Local School. International Education.

The International School of Boston (ISB) was founded in 1962 as the Jardin d’Enfants (literally Children’s Garden, French for “Kindergarten” which itself means “child's garden” in German) to integrate French language and culture into children’s education.

With one of the first bilingual programs in the US, ISB has an international focus and embraces the best practices and highest educational standards of both American and French educational traditions. ISB is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), the Council of International Schools (CIS), French Ministry of Education  (MEN), International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO).

Bilingual education benefits children in many ways; it not only teaches another language, it improves cognitive, linguistic, creative, and other abilities in a developing child’s brain. Research has consistently shown that students in early immersion bilingual programs do well in both their native language and their second language after 5-7 years of study in both languages.

In addition to the American High School diploma, ISB offers both the French Baccalaureate Diploma (Diplôme du Baccalauréat) and the International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB) - the equivalent of American Advanced Placement (AP) classes - which is recognized at top colleges and universities around the world and often allows students to place out of college classes. The International Baccalaureate Diploma Program emphasizes a second language and gives ISB students the International Baccalaureate Bilingual Diploma.

Throughout every aspect of the school, the overarching theme is globalism. In a literature class the emphasis is on the comparison between different societies and cultures; in Social Studies students examine world politics from both a European and an American perspective. All teachers are native speakers.

ISB had a nomadic existence in its early years as it searched for suitable space to develop its identity. From the basement of the Lutheran Church in Belmont, to a church in Newton Corner, to the Armenian Church in Belmont, to the Parmenter School on Irving Street, Arlington (where the Pre-school and Kindergarten campus has been since 1983), and finally in 1997 to its current location for grades 1-12 on Matignon Road in Cambridge.

Since 1962 the school has grown from just 15 children to nearly 500 students ranging in age from 3 to 18 and coming from over 40 nations. It underwent a few name changes including Ecole Bilingue, The French-American International School of Boston, and is now the International School of Boston. ISB has four divisions: Maternelle (Pre-School and Kindergarten), Lower, Middle and Upper School.

The student population breaks down approximately evenly between French (1/3) American (1/3) and International (1/3).

ISB is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and the Association of French Schools of North America (AFSA). ISB is a not-for-profit corporation under Massachusetts law.