Testimonials
What Our Parents Are Saying
We have been members of the IST community since 2012. I just can’t say enough about what a special place this is. First and foremost, IST’s teaching and administrative staff is second to none. Thanks to a team of talented, dedicated and loving staff over the years, our kids are confident, eager to learn – and bilingual! Literally, our kids stop people in their tracks when they speak Spanish with their native accents, which is great fun. In addition to the language, what has kept us at IST over the years is the unique, close-knit and welcoming community of families who call the school home. Our kids are 6 years apart and the eldest has graduated from IST. We’re starting the IST journey all over again with our youngest, because there is nothing we would have changed the first time around. We are beyond grateful for this school and the enrichment it has brought our family.
Language is the gateway to connecting with more people in this world, and IST is the best language school in Pima County! My children have excelled with exceptional teachers behind them and truly loving them each day. They not only learn the language, but they learn the culture and values of multiple countries throughout the world.
I have been a parent at the International School of Tucson for eight years. IST is special in many ways. IST leadership has fostered a unique and loving community of parents and teachers. Its families are diverse and very supportive of each other. Building a community of well-rounded children, supporting the classroom and curriculum, is a team effort!
Regarding the immersive language environment, IST is like no other. Speaking as a professional who works with lots of school children in a field trip environment, I can say the language skills of IST students are far superior to those of other programs. IST follows through on the concept of language immersion and understands the incredible value of language learning at an early age – the earlier the better. For children of an older age, the IST environment provides the best chance of success at using a second language on a daily basis.
While, IST is known for its immersive language programs, the rest of the curriculum is not overlooked. As a parent with an IST 5th grade graduate, I can say that my middle schooler was ready for the challenges she faced as she entered into the next chapter of her education.
When you join the IST family you get the opportunity to become apart of a global community! Not only do my children learn another language, but they get to experience diversity, culture, and intentional education daily! This is an undeniable gift to our family and the Tucson community as a whole. The teachers and staff are incredibly loving and positive, and make learning fun! We are so grateful to have found such an incredible school that will make a lifelong impact on our daughters! We love IST!
We send our daughter to IST (International School of Tucson) because it feels like an opportunity to give her a small slice of the world—with its diverse group of people, languages, and cultures all under one roof. Our daughter, currently nine years old, has been going to IST since she was two—this school feels like a second home to her. There is minimal turnover among the IST staff, so the teachers get to know all the children and families. Not to mention, our daughter is fluent in Spanish! We love the IST community and feel grateful we can send our daughter to this beautiful school.
I will tell anyone with kids that there is no better school in Tucson than IST. Being from a European country myself, I want my daughter to receive the best education with focus on a foreign language. IST provides that and so much more than I could ever have wished for. The faculty and staff are amazing; each and every one of them. Not only do they magically remember every single child’s name, they also care for and love every one of them as if they were their own. The fact that my daughter was able to start Kindergarten in school during a pandemic means the world to us.
After attending a public event called “international day” our son had so much fun and the sense of a wholesome international community was evident immediately. Our decision to have our son attend IST has been fruitful! The learning of a second language, math and art for our 5 year old is impressive to say the least. We have already signed up for next year, and look forward to watching our son continue on his path of learning.
IST is incredible! I feel completely confident that my children are loved and valued for who they are, not for who a school system wants them to be. They are both physically and mentally safe at IST. I wholeheartedly believe my children are better because of IST and the warmth and love and patience and positive learning environment they’re consistently surrounded by.
We came to the school when my child was an infant fully expecting to just keep her there for nursery school/preschool. We live in the neighborhood and it’s convenient. Within just a few weeks we could see how the amazing community, staff and teachers at the school were going to keep us there long term. The school has shaped my child’s view of the world, she understands that there are different people from different cultures all over and that those differences can be explored and celebrated. The academic and world education our child is receiving is priceless.
IST’s foreign language program is what makes this school so special and unique to our family. The class settings are small enough where students get individualized time with their teachers and are able to achieve successful outcomes through their learning journey. This school has been the best decision we made for our kids who attended IST from pre-school through middle school and are leaving fully fluent in Chinese!
Eight years ago, we chose IST for its unparalleled Spanish immersion preschool program. We’ve grown to love IST for so many more reasons! We enrolled our youngest daughter in the nursery program as soon as it opened and appreciated the care she received and the seamless transition it provided to preschool. IST’s junior school fosters our daughters’ curiosity through experiential learning, including field trips and cultural celebrations. Our daughters enjoy participating in the extracurricular clubs too! The community events, like International Day, have captured our hearts as parents.
We had the opportunity to attend the schools summer program in Chinese and in Spanish. My girls absolutely loved the program and the the teachers. They came home everyday singing songs, using new words, and writing in their new found language. What a wonderful place if you are looking to raise a child with global skills.
Wonderful school with top notch education and programs. My kids have flourished at IST. New Head of School is wonderful! Love the fact they are fluent in Spanish. German, French and Chinese offered too. Also love the sense of community.
She can understand Chinese enough to watch Chinese cartoons and speak with a friend’s parents in China on Skype.
My son is bi-literate-which essentially means he can not only speak Spanish but read and write it. My son has many opportunities to grow and learn at this school that I don’t think he would get at another one. The teachers are amazing!!! Can’t say enough good things about this school or the people in it.
Love the school, love the staff, overall great place for my kid!!
What Our Teachers Are Saying
The International School of Tucson is a workplace that embraces community and focuses on the whole-child, academically and emotionally. Teachers are supported, have autonomy over their lessons—this allows for passionate educators to instill a passion of life-long learning in students. IST is the workplace where I wake up and want to go, so I can be with my students, and be surrounded by people who love to teach.
Being a part of IST means being a part of a community and family. In the years I have worked here, this is exactly how they have made me feel. As a teacher, it is beyond inspiring seeing children everyday singing and learning in different languages; as well as growing in so many different skills. I could have never asked for a better school for me and my family to be a part of.
I enjoy working at IST because I love seeing students speaking multiple languages. I would like to have an impact on children’s education. IST has been a great working place because at IST we are a community, we are a family.
I enjoy working at IST because I can see the educators and support staff around school are fantastic at what they do. Staff are there not just for the students, but for each other. Being part of a collective worldwide effort is something I value highly as I head into my fourth year!
Working at IST is like traveling with a great diversity of people who kindly share with you their knowledge, culture, costumes, traditions, languages in an awesome environment in which you feel supported, guided, connected and with the desire to give always your best to students, parents and staff.
I’m so blessed and grateful to work at IST. I love working at this amazing school because it brings so much joy and peace to my heart, and that peace comes from the children and seeing how much THEY love IST. Their happiness is our priority, I love my work family!
I love the mission of IST and the love of languages we share with the children each day. The staff is so knowledgeable and kind. We really care about each other and each student. I can feel it when I walk through the door and you will too!
Dawn Bryce (Administrative Assistant “School Mom”)
“At IST, I feel extraordinarily well supported as a professional. I am able to grow so much each year because we are a school that understands that that quality education starts with providing students with highly skilled teachers.” – Ms. Sally McCallum
JS English and French Teacher
“Working at IST means being part of a vibrant, multilingual community where diversity isn’t just celebrated, it’s lived everyday.” – Mr. Santiago Olan
JS French Teacher