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United States, San Francisco
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
