Admissions

ISP has around 360 students in PreK through 5th grade.

Space availability varies year-to-year between the grades and our three language tracks depending on the prior year’s enrollment and retention. The most common ages for new students to enroll are in prek (3-year-olds) and lowk (4-year-olds), but we admit students in Kindergarten and Elementary as well. Please contact the admissions office to find out more about the grade and language openings for your child.

Children must be 3-years-old and fully potty trained to begin at ISP. As long as space is available, students may start in PreK on either the first day of school OR any of our pre-set start dates after their third birthday (the week of October 17, 2022, the week of January 4, 2023, or the week of February 21, 2023).

For LowK, children must be 4 years old by September 1. Kindergarten children must be 5 by September 1.

As long as space is available:

• Children in the 3-year-old class (“PreK”) may attend 3, 4, or 5 days per week, either half or full days.
• Children in the 4-year-old class (“LowK”) attend 4 or 5 days per week, with a choice of half or full days.
• Children in kindergarten attend five days a week, full days, with a rest period in the afternoon.

ISP admits children with all language fluency levels from beginners to native-speakers. However, most students starting at ISP in preschool or kindergarten do not have any prior language exposure or fluency. Children applying to 1st-5th grades must demonstrate grade-appropriate language fluency that will enable them to do their academic work in the target language.

ISP does not have separate programs or on-staff resources for special needs students. However, our small classes can be beneficial to many students who have minor learning differences. Depending on the need, the extent of the disability, and availability of outside help, it may be possible for student with learning differences to thrive at ISP. An open and honest partnership between the school and parents is always important; it is doubly important for students with learning differences.

International School of Portland’s Student Support Services (SSS) is a formal committee designed to help students who may need extra support to succeed academically. The SSS process is modeled on a research-based method of academic support commonly used throughout the United States. Through the multi-tiered process, the school’s educational leaders use their cumulative expertise to help meet students’ unique needs through strategic and intensive interventions, data collection, progress monitoring, and additional student support. If you feel that your child may need additional academic support or challenge, if your child has medical or family circumstances that may affect academic achievement, or if your child has a formal behavioral or academic diagnosis that may affect classroom performance, please talk to your child’s teacher about SSS.

The focus of International School of Portland’s Student Support Services (SSS) is to provide resources and strategies for teachers to directly support the student’s learning and achievement in the regular classroom environment. The process generally begins with the teacher identifying and recording student academic and behavioral observations and sharing them with the SSS Coordinator. Then, the teacher works with an SSS coordinator to implement classroom-based strategies and to monitor the student’s progress. Through this process, the school’s educational leaders use their cumulative expertise to help meet students’ unique needs through strategic and intensive interventions, data collection, progress monitoring, and additional student support.

If you feel that your child may need additional academic support or challenge, if your child has medical or family circumstances that may affect academic achievement, or if your child has a formal behavioral or academic diagnosis that may affect classroom performance, please talk to your child’s teacher about SSS.

ISP has been declared nut-free throughout the whole school. We have many students with additional food allergies, and are prepared to work with parents to make the school a safe environment for the large majority of children with food allergies. For example, if a child has a severe soy allergy, that child’s classroom (where the children eat lunch and snack) will be declared a soy-free room.

We believe that all children can become multilingual and thrive within an inquiry-based learning environment. We enroll students from families who value language and cultural immersion, actively model ISP Values, and support our school’s mission and vision. To that effect, we admit children on a first-come, first serve basis.

We begin to accept applications in September of the year prior to the student’s start date. Once all places are reserved, additional applicants are placed on a waitlist.

1. International School of Portland uses MySchool App for inquiries, tour and event scheduling, and applications. To begin your application, go to MySchool App and create an account.  Make sure to create your account using an email address you will have access to throughout the admission season as this will be your primary email contact with our school.
2. The admissions office will notify you if space is available or if your child will be placed on a wait list.
3. In March, we start sending enrollment contracts to new families in the order their application was received. The contracts are due back with a $300 deposit which reserves the child’s space for the fall.

We offer several options for tuition payment plans, as well as financial aid available for those in need. Please see tuition or financial aid for details.

Yes. Re-enrollment for current students takes place in February or March each year, before any new students are admitted.

ISP does not have an admissions deadline. As long as space is available, we admit children from our applicant pool on a first-come, first-served basis. Children who have not had their third birthday yet are placed on a delayed school schedule for their PreK class. We have three additional start times throughout the year for those who have their third birthday during the school year. Please contact the admissions office for details.