International School of the Peninsula (ISTP), Peninsula French-American School (PFAS), Alto International School (ALTO), German-American International School (GAIS)
Silicon Valley International School, colloquially INTL, (pronounced "international"),[1] is a private grade day school located in Silicon Valley, with two campuses in Palo Alto (formerly International School of the Peninsula, ISTP) and Menlo Park (formerly Alto International School).
The French AEFE designates this school as a French international school, as the École internationale de la Péninsule.[2] The German program is recognized as a German Sprachdiplom Schule (DSD) offering the Deutsches Sprachdiplom der Kultusministerkonferenz for its students.
History
On January 1, 2021, Silicon Valley International School (INTL) and Alto International School legally merged, united under the same name - Silicon Valley International School (INTL). [3]
Silicon Valley International School (INTL) was first established as a French immersion school in 1979, and was named the Peninsula French American School. Founded by Mme Charlotte de Géry with a small group of parents and friends, the school originally opened its doors to nine students. 10 years later, Alto International School (Alto) was founded by Stephen Kispersky in 1988 as the Deutsch-Amerikanische Schule San Francisco (DAS) as a place for children to learn in a German-English environment.
In 1996, the school began teaching in Mandarin Chinese program and middle school program and changed its name to International School of The Peninsula (ISTP).[4] In 2019, ISTP gained authorization to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP) and later was authorized to provide the Middle Years Programme (MYP). In September 2000, ISTP moved their elementary and middle school program into the Cohn Campus.[5] As the culmination of a multi-year research and rebranding project, in 2020, ISTP's name was officially changed to Silicon Valley International School (INTL). When INTL and Alto finalized their merger at the end of 2020 and start of 2021, the two campuses became one school under the banner of INTL with Alto's campus becoming INTL's Willows Campus alongside of the INTL Cohn Campus.
INTL's Head of School is Barbara Greiner who began her tenure leading the school in the summer of 2022. Barbara previously served INTL for 21 years, including 11 as Middle School Principal. Barbara was integral to the development and planning for the successful execution of INTL’s International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP). Prior to returning to INTL, she served as Head of School for the French Immersion School of Washington in Bellevue.[citation needed]
In 2023, Greiner was awarded the Ordre des Palmes Académiques at the level of Chevalier from the French government. The award ceremony took place during a school-wide event on INTL's Cohn Campus in Palo Alto and was presented by Frédéric Jung, the Consul General of France in San Francisco.
Greiner took the reins from former Head of School Philippe Dietz, the longest tenured head in the school's history. Philippe spent 25 years as the Head of School at INTL overseeing change and growth at the school. He led the school's transition to becoming an International Baccalaureate World School and guided the merger between INTL and Alto.
Schools marked with asterisks (*) are unrecognised by the Central Agency for German Schools Abroad (ZfA), not appearing in its list of German "Auslandschule" in North and Middle America. Schools marked with (**) are recognized as German Partner School (PASCH) or German Sprachdiplom Schule (DSD) [1]. Schools marked with X are/were schools operated by the German government/Bundeswehr for military dependents and are/were not in the ZFA network.
