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United States, San Francisco
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Pedagogy of Relationships centers on trusting and loving relationships between teachers and students to support emotional wellbeing and learning. Responsive Classroom and Restorative Justice guide the development of classroom and school communities and provide tools to address conflicts with empathy, respect, and open communication. The school maintains a caring, safe, and supportive environment where the wellbeing of everyone comes first. Foundations for SEL come from the CASEL framework, including social awareness, relationship skills, self-awareness, and self-management. Ongoing SEL skill-building includes check-ins, grounding, active listening, body language, relaxation exercises, and the development of respect and empathy. Values such as kindness, inclusion, health, communication, peace, self-advocacy, mindfulness, integrity, respect, empathy, responsibility, cooperation, compassion, resilience, and leadership guide SEL; lessons aim to build intrapersonal and social skills and to improve well-being and academic performance.
La Scuola uses a Tier 1 and Tier 2 support model: strong classroom teaching (Tier 1) with small-group or targeted supports (Tier 2) to meet all student needs. Support is embedded in everyday classroom life; the approach differentiates for those who need more support or deeper challenge; it helps students leverage their strengths and learning profiles. All learners can access robust academics in both Italian and English. The school partners closely with families and specialists to support the whole child—academically, socially, emotionally, and linguistically.
La Scuola is a language immersion school with Italian as the primary language in PreK–Grade 3, and children do not need to speak Italian to enroll in the Italian immersion program. In Grades PreK–3 the primary language in the classroom is Italian; starting in Grade 4, students learn Spanish as a second language, and in Middle School students can follow paths with English, Italian, and Spanish. Languages are differentiated in instruction according to student ability, and the Middle School is inherently multilingual due to the languages taught and used. Many graduates continue language study in high school, and bilingualism is associated with cognitive and academic benefits.
Emotional wellbeing is a central focus; La Scuola strives to provide a caring, safe, and supportive environment that prioritizes wellbeing alongside learning. The SEL program builds social-emotional skills through regular check-ins, grounding, active listening, body language, relaxation exercises, and the development of empathy and respect. Tools such as the Emotional Thermometer and growth-mindset practices support students in managing pressure and stress. Core values—kindness, inclusion, health, peace, and resilience—guide daily interactions and behaviors. The school also emphasizes fostering physical and emotional wellbeing as part of its health and safety practices.
La Scuola is Open to the World and emphasizes diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, rejecting discrimination on multiple grounds and aiming to empower all community members to participate fully. The Pollyanna Racial Literacy Curriculum, guided by the DEIB Director with Kindergarten through Grade 8 teachers, supports constructive conversations about race and racism. The school highlights languages spoken by families and staff, reflecting a richly multilingual community, and partnerships such as the SMART program extend opportunities to lower‑income families. These practices contribute to a safe, inclusive environment that protects and supports student wellbeing.
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.
