participation from its early beginnings as an Italian language playgroup, and now includes more than 250 families at three campuses. PALS organizes and supports events each year including: Welcome Picnic, Back to School Coffees, Staff and Teacher Appreciation, Book Fair, Holiday Party, Beach Clean-ups, The Annual Spring Fiera, Italian Heritage Parade, Lunar New Year Celebrations, Diwali Celebrations, World Day of Cultural Diversity, Mission Carneval, and Graduation. PALS supports the school through committees such as Library, Garden, Music, Yearbook, La Dolce Vita, Admin and Konstella, Community, Leadership, SPEAK, and Service Learning. Pal s contact: pals@lascuolasf.org.

Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
PALS is the Parents Association of La Scuola and works collaboratively with La Scuola faculty and staff to support and foster the La Scuola community and the school's mission. It includes events such as the Annual Welcome Picnic, Back to School Coffees, Staff and Teacher Appreciation, Book Fair, Holiday Party, Beach Clean-ups, The Annual Spring Fiera, Italian Heritage Parade, Lunar New Year Celebrations, Diwali Celebrations, World Day of Cultural Diversity, Mission Carneval, Graduation, and committees including Library, Garden, Music, Yearbook, La Dolce Vita, Admin and Konstella, Community, Leadership, SPEAK, and Service Learning. Over 10,000 volunteer hours are contributed annually by parents across three campuses.
Facilities

Facilities Overview
The Mission Campus houses K-8 students in the Mission District. The building is the first Reggio Emilia Approach-inspired campus in the Americas. The main entrance houses the food atelier, dining room, art, music, and makers ateliers, along with Middle School classrooms and gathering spaces. The Ateliers are central to the Reggio Emilia program, providing spaces to learn, explore, create, and experiment. The Mission Campus includes two other buildings: a historic St. Charles building with light-filled elementary classrooms and a Van Ness Avenue building that contains the gymnasium and additional ateliers. The piazza features a stage and a basketball court, and houses several ateliers, while play structures on the piazza follow Reggio Emilia principles.

Sports Facilities
The Van Ness Avenue building contains our gymnasium and additional ateliers. The piazza includes a stage, a basketball court, and several ateliers for student recreation. Play structures on the piazza were designed by an Italian architect in accordance with Reggio Emilia principles. Outdoor time is part of the daily schedule, providing space for active play.

Academic Facilities
The St. Charles building features light-filled classrooms designed to be spaces of curiosity and wonder. These interiors reflect the Reggio Emilia curriculum's commitment to hands-on learning and its belief in the environment as the 'third teacher.' La Scuola's immersive approach to learning Italian can be seen in the classroom. The classroom environment supports cross-grade learning and daily teacher connections. The campus culminates Grade 8 with the IB Middle Years Program Community Project and includes a brand-new Mission Campus building that brings light, color, and energy to learning.

Extra Curricular Facilities
The Ateliers provide spaces to learn, explore, create, and experiment. The piazza includes a stage for performances, a basketball court, and several ateliers for student recreation. The school garden is used for hands-on learning, with students harvesting radishes from the school garden. Cross-grade learning is an integral part of La Scuola's community, and the IB Middle Years Program emphasizes Service as Action in Grade 8.
Extra-Curricular Activities

Academic & Intellectual
The Ateliers provide space to develop ideas and tackle the unknown. The Reggio Emilia approach treats the environment as the 'third teacher' to inspire curiosity, creativity, and joy. The Ateliers include music, visual arts, design, and garden study that connect across disciplines in project‑based work. The tinkering lab emphasizes design thinking, modeling, coding, and hands‑on exploration across subjects.

Arts & Creative
The Ambassador Ensemble is a plucked string orchestra that rehearses and performs for special events. La Scuola celebrates two all‑school concerts each year. The Visual Arts atelier enables students to create their own works and express themselves. Design and the tinkering program engage students in modeling, coding, and a wide range of media to bring ideas to life.

Cultural & Language
La Scuola is a language immersion school with Italian as the primary classroom language in Preschool through Grade 3. Starting in Grade 4, Spanish is introduced as a third language, and in Middle School students pursue language paths with Italian as a second language and Spanish as a third, or vice versa. Specialist subjects may be taught in English or Italian, and the Middle School remains inherently multilingual with English, Italian, and Spanish.

Social & Hobbies
The school hosts music performances, including two all‑school concerts each year. Ambassador Ensemble provides additional performance opportunities at events. The Ateliers support collaborative inquiry across music, visual arts, design, and gardening projects, fostering teamwork and peer learning. Community events and school celebrations bring families together through the arts and learning experiences.

Community & Service
The Garden & Environmental Studies program engages students in gardening, ecology, and stewardship, connecting learning with the environment and community. Students explore plant identification, garden visitors, and the cycle of food production, developing empathy and a sense of responsibility toward their community. Graduates understand the interdependence of nature and how it relates to lives around the world.

Leadership & Professional
Athletics foster leadership, commitment, and true sportsmanship, with student‑athletes representing La Scuola in the San Francisco International Athletic League (SFIAL). A large share of middle schoolers participate in athletic programs, building teamwork and school pride. Participation in ensemble performances and project work also develops collaboration, time management, and leadership skills within a learning community.

Lifestyle & Wellbeing
The PE and Wellness program focuses on movement, fitness, and holistic development from preschool through middle school. IB‑MYP Physical and Health Education emphasizes healthy life choices, inquiry, and personal well‑being. Extended Day & Camps provide after‑school care with various registration options and nut‑free snacks, and include morning care on select days for younger students.
Languages

Language Provision
Languages taught include Italian, English and Spanish. Italian and English are the two main languages of instruction, balanced by the Montreal Model: Preschool about 10% English - 90% Italian; Grades K-1 about 20% English - 80% Italian; Grade 2 about 30% English - 70% Italian; Grades 3-5 about 50% Italian - 50% English; Grades 6-8 about 70% English - 30% Italian. Specialist subjects may be taught in English or Italian.

Bilingual Teaching
La Scuola teaches using two main languages of instruction, Italian and English, balanced through the Montreal Model. From Kindergarten through Grade 1, Italian is the language of instruction about 80% of the time and English about 20%. From Grade 2, the balance is approximately 70% Italian and 30% English. From Grades 3–5 the balance is about 50% Italian and 50% English, and Grades 6–8 use about 30% Italian and 70% English; specialist subjects may be taught in English or Italian.

Immersion Programs
Your child does not need to speak Italian to enroll in the Italian language immersion program. In PreK–3, the primary classroom language is Italian, and starting in Grade 4, students learn Spanish as a third language. In Middle School, students can follow different paths, with Italian as second language and Spanish as third, or vice versa, and the Middle School remains inherently multilingual with English, Italian and Spanish.
Admissions

Admissions
Apply to La Scuola International School. Sign up for an account with Ravenna to manage the application, register for campus tours and events, and view admissions decisions. Through Ravenna you can schedule a in-person tour or join a virtual event, and you can submit an application through Ravenna by January 15, 2026; enrollment decisions are sent in March 2026. Admissions are organized by grade level: Preschool process (ages Piccoli 2-3, Grandi 3-4, Grandissimi 4-5); Kindergarten process (age 5+ by September 1, 2026); Grades 1-5 process; Grades 6-8 process. Students are not required to speak Italian to enroll in preschool, kindergarten, grade 1, or grade 6; Grades 2-5 and Grades 7-8 are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Middle School instruction is primarily in English with 6 hours of language instruction per 6-day rotation, split 4 hours/2 hours between the second language and the third language (Italian or Spanish). Admissions events include Open Houses, Campus Tours, and Parent Education Series; see Tours & Events for details. The three La Scuola campuses include Mission (K–8) and Dogpatch (Preschool) in San Francisco, Silicon Valley (PreK–Elementary), and Milano (Italy). Sliding Scale Tuition is described separately; see Tuition & Affordability for details.

Scholarships
Sliding Scale Tuition Grants are awarded to families based on demonstrated financial need as determined by the Clarity application and the La Scuola Tuition Committee. The Clarity application is used to assess financial need, and the process is designed to include a $65 submission fee. Sliding scale tuition is available for Grandi (3-4 years old), Grandissimi (4-5 years old), and Kindergarten through Grade 8; there are no merit-based awards. Award determinations are made after reviewing the Clarity application and the school's budget, and awards are not guaranteed due to limited funds. The deadline for completing the sliding scale tuition application and submitting supporting documents is January 21, 2026 for current families and February 1, 2026 for prospective families. Award letters are mailed with enrollment contracts. Questions about sliding scale tuition can be directed to Nichole Leon, Director of Admissions, SST & DEIB, at nichole.leon@lascuolasf.org. The school is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and does not receive state or federal funding.
School Events
The school has not added events
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