LEARN

Welcome from the Junior School Principal

Welcome to the Junior School section of The International School of Florence! It is my pleasure to introduce myself, Tony Pascoe, as the Lead Learner (Principal) of the Junior School team. We are a community of internationally-minded educators, families, and students who work collaboratively to develop inquiring, motivated, knowledgeable, and caring young people. Our location is a highly coveted one in the rolling hills just outside of Florence in Le Tavernule, a Renaissance villa in Bagno a Ripoli on eighteen acres in the Tuscan countryside, allowing us to integrate a high level of wellbeing into our well-established academic programs.

As an International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (PYP) school since 2008, we take a child-centered, holistic approach to developing each student’s understanding of the world around them. We utilize the lens of the PYP to not only develop each child’s academic strengths via an integrated, transdisciplinary Programme of Inquiry, but also their social and physical wellbeing through performing arts, physical exercise and education, and an ever growing partnership with organizations in and around the city of Florence. This is all done in synergy with our Italian Programmi Ministeriali, an integrated Italian equivalency program offered for our host country students who wish to meet the requirements of the Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione, which recognizes in part the wonderful diversity of our school serving both the local and the international community.

As our ISF Vision states,  “We aspire to build communities of creative makers and doers,” and develop young people that will make a positive difference to the world through intercultural understanding and respect. We do this by empowering our students to be active, reflective, and responsible life-long learners which gives students the inspiration to develop a love of learning and ensure that they have the necessary skills to cope with the demands of an uncertain future in an ever-changing world. Our curriculum is delivered by a highly-trained, world-class staff of international educators who set consistently high expectations for our students. These relationships between staff and students are central to our community values, and to the success of our school. We place great value on developing and nurturing these relationships so that our students can benefit from a safe and welcoming learning environment where they can take risks, share knowledge, and explore with confidence.

If you have the pleasure of visiting ISF, you will be able to see this exciting and nurturing learning environment first-hand.  ISF is a place where students feel a sense of belonging and where they know they are valued as an individual.

I welcome you to arrange a visit so that your family can experience the special atmosphere of our welcoming school community.