Chinese American International School

Chinese American International School (CAIS) is an independent pre-Kindergarten through Grade 8 co-educational Chinese-English dual language immersion school located in San Francisco, California.[1] The CAIS program is oriented around the school mission: "Embrace Chinese; become your best self; create your place in the world." To these ends, CAIS offers a Chinese-English dual language immersion curriculum with up to 50% of each school day in Chinese.[2] The school was the first in the United States to have Mandarin immersion education.[3]

Chinese American International School
Location
San Francisco

US
Coordinates37.775330°N 122.421805°W / 37.775330; -122.421805
Information
TypePrivate
Established1981
Head of SchoolJeff Bissell (Chinese name: 毕杰夫 Bì Jiéfū), Ph.D.
Websitewww.cais.org

CAIS also has international travel programs for current students, high school-aged alumni, and faculty and staff.[4] The school organizes trips to Taipei, Beijing, and Yunnan in the fifth, seventh, and eighth grades, respectively.[5]

History

In 1981, San Francisco Supervisor Carol Ruth Silver searched unsuccessfully for a Mandarin-English school where she could enroll her Taiwanese adopted son. Not finding one in San Francisco she decided to start her own, with the help of deputy district attorney Mimi Luk, Justice Harry Low,[6] Bernard Ivaldi (then Head of French American International School), Maurice Tseng, Yvon d'Argence (then curator of the Asian Art Museum), Joe Chen, Mike Chiu, Donna Furth, Diana Chan, Francisco Hsieh, George Cheng, and Alice Carnes.[7]

In September 1981 the school, then known as the Chinese American Bilingual School, began as a Mandarin-English school with an enrollment of 4 kindergarten students operating in the basement of the French American International School. Shirley Lee, a faculty member of the Chinese department at San Francisco State University joined as founding teacher and principal, and remained head of school until her retirement in 2000. In 1989 the school moved to the Presidio of San Francisco.[8] In 1992, a middle school was added (which moved to a new campus in 2015.[9]) In 1997 CAIS moved into its current main campus at 150 Oak St, the former Caltrans headquarters,[10] in partnership with French American International School.

CAIS has received national recognition for its program. In 1987 the US Dept of Education designated CAIS the "national prototype for Chinese language education in elementary schools."[11] In 2004, CAIS was awarded the Goldman Sachs Prize for Excellence in International Education.[12]

Accreditations

References
  1. Mercer Human Res Consulting, Inc. (20 March 2009). Global Manager's Guide to Living and Working Abroad, The: Western Europe and the Americas: Western Europe and the Americas. ABC-CLIO. p. 271. ISBN 978-0-313-35884-5.
  2. Kane, Yukari Iwatani (24 March 2011). "Growing Diversity Fuels Chinese School". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  3. Elizabeth S. Demers Ph.D.; Victor W. Geraci (8 March 2011). Icons of American Cooking. ABC-CLIO. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-313-38133-1.
  4. "Chinese American International School (CAIS), San Francisco, California". Asia Society. Asia Society.
  5. Clydesdale, Heather. "Students Experience the Breadth of China". Asia Society. Asia Society.
  6. "Founders Remember". CAIS. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  7. "Chinese American International School - 25th Anniversary - 1981-2006". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  8. Koenig, Karen. "Jewish ex-supe, mother of Chinese boy, helps found school". JWeekly.com. San Francisco Jewish Community Publications Inc.
  9. Butler, Jennie. "Chinese American International School To Debut New Middle School At Turk & Gough". Hoodline.
  10. Adams, Gerald. "Chinese, French schools will join at City Center". SFGate. Hearst Communications, Inc.
  11. Kong, Daisy. "Chinese American International School's 25th Anniversary Gala Marks Announcement of $13 Million Endowment". PRNewswire. PR Newswire Association LLC.
  12. "2004 Prizes for Excellence in International Education". Asia Society. Asia Society.
  13. "ISTP listing on CAIS' website".
  14. "ISTP listing on WASC's website" (PDF).
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