Take the first step.

Discover the benefits of Mandarin Immersion! CAIS offers
a culture of learning that's open to everyone, from early
childhood through 8th grade.
 

CAIS is now accepting applications for our 2025-2026 school year. Join us on campus for an Admissions Event!

43 years
of innovation

of 8th graders who meet the benchmark to teach Mandarin

student
to teacher ratio

(we were the first Mandarin immersion school in the US)

18 average
kindergarten class size

3 international travel opportunities

(in 5th, 7th, and 8th grades)

We are so excited to announce that we have arrived at our brand new campus on 19th Avenue! for the 2024-2025 school year. This new 5+ acre space offers exceptional learning opportunities including larger classrooms, a state-of-the-art fine arts building and theater, an art studio with an on-site kiln, a dance studio, a multi-purpose athletic facility with a full size indoor basketball court, soccer pitch, and so much more. We’d love to welcome you to our first year in this exciting new space!

Parents have long understood the global and cognitive benefits of learning in a language immersion environment—providing students with the opportunity to expand their horizons and challenge themselves, while opening doors for their future. Learning Mandarin in an immersion setting allows students to achieve fluency in a major world language—spoken by 15% of the people on earth—in a setting that prioritizes overall academic achievement and offers opportunities to learn about Chinese culture, both through everyday learning as well as through global travel experiences.

Your CAIS journey begins with our fun and engaging preschool program that introduces Mandarin through play based learning that integrates early learning in math, literacy, music, science, social and emotional learning, art, and more. As students move into kindergarten and 1st grade, we continue to build a strong foundation in Mandarin as well as general academics and grow each child’s confidence in conversational Mandarin. 

Our Lower School follows a 50/50 immersion model, alternating Chinese and English instruction days with lead teachers in each language. We teach core subjects including reading, writing, math, word study, social studies, and science—as well as art, music and movement, physical education, and coding. Students in Lower School are encouraged to practice their language skills through public speaking in order to build confidence. Our 5th grade program culminates in our students’ first trip overseas to Taiwan.

Our hands-on, minds-on, interdisciplinary curriculum allows middle schoolers to apply concepts to their own lives, their communities, and the world. In 7th and 8th grades, we travel as a class to mainland China to put our learning into practice and grow our global perspective.

No Mandarin (yet)? No problem! Our new Mandarin World Language Pathway allows middle schoolers without a background in Mandarin to join the CAIS community.

Learn about CAIS from the experts: the students, parents,
and alumni who’ve experienced our school firsthand.

Learn more about how CAIS connects families within our community.

The best way to know what CAIS can offer you is by joining us on campus for an event. We have a few options for you to get to know us. Complete the form below to register for an opportunity to join us!

Our CAIS 101 series allows families to come on campus to hear from current parents, students, and teachers.

One of our most popular event formats! CAIS invites you to hear from a panel of our CAIS subject-matter-experts—our 8th graders—about their individual experiences. 

There’s no better way to envision your family joining our community than to experience it yourself.

Register for one of our upcoming events to get to know the CAIS community firsthand.

Early Childhood (Preschool 2, 3, & 4)

Early Childhood (K-1) and Lower School (2-5)

Middle School (6-8)

3250 19th Avenue

San Francisco, CA 94132

415-865-6000

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