Collège - Middle School
Collège · Grades 6 to 8 · IB MYP World School
Welcome. Bienvenue. ¡Bienvenidos!
Middle school, done with intention.
Collège at Austin International School empowers and motivates adolescents, shaping them into global citizens. Three languages, one IB Middle Years Programme, and a community of more than sixty nationalities. Welcome to a school that sees your child fully.
Grades
6 to 8
6e · 5e · 4e
Languages
FR · EN · ES
Every day, every subject
Programs
French + International
Two paths, one trilingual outcome
Founded
Middle School, 2017
AIS, 2001
60+
Nationalities
20+
Home Languages
90%
MAP Test Ranking
5+
HS Language Credits
Why AIS Middle School
Not your average middle school.
AIS is the only accredited French school in Austin. Our Collège program, launched in 2017, was built so students could move seamlessly from elementary into secondary without losing the heart of the AIS experience: trilingual learning, personalized classes, and a community that knows every student by name.
1
Three languages, every day
Students receive instruction in French, Spanish, and English every day. Languages are the medium of learning, not subjects on a timetable.
2
IB MYP World School
One of the most globally respected academic frameworks for students aged 11 to 16. Critical thinking and inquiry at the centre of every classroom.
3
40% STEM curriculum
Forty percent of the curriculum is linked to science, technology, engineering, design, and mathematics, anchored in our Design and Innovation Studio.
4
French accreditation
Our curriculum meets French national standards, taught here in Austin. The only school in the city accredited by the French Ministry of Education.
8th Graders Voices
In the words of AIS alumni-to-be.
Accredited By
An education held to three standards.
Three independent accreditations reflect the depth of our commitment. Each one represents a standard we chose to meet, and continue to meet, year after year.
French Ministry of Education
Homologation
One of very few schools in Texas recognized by the French government for the quality and integrity of its French program. Our curriculum meets French national standards.
ISAS
Independent Schools Association of the Southwest
Full accreditation recognizing academic depth, institutional health, and an ongoing commitment to improvement. An independent measure of the quality of the whole school.
IB MYP
International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme
Authorized for the Middle Years Programme, recognized by universities and high schools worldwide as one of the most respected academic frameworks for this age group.
Bonjour. Hola. Hello.
Three Languages
French. English. Spanish.
We don't teach languages. We learn through them.
French, English, and Spanish are not subjects on a timetable. They are the medium through which everything else is learned: science, history, literature, mathematics. Secondary languages are studied at advanced levels in both of our programs, so every AIS graduate leaves having studied and learned to express themselves across all three.
French 60%
English 25%
Spanish 15%
Sample distribution of instructional time, French Program
Two paths, one trilingual outcome
Program One
French Program
For families with French at home or prior French schooling
Core subjects taught in French. English and Spanish fully integrated. Students maintain and deepen the fluency they have already begun building, while preparing for the French national curriculum.
Program Two
International Program
For families and students with no prior French
Core instruction in English. French and Spanish built systematically over time, with well-supported acquisition for students entering with no prior background. Students reach functional trilingualism by grade 8.
A French Tradition, Taught in Austin
The official French diploma track, if you want it.
As the only school in Austin accredited by the French Ministry of Education, AIS opens a door very few American schools can. Graduates have the possibility of continuing to work toward their first official French national 9th grade diploma, the Diplôme National du Brevet des Collèges, which keeps the path open all the way to the French Baccalauréat.
A continuous path, in partnership with CNED.
AIS partners with the Centre National d'Enseignement à Distance (CNED), the French national distance learning institution, to offer students the option of pursuing the Brevet des Collèges. For families with ties to the Francophone world, or anyone considering university study in France, this is an unusual gift: an official credential, earned here in Austin, that travels worldwide.
And because our grade levels follow the French national naming convention, students and transcripts move comfortably between systems without translation friction.
Collège · Grade Levels
The French naming convention.
- 6th GradeSixième · 6e
- 7th GradeCinquième · 5e
- 8th GradeQuatrième · 4e
The IB MYP Framework
Where students learn to think critically and see the world from many sides.
The IB Middle Years Programme is not a curriculum so much as a way of approaching the world. Students do not simply receive knowledge. They question it, connect it across disciplines, and learn to sit comfortably with complexity. By the time they finish grade 8, they have learned how to learn, and they have done all of this in three languages.
A few of the things your child will carry with them
- How to work through something hard without giving up
- How and when to ask the hard questions
- How to own their learning instead of waiting to be told what to do
- How to walk into a room full of people from different backgrounds and feel completely at home
- Prepared for the academic demands of high school and beyond
- Confident communication across three languages and many cultures
Community + SEL
Small enough to truly know them.
Middle school is when identity is being formed, when confidence is fragile, and when the adults in a student's life either see them clearly or miss them entirely. AIS does the opposite of scaling up. Small class sizes mean every student is known here, not by ID number, but by name, by learning style, by what makes them light up and what makes them shut down.
What small and global look like in practice
- A teacher who notices when something is off before your child says a word
- A faculty advisory program where every student has an adult in their corner
- Service Learning and Advisory built into the program, not added to it
- Student-led conferences where your child owns their own progress
- Classmates from more than sixty countries and twenty home languages
- Curiosity, empathy, and self-awareness developed through everyday experience
Sixty Nationalities. One Community.
UNITED Week
Understanding Nations, Indigenous Traditions, Ethnicity, and Diversity. An annual event where every class studies a different country, then opens its doors to the whole school and to families. One week. The whole world in one building.
Beyond the Classroom
Where they compete, create, and discover what they are capable of.
What happens outside the classroom shapes a middle schooler as much as what happens inside it. At AIS, students step onto the court, the stage, the studio, and the world with the same intention they bring to their academics.
A Athletics & Arts
Compete, create.
AIS competes in the TBN League across cross country, volleyball, basketball, tennis, and track and field, with competitive rosters at both Division 1 and Division 2 levels. The arts run with the same seriousness as athletics.
- Theater performed in three languages
- String ensemble and keyboard instruction
- Studio work in painting, drawing, sculpture
S STEM & Service
Build, serve.
In our Design and Innovation Studio, students study a problem, build a prototype, test what fails, and refine until the result holds up to real use. Service learning culminates in the MYP Community Project, the cornerstone of 8th grade.
- 40% STEM-linked curriculum
- Real-world design projects across campus
- MYP Community Project, grade 8
J The Journey
Travel, belong.
From the first overnight trip in 4th grade to two weeks living with a host family in 8th, AIS students move through a sequence of experiences that build independence and deepen language.
- Grade 4: West Texas & McDonald Observatory
- Grade 6: Outdoor School
- Grade 5: France Exchange · Grade 8: Spanish Immersion
Recent Athletic Results
1st & 2nd Place
Basketball and Volleyball, Division 1 & 2, TBN League
Top 3 Finish
Boys and girls basketball. Qualified to attend two consecutive years at Nationals in Chicago.
Where AIS Graduates Go
The next chapter, already underway.
AIS graduates are admitted across the full spectrum of Austin's strongest high school programs because critical thinking and genuine multilingual fluency travel well. Learn more about where our alumni are now and what they have been up to since leaving AIS.
Public Magnet
Liberal Arts and Science Academy (LASA)
Austin's flagship academic magnet and consistently among the highest ranked public high schools in Texas. Admission is competitive, based on test scores, previous accomplishments, and teacher recommendations. AIS graduates arrive already practiced at questioning, connecting, and staying with a hard problem.
Public IB
Anderson High School IB Programme
For families who want the IB to continue uninterrupted, Anderson offers a full International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme within Austin ISD. Students move from the Middle Years Programme into the Diploma Programme already fluent in its habits of mind.
Independent
St. Stephen's Episcopal School
One of the region's most respected independent secondary schools, with a long international tradition and a day and boarding program. A natural step for families seeking a globally minded independent setting through grade 12.
Graduates also continue to
Westlake High School · McCallum Fine Arts Academy · Westwood High School IB Programme · Regents School of Austin · St. Andrew's Episcopal School · Headwaters School
The Viewbook
Read the full Middle School Viewbook.
Page through the complete story of AIS middle school: our curriculum, our community, the journeys our students take, and the lives they go on to build.
Parent Voices
In the words of AIS families.
AIS has been more than a school for our two kids over the past 11 years. It is where they grew up, where caring educators helped raise them, where they learned to be global thinkers, and where community defined itself. We thought we were signing up for two foreign languages. What we got was academic rigor and kids who speak three languages at native proficiency. We got best friendships, sisterhood, brotherhood, laughter, life-long connections, and the joy of watching our kids push limits we did not know they had. AIS is everything a parent hopes for, and somehow we got even more.
Turman Family · Class of 2023 and 2026
There was something really special about AIS: small, intimate classes, a true multilingual education, and a student body drawn from all over the world. Growing up alongside that kind of diversity shapes who these kids become. They leave more mature, more community-aware, and more conscientious than they would anywhere else.
Patrick B · Father of an eighth grade graduate, Class of 2023
Begin Your Journey
We would love to show you what AIS looks like in person.
The best way to understand AIS middle school is to walk our campus, sit with our teachers, and watch what happens in a classroom where students are genuinely engaged. Let's meet.
Critical thinking for future global leaders.
Centre National d'Enseignement à Distance (CNED)
Graduates of AIS have the possibility of continuing to work toward their first official French national 9th grade diploma (Le Diplôme National du Brevet des Collèges), which allows students to continue their studies toward the French Baccalauréat (high school diploma) if desired.
To read more on AIS' partnership with the Centre national d'enseignement à distance (CNED) or National Centre for Distance Education, click here.