Good to know
Good to Know
- LA's best-known international schools trace back to a long-established French expatriate community — Le Lycée Français de Los Angeles opened in 1964 and the International School of Los Angeles in 1978 — so French-curriculum bilingual education is unusually well developed here compared to other languages.
- Free, tuition-free IB options exist through LAUSD magnet programs and public charters like Goethe International Charter School and New West Charter School, but admission is via lottery or district enrollment zones, not simply paying tuition — worth checking waitlists early if relocating with school-age kids.
- Published tuition figures rarely include the full cost — expect separate registration/new-family fees (commonly $500–$2,000+ one-time), uniforms, and activity fees on top of the headline tuition number.
- Tuition typically rises steeply by grade level (preschool is far cheaper than high school), so always confirm the figure for your child's specific grade rather than relying on a single headline number.
- For LA's private international/bilingual schools, treat any published 'deadline' as a soft priority date, not a hard cutoff — most explicitly keep reviewing applications on a rolling basis after that date if space remains.
- If you're weighing a public dual-language magnet seat instead of a paid international school, the LAUSD Choices application only opens once a year (roughly October–mid November for the following school year) — missing that window means relying on a late-application waitlist with much longer odds.
- Homeschooling is a genuinely legal and fairly low-bureaucracy option in California — no teaching credential is required for the standard home-based private school route, only an annual affidavit filing.
- LA's homeschool community is real and active (regular park days, co-op-style groups, classical-education cohorts), so an arriving family isn't starting from zero on social/co-op connections, but most coordination happens informally through Facebook groups rather than a single official directory.
Private International Bilingual Schools
Private, Nonprofit
- Name
- International School of Los Angeles (ISLA / also known as Lycée International de Los Angeles, 'LILA')
- Curricula
- Bilingual French–English education. The International School of Los Angeles (ISLA) is an independent, nonprofit international school offering a bilingual French–English education for ages 3–18, blending French Ministry of Education frameworks with English instruction rising to about 40% by 5th grade; in Middle School students choose between the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) and a bilingual track, and High School offers the French Baccalaureate or the IB Diploma Programme.
- Accreditation
- Accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), International Baccalaureate (IB), and the French Ministry of Education, and belongs to the CAIS, AEFE, and Mission laïque française (MLF) networks.
Tuition
- Extra Fees
- New Family Fee (one-time, per family): USD 1,500; New Student/New Sibling Registration (non-refundable): USD 750 per student; Returning Student Registration (non-refundable): USD 175 per returning student; Tuition Guarantee (non-refundable): USD 325 per student.
- Currency Local
- USD
- Notes
- Figures vary by campus/grade and by source year.
Figures
Preschool/Pre-K (2026–2027, Los Feliz/Pasadena/West Valley)
- Preschool/Pre K (2026–2027, Los Feliz/Pasadena/West Valley)
- $23,840
General range cited elsewhere (varies by year/source)
- Currency Local
- USD
- Amount Local Low
- 19995
- Amount Local High
- 24900
- Note
- Older aggregator figure; treat 2026–27 preschool figure above as more current.
Neighborhoods Campuses
- Los Feliz
- Pasadena
- West Valley/Tarzana
- Burbank
Le Lycée Français De Los Angeles
- Type
- private, nonprofit
- Curricula
- A K–12 international school offering a dual French-American curriculum linked to the French Ministry of Education; from junior preschool through first grade, students pursue a bilingual immersion program. From grade 2, families choose between the French School Program (FSP), taught entirely in French, or the International School Program (ISP) where English is the core language; Mandarin is studied in grades 3–5, Latin in grade 6, and another language such as Spanish or German starts in grade 9; the FAB combines the French Baccalaureate with AP exams. Programs offered include College Board AP Capstone, the Classic Baccalaureate (BAC), the Franco-International Baccalaureate (BFI), and the US High School Diploma.
Tuition
- Extra Fees
- Application fee (new students only, non-refundable): USD 200; Registration fee (non-refundable): USD 500; New student fee (one-time, non-refundable): USD 1,500 for Junior Preschool or USD 2,000 for Preschool through Grade 12.
- Currency Local
- USD
- Notes
- 2026–2027 published figures by year group (lower grades); older/general figures cited by third-party directories differ by year.
Figures
Junior Preschool (TPS, 3 days/week)
- Junior Preschool (TPS, 3 Days/Week)
- $15,600
Junior Preschool (5 days/week)
- Junior Preschool (5 Days/Week)
- $22,880
Preschool/Kindergarten 1
- Preschool/Kindergarten 1
- $27,970
General day-school range (varies by source year)
- Currency Local
- USD
- Amount Local Low
- 19500
- Amount Local High
- 31500
Neighborhoods Campuses
- West Los Angeles (Campus 55, Main Campus, Century City)
- Pacific Palisades
- Raymond and Esther Kabbaz High School
Chinese American International School of Los Angeles
- Type
- private
- Curricula
- Provides education in Mandarin and English and combines elements of both Chinese and U.S. curricula.
Tuition
- Note
- Specific published tuition figures were not found in available sources; contact the school directly for current pricing.
Neighborhoods Campuses
- Monterey Park
Japanese Institute of Sawtelle (Los Angeles)
- Type
- private/community language school
- Curricula
- Based in West LA's Sawtelle neighborhood, it offers Japanese curriculum instruction for grades K–12, with courses in Japanese language and culture.
Tuition
- Note
- Scope (full-day school vs. supplementary/weekend language program) and tuition figures could not be confirmed from available sources.
Neighborhoods Campuses
- West LA — Sawtelle
Tuition Free Public Options With International Curricula
Goethe International Charter School
- Type
- public charter (tuition-free)
- Tuition
- $0.00
Free public charter; admission via LAUSD charter lottery, not academic selection.
- Curricula
- A tuition-free independent charter school that is an authorized International Baccalaureate World School and includes dual language German immersion and Language Acquisition (Spanish and German) programs.
- Neighborhood
- West Los Angeles / Mar Vista
New West Charter School
- Type
- public charter (tuition-free)
- Tuition
- $0.00
- Curricula
- Based in West Los Angeles and operates as a public charter school; it provides the IB curriculum at the secondary level, along with AP courses and the US high school diploma.
- Neighborhood
- West Los Angeles
Downtown Business Magnet High School (LAUSD)
- Type
- public magnet (tuition-free)
- Tuition
- $0.00
- Curricula
- Offers the IB Diploma Programme.
- Neighborhood
- Downtown Los Angeles
Fairfax High School (LAUSD)
- Type
- public (tuition-free)
- Tuition
- $0.00
- Curricula
- Offers the IB Diploma Programme.
- Neighborhood
- Fairfax district / Hollywood
Homeschooling
- Legality
- Fully legal and regulated
Legal Basis And Options
- Homeschooling is legal throughout California, including Los Angeles. Parents have several legal routes: establishing a home-based private school, enrolling in a public charter/independent-study program, using an existing private school's independent-study option, or teaching under a credentialed tutor.
- The most common route for independent homeschoolers is to establish a home-based private school by filing a Private School Affidavit (PSA) with the California Department of Education. Anyone offering private elementary or high school instruction is required to file this affidavit annually.
- The PSA filing window is October 1-15 each year (new schools starting outside that window file at the time the school is established); the affidavit is filed online with the CDE and does not require the parent to hold a teaching credential under this option.
- Under the PSA route parents are not required to report to their local school district; districts instead verify compliance by checking the state's PSA database.
Local Homeschool Community
- Los Angeles has an active, documented homeschooling community rather than just informal ad-hoc groups. Los Angeles Area Homeschoolers is a long-running local Facebook community for connecting on outings, park days, and playdates.
- The South Bay Homeschool Network is a documented regional support network in the LA area offering a weekly park day (Wednesdays) plus field trips and an online forum for local homeschooling families.
- Classical Conversations, a structured classical-education homeschool program, states it has an established presence with local weekly community groups in the Los Angeles area.
- Additional LA-focused Facebook groups (e.g. 'Homeschooling LA', 'Los Angeles Homeschooling Families Social and Support Group') exist as active community/co-op-finding hubs, alongside county-level directories maintained by the California Homeschool Network.
International And Bilingual School Enrollment
- Overview
- Los Angeles has a small number of dedicated international/bilingual K-12 schools (the most prominent being the Lycée International de Los Angeles / LILA, a French-English bilingual school, and other campuses referred to under the 'International School of Los Angeles' name) plus LAUSD's own dual-language 'Multilingual Multicultural' magnet programs. Foreign families also sometimes look at large private schools with a formal international-student admissions track (e.g. boarding/homestay programs), though those are aimed mainly at unaccompanied teen exchange students rather than a family relocating together.
Application Timing
- Most private international/bilingual schools use rolling admissions rather than a single hard deadline, but they publish a nominal priority deadline in the January-February range for the following August start, after which remaining spots are filled on a rolling basis as space allows.
- For example, one of the Burbank-area international-school campuses lists an application deadline of January 31st, described as 'rolling (applications are due on Jan. 31 but additional applications are reviewed year-round as space permits)'.
- For LAUSD's public dual-language/magnet ('Multilingual Multicultural') programs, the annual on-time application window is October through mid-November for the following school year; the on-time window has run October 1 through November 14.
Waitlist Expectations
- At private international schools, once a grade level fills, later applicants are placed on a waitlist; being admitted is not purely first-come-first-served because schools also weigh returning-family status, sibling priority, and 'fit' with the school culture.
- Waitlists move as admitted families accept, decline, or transfer, so position on the list can change; some schools maintain and share a numeric waitlist order.
- For LAUSD's Choices/magnet system, a waitlist seat can be offered as late as the fourth week of the first semester or the second week of the second semester, except that Multilingual Multicultural program and Affiliated Charter School applicants stay on the waitlist through the end of the academic year applied for.
- Applying early is a genuine advantage at private international schools: a complete, early application at a popular school generally has better odds than an equally strong late one, since schools admit until a grade fills and then waitlist the rest.
Advice For Foreign Families
- Apply as early in the cycle as possible — ideally 6-12 months ahead of an intended August start — because private international/bilingual schools in LA are few and popular, and public dual-language magnet seats are allocated through a once-a-year application window rather than on demand.
- Contact the admissions office directly to confirm current-year deadlines and required paperwork, since exact dates shift year to year and general profile listings (Niche, Private School Review) often just say 'contact the school for details' rather than giving firm figures.
- If relying on LAUSD's public Multilingual Multicultural or magnet dual-language programs, note that families residing outside LAUSD boundaries can still apply to some programs but may need an inter-district permit.
Documents Typically Required
- Completed online application/portal form
- Previous school records/transcripts and teacher references
- Proof of the child's age (birth certificate) and immunization records
- Proof of residence or, for international relocations, evidence of the family's visa/relocation status and expected arrival date
- For older grades, an entrance assessment and/or interview may be requested
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
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Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.