Lycée Français de San Francisco

For parents interested in a bilingual education, a multicultural experience, and a young learning program that teaches concrete skills through art and discovery, this school must not be missed.
Lycée Français de San Francisco moved a couple of years ago from its Corte Madera location to a wonderful campus in on Ebbtide St in Sausalito. Now we have a great playground, open to the public outside of school hours, a wonderful open layout, access to a gym, fields and tennis courts, and the sunny skies of southern Marin. The school caters to the whole student, with wonderful teachers who teach in their first language, as well as a full before and after school daycare program (730am-​6pm!), activities varying from fencing to theater, school wide programs like Art and Tasting Week, Visiting Artists and Writers, and socio-​emotional programs like Playworks that add the best of the American system to the French curriculum.
My family doesn’t speak French, but my son (9) and daughter (10) certainly do! They absolutely LOVE their school, their international friends, their teachers, and they love to learn. My husband and I have no problem helping with their homework, and I love being a part of the parent community. Kids can start at LFSF as early as 2 years and 9 months, which is an amazing age for kids to start speaking a new language in this wonderful environment.
Visit the website
for more information, or write Mathieu in admissions at
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Well, coming in as a 1^st grader 7 years ago, not knowing absolutely anything about the French language, the teachers and students really did help me nurture my French. The help they gave me was extremely amazing, the teachers were supportive and all the other students would like to come up to me and were willing to help me. Now, 7 years later, a now 8^th grader at the Ortega campus I couldn’t have imagined going anywhere else for elementary and middle school. Even if I am not staying at the lycée for high school (which I am deeply saddened about) this wonderful experience and the wonderful friends I have made are the best gift I could have ever asked for from my parents.

I have had 2 kids in this school and the experience has been varied, both excellent and frankly deficient. Pre K-​5^th grade has excellent teachers with a few exceptions. Of the 14 years our kids were in pre-​k and elementary school we had 3 bad teachers that should have been fired. It seems the teachers union at the school makes it nearly impossible to remove bad teachers even when 75percent of the parents are complaining about teacher behavior, (eg. screaming at the kids, yes this happened frequently with a couple of teachers). However the other teachers really were excellent.
As good as the elementary school is, they do not prepare the kids for middle school as the language of the texts is very academic and above grade level (think university level wording for 6^th graders that are not yet fluent in French). As a result most of the kids spend 3 – 4 hours a night doing homework in middle school. I’ve done a survey within our class so I know this is the norm and it is not just our kids. There’s a reason this school has a big drop in enrollment between 6^th-​8^th grade.
Lastly I have to say that despite being a French school taught in French, that very few of the non-​native speaking students can speak French fluently. I suppose that there is not enough verbal work done in the school compared to the amount of written work.

Our daughter has been a student at the Lycée for 3 years now and is entering 1^st grade this Sept. We are very happy with the school. It offers a great environment combining the best of French and American education and cultures. As a French-​English household, we really appreciate having a true full immersion French program with high academic standards and a very welcoming community at our door step.

Our child is going to the Pre-​K1 program at the Lycée — so is at the Ashbury campus. Neither my wife or I speak french but we speak Spanish and appreciate the value of knowing another language and wanted the same thing for our child. Especially since it’s pretty easy to learn when you are young and your brain is like a sponge. I myself forgot most everything else in school but a language is like an enduring gift. Wish I had learned more before my brain calcified…
Anyway, so far the experience has been great. Lots of activity and involvement, very friendly, international community. Teacher seems great, kids are always doing something cool, and having fun. My only caveat is we’re pretty early on in the program so I’ll update this as the experience evolves. At this point, we’re very happy and our child loves the school.
Update as promised 4÷22÷14:
Child is finishing 2^nd year, pre-​K2, still love the school, and feel very fortunate to be there. Hope we keep the string of awesome teachers going. The pictures and the address above, by the way, are for the high school. Our child is at the Ashbury campus, where they have a pre-​K /​elementary program. Wish I knew French! C’est la vie!

Great school

The only truly French school in the Bay Area and one of two in the US (the other is DC) to be accredited by the French govt. My kids love it at the Lycée. I was not impressed with the level of French or the number of French children at FAIS, though it has other advantages I’m sure. We have been extremely pleased with the teachers, and find it to be a a school with lots of diversity — social, cultural, racial — keeping in mind that it is a private! Highly recommend it to people who enjoy cultural diversity, a structured education and a really pleasant campus.

I am French and my spouse is American. Why did we choose this school?
Well, our child started in a French-​American school, but I was not satisfied because their level of French was bad (at least for me)
The change was not easy (he had to make new friends …) but the teachers were very nice.
Our child is now happy in the French system, although it is tough and chalenging (a lot of critical thinking and analysis).
I read other reviews and especially the bad ones. I know that for some parents who are not French it is difficult to understand sometimes the system, the curriculum or the consequences of their choices (A French immersion school is not always easy for a small number of students, who does not speak French outside of the school or who never goes to France …)
BUT I disagree with the other comments: Le lycée speech therapist (from Switzerland… I do not think it is a problem) has a PHD and is wonderful, the managers who are sent and paid by the French government (Headmaster, Vice-​Headmaster, 2 directos of primary schools) stay 5 to 6 years (not 3 years) are professionals, great college counselor (if your child graduate from this school he/​she can study in Europe or in North American colleges) and the teachers from France know their jobs very well.
Last but not least, French school abroad (the ones that signed a specific contract with the French government called convention) get money from that and are a good deal for a private school.
My wife and I and our child are very happy
PS: If you are a French citizen, the high school (from 10^th to 12^th grades in the French system) is free because it is paid by the French government !!!

I sent my child to this school from K-​5. It was fine for 3 years. If you are not planning on 1) living in France 2) sending your child through the French ed system, do not send your child here. If you want the benefit of the French language, send your child to FAIS. Why? Well, they teach French style math at this school, including French long division and use the Euro instead of the dollar as the currency to teach with. Their solution to college prep is «American» math classes, taught separately. Do you really want that? Imagine if your child has the slightest problem with a concept… When my child transferred, it took her nearly a year to catch up in math. As for in the hallways and on the school yard, their supervision is not very up to date regarding mediation of disputes. They are lax in diagnosing children with any sort of learning disability. They have a sink or swim attitude. Their learning specialist is from Switzerland and unknown if that person is certified here or what the requirements are. Ask some hard questions of their managers, who are regularly transferred in and out of the country about every 3 years. If you are looking for consistency, this is not the place for you. They have a few good teachers, but they don’t reward them for their talents. While I favor bilingual education, I did not appreciate their «my way or the highway» attitude and I don’t think most parents would. For the cost of the school, you want to take a good look at their matriculation results. They are posted on their quarterly newsletter FilInfo.

My oldest child has been at the school for three years and my youngest for one year. We have been overjoyed with our experience at the school and plan to keep them there through high school. The quality of the teachers, both in French and English is unparalleled. The school’s special relationship with the French government (one of only two in the US) also helps to ensure that we receive the best faculty and administrators on a regular basis. We also have enjoyed the parent community there… many of them are our closest friends now. You should definitely visit it… a great program.

I went here, k-​12, and think it is the best decision my parents ever made for me. The curriculum is challenging, and the classes are small (hence hands ON).
Of my graduating class, three of us were accepted to UCBerkeley, two to Stanford, one to Vassar, and other various prestigious colleges. Aside from taking all your classes in French, you are also prepared to pass the baccalaureat, a rigourous exit exam (good grades on the bac = 3 or 4 less GenEds in college)
I don’t think you have to be rosy cheeked or have good bone structure to go there, nor did I ever notice a huge class issue. French citizens don’t have to pay, so they’re all over the board as far as class, and the non-​French citizens vary as much as any other private school. 4 of the 20 people in my graduating class were children of non-​French speaking Americans, and they did just fine.
It really is a great school, and very helpful later in life, particularly from a cultural exposure standpoint. I’ll be sending my kids here, no question.