Welcome to Woodside International School! I am thrilled as Head of School to share our unique international school and community with you. Woodside continues its educational role and purposeful development of young people that it established first in 1976. Located in the heart of the Inner Sunset district of San Francisco, we reflect the community around us. We are culturally, linguistically, and socially diverse. At Woodside we embrace this diversity and the tolerance, debate, and inquiry it engenders. This is a place of belonging, where community members are seen, heard, and valued and where ideas, perspectives, and worldviews are explored together.

The mission of Woodside International School is to develop each individual’s intellectual abilities and to foster a deeper understanding of how our individual biographies intersect with our historical moment. By understanding the relationship between the self and society and having the critical thinking and intellectual skills to negotiate that relationship we produce academically empowered, self-directed, and ethically engaged individuals. Our noncompetitive college preparatory community builds honesty, respect, compassion, and responsibility. Our goal is to develop a lifelong habit of learning that inspires each student to fulfill their unique potential and embrace the future with courage, compassion, inquiry, and intention.

Within the classroom we value and encourage creativity and the creative mindset,, teaching how to think, not what to think. Our courses are approved through the University of California System and offer Honors and AP classes as well. This, along with our WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) accreditation, ensures our classes are of the highest academic level and prepares our graduates for admission into American and International colleges and universities.

Thank you again for your interest in Woodside International School and I invite you to come visit, speak with our students and experience our noncompetitive, supportive, and dynamic college preparatory environment.

Warm Regards,

James Kirkpatrick 
Head of School