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United States, San Francisco
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The school is a preschool-8th grade bilingual immersion program with instruction in French and English. In Preschool & Kindergarten, Maternelle is project-centered and play-based, with French immersion about 80% of the day; five hours of English per week support language development as teachers from French and English collaborate. In elementary school, language development shifts from French immersion toward bilingual instruction, with grade-by-grade balances such as 1st–2nd at 80–20 (French–English) and 4th–5th at 50–50, fostering oral language, reading, and writing in both languages. The Accelerated French Program (AFP) provides late-entry points at Grade 1, Grade 2, and Grade 6 for students with no prior French exposure to develop fluency and support High School placement after 8th grade.
The visual arts, music, and theater are core components of the elementary curriculum; arts are integrated into classroom instruction in Grade 1, with specialists for music starting in Grade 2 and visual arts in Grade 3. Students explore art as a means of self-expression and connect artistic learning to other subjects within the school's STEAM focus.
The school offers a Section Internationale Américaine, a bilateral-bicultural program that integrates language and culture from partner countries, with primary-level International Sections in the U.S. since September 2020. The program supports bilingual and bicultural learning for students from elementary through higher levels and includes partnerships with local cultural institutions (e.g., Theater de Berkeley) and connections to French and international educational networks to facilitate exchanges and intercultural projects.
In elementary and beyond, after-school enrichment includes activities such as yoga and soccer, and the Etude program provides group homework support after school led by bilingual teachers. The school encourages experiential learning through field trips and collaborative projects that extend classroom learning into real-world contexts.
Experiential trips and service learning are integral to citizenship education. Formal community service begins in fourth grade, with opportunities to engage in activities that connect students to the wider community and cultivate social responsibility.
Physical Education is emphasized as essential, with dedicated P.E. instruction from Grade 2 onward and a range of sports and movement activities, including dance. The school also runs after-school athletic and enrichment options and implements a Restorative Justice framework for social-emotional learning, including Vers le Pacifique, a bilingual SEL program that begins in Preschool and continues through Grade 2.
Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley provides a dual-immersion education from preschool through eighth grade. The school follows the French National Ministry of Education curriculum alongside the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme. Instruction is delivered through a co-teaching model where French and English teachers collaborate to build literacy in both languages.The 2.3-acre campus includes specialized outdoor learning environments such as a water creek, a dedicated garden, and an outdoor amphitheater. A unique feature of the elementary program is the "Vers le Pacifique" initiative, a social-emotional program focused on conflict resolution and identity development. Additionally, the school offers an Accelerated French Program specifically for students entering grades one through eight with little to no prior exposure to the language, allowing them to join the bilingual track. Students participate in physical education and arts regularly, with after-school clubs ranging from robotics to global cooking.
