By Barbara Greiner, Head of School
The intersection between a bilingual and International Baccalaureate education offers many benefits for students, opening doors of opportunity throughout their academic years and beyond.
At Silicon Valley International School (Preschool to 12th Grade, with campuses in Palo Alto and Menlo Park), students embark upon their bilingual journey across the International Baccalaureate continuum. At each stage of their journey, they are nurtured, challenged, and engaged in a way that builds critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, promotes a lifelong love of learning, and fosters a curiosity about the world around them.
A child’s Early Years (Preschool and Pre-Kindergarten) as well as their Elementary years (Kindergarten through 5th Grade) are a perfect time to build a strong bilingual foundation that promotes in-depth learning through exploration, discovery, and creativity.
Silicon Valley International School (INTL)’s students are immersed in French on average 70% of the time. With 45 years of excellence in bilingual education, our main strength is a thoughtful alignment between our English and French Programs. Both allow students to build connections between concepts, knowledge, and skills taught in the two languages and provide the foundation for their next stage of learning in Upper School.
While Elementary School lays the groundwork for foundational academic and linguistic skills, Middle School builds on this base, deepening critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, and encouraging students to explore more complex concepts and personal responsibility. INTL’s Middle School bilingual program challenges students, encouraging them to approach problems from different directions and perspectives. At INTL, they learn how to work, how to ask difficult questions, they research and find answers, build arguments or proofs, communicate important ideas, make ethical decisions, and more. INTL’s Middle School students are adaptable, resilient, and empathetic individuals whose academic strengths allow them to think independently and critically.
Another reason why a bilingual International Baccalaureate (IB) education stands out, especially one at Silicon Valley International School, is the High School years. INTL’s High School empowers students to discover their passions by offering a world-class college preparatory program that sets its students apart. The IB Advanced Bilingual Diploma is the gold standard of international education, opening doors to colleges and universities worldwide.
The in-depth, challenging, and personally engaging study that takes place during High School ensures our students have the rigorous academic preparation they need for their college majors or university courses, as well as the breadth of academic experience that supports their thinking, problem solving, and written and oral argumentation in all arenas.
For parents looking for the academic edge for their children, a bilingual International Baccalaureate education embodies the pinnacle of what’s possible, seamlessly blending language, culture, and a world-perspective with rigorous academic challenges across all grade levels.
From the foundational stages of Preschool to the sophisticated analyses expected in High School, INTL nurtures students who are not only academically equipped, but also globally-minded and culturally-aware, poised to excel in college and beyond.
Silicon Valley International School (INTL) is an authorized International Baccalaureate World School, providing the PYP, MYP, and DP (preschool to 12th grade). INTL also meets the high standards of the French and American educational systems and is accredited by the Ministre de l’Éducation Nationale, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, and the California Association of Independent Schools.
