We Learn Best When We Learn Together
At La Scuola International School, the community is not outside our walls – it is our classroom. Rooted in the Reggio Emilia belief that the environment is the third teacher, and guided by the IB principle that learning extends far beyond any single campus, we believe that genuine education happens in relationship with the world around us.
We don’t just teach students about global citizenship – we practice it, together, every day.
How We Engage
Community engagement at La Scuola is not an add-on or an annual service day. It is woven into the fabric of how we learn. Through IB Units of Inquiry, MYP Community Projects, student-led action, and Reggio-inspired collaborative investigation, our students engage with real issues, real people, and real places – locally, nationally, and globally.
We approach every community relationship as a genuine exchange. Our partners teach us as much as we offer them. Students develop empathy, cultural and racial literacy, and a sense of agency as active contributors to a more just and connected world. Families, faculty, staff, and outside community members are all essential participants in this work.
Student-Led Community Action
One of the most powerful expressions of our IB and Reggio values is the work students initiate themselves. When children are trusted as capable, curious, and compassionate, as Malaguzzi believed, they rise to meet the world with intention.
At La Scuola, student-led community engagement includes:
- PYP Exhibition (PYPX) – Our Grade 5 students culminate their Primary Years Programme journey with the PYP Exhibition, an in-depth, student-driven inquiry into a real-world issue that matters to them. Working collaboratively and guided by a mentor, students investigate, take action, and share their learning with the entire community in a powerful public exhibition. The PYPX is both a celebration of growth and a declaration of agency with our students stepping forward as informed, caring, and courageous members of the world.
- MYP Community Projects – Our Grade 8 students dedicate their final spring to comprehensive community projects, moving from inquiry and research through to real-world action and local engagement. Past projects have addressed food insecurity, housing equity, environmental justice, cultural preservation, and more.
- PYP Units of Inquiry – Younger students investigate transdisciplinary themes that connect classroom learning to community realities, taking age-appropriate action as a natural extension of their inquiry.
- Student-Initiated Action – Across all grade levels, students identify causes they care about and lead efforts to make a difference – from awareness campaigns and fundraisers to hands-on volunteer experiences with our community partners.
- Family & Community Engagement Events – Families are active participants in our community, not just observers. Through PALS, our parent association, a dedicated Community Engagement Committee regularly creates opportunities for La Scuola families to engage with partner organizations and take part in community work together – in and beyond the school walls.
Our Community Partners
We are proud to collaborate with organizations that share our commitment to equity, access, belonging, and the belief that every child and family deserves dignity and opportunity.
Academic Access Organizations
- SMART (Schools, Mentoring and Resource Team Inc.) We partner with SMART to provide students from San Francisco’s lowest income quartile full access to a La Scuola education, beginning in sixth grade. La Scuola accepts more SMART students than any other area middle school, with SMART support accompanying students all the way through college.
- Break Through San Francisco Break Through shares our conviction that motivated students from under-resourced communities deserve pathways to rigorous, opportunity-rich education.
We are actively growing our network of academic access partnerships. If your organization shares our mission, reach out to our Admissions team to start the conversation.
Where Our Work Meets the World
Our students and families have the privilege of learning alongside and in service of some of San Francisco’s most vital community organizations. These partnerships ground our global perspective in local responsibility and relationship.
The following organizations represent some of our most consistent and valued partnerships. We are always collaborating, discovering new connections, and expanding our community – so consider this a living list.
- SF Women’s Building – A landmark community space and advocacy hub supporting women and families across the city.
- Homeless Prenatal Program – Supporting families experiencing homelessness with wrap-around prenatal and family services.
- Italian Community Services – Connecting La Scuola’s deep Italian roots to meaningful support for SF’s Italian-speaking and immigrant communities.
- Holy Family Day Home – Providing Reggio inspired early childhood care and family support to low-income families in San Francisco.
- Raphael House – SF’s oldest family homeless shelter, helping families achieve lasting stability and independence.
- Glide Memorial – A radical community center rooted in unconditional love, offering food, housing, and support services to San Francisco’s most vulnerable residents.
- Children’s Council SF – Advancing access to quality childcare and early education for all San Francisco families.
- Still I Rise – An international nonprofit providing free, high-quality education and support to refugee and vulnerable children around the world.
Get Involved
Community engagement is not just for our students – it is for all of us. There are many ways to participate:
- Families – Join us for community project exhibitions, volunteer alongside your child, or share your own professional expertise and cultural background with our classrooms.
- Alumni – Come back and connect. Your story is part of ours.
- Organizations – La Scuola is always seeking to build meaningful new partnerships with organizations working in education access, cultural exchange, environmental justice, the arts, civic engagement, and beyond.
Interested in partnering with us? We’d love to hear from you. Contact our Community Engagement team or reach out to Admissions to explore academic access partnerships.