The Lycée Is Now a Full IB World School

International Bilingualism, Two Tracks, One Exceptional Education

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The Lycée Is Now a Full IB World School — What It Means for Our Community

This school year marks a milestone for the Lycée Français de San Francisco. Following our Middle Years Program (MYP) authorization earlier this year, we have now received official authorization from the International Baccalaureate to offer the Diploma Programme (DP) — completing our IB continuum at the secondary level and making the Lycée a fully authorized IB World School across both programs.

We are proud. This milestone matters to every family who has chosen the Lycée — and to every family who is considering it. We want both to understand what it means in practice: not just as an institutional achievement, but as a concrete reality for the students who are living it every day, and a powerful signal of what awaits those who are about to begin their journey with us.

International Bilingualism: The Signature of a Lycée Education

At the heart of everything the Lycée offers is a commitment to International Bilingualism — the conviction that growing up thinking in two languages, moving fluidly between two cultures, and graduating with a diploma recognized around the world is not a privilege reserved for a few, but an achievable reality for every student who walks through our doors. It is the thread that runs through both of our educational pathways, and the foundation on which everything else is built.

The DP authorization is a direct expression of that commitment. It means that the Lycée can now offer two complete, world-class bilingual pathways from Preschool through Grade 12 — each rigorous, each leading to a dual diploma, and each rooted in the belief that International Bilingualism is the most powerful preparation we can give a young person for the world ahead.

What Is the International Track — and What Makes It Distinctly Ours?

The International Track is the Lycée's IB-powered pathway, open to all students regardless of prior French language experience. It follows the International Baccalaureate framework — one of the most rigorous and globally recognized educational programs in the world — while adding something no other IB school in the Bay Area offers: a genuine French language acquisition curriculum, embedded in a bilingual, multicultural community.

In Middle School, students follow the MYP — a program that builds the skills and habits of mind that define strong learners: inquiry, critical thinking, research, and the ability to make connections across disciplines. In High School, the DP takes those foundations further, with six subject-area courses, an Extended Essay, Theory of Knowledge, and a Creativity Activity Service portfolio that genuinely prepares students for university — not just academically, but as thinkers and citizens.

What makes the Lycée's version of the IB unique is what surrounds it. International Track students learn French from their first day — not as a foreign language elective but as a living part of their community and their education. They share campuses, lunches, cultural events, Global Learning trips, athletics, and school life with French Track students. They benefit from teachers whose training, rigor, and commitment to bilingual education are embedded in more than fifty years of institutional knowledge. And they graduate with both the IB Diploma and the U.S. High School diploma — a combination recognized by leading universities across more than 110 countries.

Two Tracks. Two Pathways. One Signature Education.

The French Track and the International Track are the two pillars of International Bilingualism at the Lycée — and they are stronger together than either would be alone. The French Track delivers the French national curriculum in full immersion, leading to the French Baccalauréat alongside the U.S. High School diploma. The International Track delivers the IB in an environment enriched by French language and culture, leading to the IB Diploma alongside the U.S. High School diploma.

Both are bilingual. Both are rigorous. Both lead to dual diplomas recognized worldwide. Both are expressions of the same core belief: that International Bilingualism — the ability to think across languages, cultures, and systems — is the most valuable thing a school can cultivate in a young person. And both are now fully authorized, fully operational, and ready to welcome your family.

A Rigorous Authorization Process — and Numerous Commendations

IB authorization is not a formality. It is a thorough, multi-year evaluation of every dimension of a school's program — curriculum, pedagogy, faculty development, institutional policies, and culture. We are honored that our Verification Visit report included numerous commendations recognizing the quality of the work already underway across our community. "This is a tremendous achievement", says Lycée Head of School Emmanuel TEXIER, "one that would not have been possible without the dedication of our faculty and staff, the trust of our families, and the engagement of our students."

A Program That Is Growing — and Just Getting Started

Three years ago, we launched the International Track with a clear conviction. Today, with more than 30 students enrolled, approximately 30 applications received for MYP and DP entry for the upcoming school year, and our first graduating class expected in 2028, that conviction has become reality. The best chapters are still ahead.

We look forward to celebrating this milestone together with the entire Lycée community very soon.