Choosing the right school for your child is one of the biggest decisions you’ll ever make. With so many choices out there, it’s easy to get overwhelmed… from public to private school and traditional programs to inquiry-based learning such as the International Baccalaureate (IB).
To help you make a more informed decision and determine if an IB program is the right fit for your child, we reached out to the French American International School (FAIS), a preschool-8th grade independent school in NW Portland.
Founded in 1979, FAIS is the only school in Portland authorized by the IB for preschool-8th grade. Preschool-5th grade (starting with an early preschool for 2 ½ year-olds), is taught in a French immersion setting. Middle School offers one curriculum delivered in five languages: multiple immersion tracks (French, German, Mandarin, and Spanish), as well as an English-focused track with a beginning language.
The middle school offers one curriculum delivered in five languages: multiple immersion tracks (French, German, Mandarin, and Spanish), as well as an English-focused track with a beginning language.
Käthlon Gabaldon
Lower School
IB Coordinator
Anne Prouty
Middle School
IB Coordinator
The middle school offers one curriculum delivered in five languages: multiple immersion tracks (French, German, Mandarin, and Spanish), as well as an English-focused track with a beginning language.
What is the IB?
Anne: The International Baccalaureate (IB) is a worldwide network of schools committed to creating a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. Schools can choose to utilize any of the four programmes:, primary years (PYP), middle years (MYP), diploma, or career-related, based on the age of their students. Our school is authorized in the PYP and MYP. All programmes have a rich academic framework, which is conveyed through real life examples. There are 39 IB schools in Oregon, both public and private, with over 5,000 schools globally in 157 countries.
How does the IB benefit my child?
Käthlon: Participation in any International Baccalaureate programme helps equip students to think about issues from multiple perspectives, be critical thinkers, develop better intercultural understanding (supported greatly by beginning to learn another language) and respect of others, and helps them better understand their world because subjects are explored conceptually, using real-life examples. The IB also focuses heavily on hands-on, in-depth learning and the development of the “learner profile,” which is a set of ten attributes (caring, open-minded, reflective, etc.) to help them grow into a more internationally-minded person.
What makes the IB at FAIS unique?
Käthlon: In the Lower School (preschool-5th grade), all of our students are taught by Masters-level teachers, and we follow the French curriculum, which is organized into three-year cycles of standards that need to be taught. This allows for students to have three years to master the skills they are expected to achieve at the end of that time period, and allows for them to move faster or slower, based on their own abilities. Students have daily opportunities for exercise and gross motor skill play, as well as ongoing enrichment in the Arts. Our makerspace (L’éspace creatif), kitchen, forest and Discovery Park areas offer wonderful experiences outside the classroom to explore and create.
Delivered in a language immersion setting, this combination of rich, developmentally-appropriate teaching with hands-on, inquiry-based and conceptual learning through IB make our school an incredible place to be a student.
Anne: In our Middle School (6th-8th grade), the MYP is a curriculum framework with 8 required subjects including Language & Literature (English and Immersion language; French, Spanish German, Mandarin), Language Acquisition (new language), Maths, Science, Individuals and Society (taught in our 5 languages), Design, PE and Health, and Arts.
All teachers teaching the same subject agree on unit concepts, context and at least one common assessment. Teachers work on content specific as well as global skills that help students be successful both in and out of the classroom
MYP fosters critical and creative thinking through interdisciplinary inquiry units. Students are encouraged to explore global issues in an environment that fosters lifelong learning and learning for understanding (not grades). Students learn by doing and show their conceptual understanding by tackling real world problems. Our students are prepared for future education through organizational strategies, but more importantly by fostering a love of learning.
How does an IB education from FAIS prepare kids for high school, college, and beyond?
Käthlon: An IB education at FAIS produces students who are fluent in at least one other language, with a strong understanding of the world around them. Our students are highly sought-after by local high schools, because of their incredible ability to work autonomously, ask deep questions, and make connections across subject areas. We receive updates from our alumni around the world who are making a difference in their careers and communities into adulthood.
Anne: It gives you a world of possibilities. Our students have the doors to the world open for them: students have had at least two opportunities to travel internationally before the end of 8th grade, and they’ve used their languages to communicate in unfamiliar cultures. We encourage students to take action in their community, to be able to disagree but understand another perspective, to learn from their mistakes, and to think and act locally and globally.
