WHO WE ARE
A Thriving Multicultural
Academic Center
The French American International School (FAIS) offers French-based classes at the preschool through elementary levels and a middle school program where students choose to study in French or English and add a foreign language. There are 460 students enrolled in preschool (petite section) through the eighth grade (quatrième).
FAIS is one of the larger private schools in the Portland metropolitan area and one of thirty-two French schools in the United States and 400 French schools worldwide accredited by the French Ministry of Education. Committed to academic excellence as the premier provider of international foreign language immersion education in the Portland metropolitan area, the goal of FAIS is to employ the rich resources of an internationally recognized curriculum in order to help each student realize his or her full potential. FAIS students consistently perform above their French and U.S. peers in standardized tests, and move on to enroll in a handful of academically challenging high schools in the Portland area. Teachers work daily to stimulate intellectual curiosity, encourage independent thinking, and foster individual responsibility.
Surrounded by woods, wetlands, and playing fields, the ten-acre campus boasts a well-equipped library and multicultural center, state of the art computer and science labs, a gymnasium and a covered play area.
FAIS has two academic divisions. The French American School (FAS) is a preschool through fifth grade French immersion school accredited by the French Ministry of Education. The Gilkey International Middle School (GIMS) is an international sixth through eighth grade program. Those coming from the elementary school add a third language in middle school while continuing with French immersion education. For students with no prior French immersion experience, classes are taught in English and the student begins studying a foreign language. The entire school (FAS and GIMS) is accredited by the Pacific Northwest Association of Independent Schools. The school is a member of the Oregon Federation of Independent Schools, the Pacific Northwest Association of Independent Schools, the National Association of Independent Schools, and the Association of French Schools in the Americas.
