Good to know
Good to Know
- Tahiti International School (TIS) in Punaauia is essentially the only dedicated international/bilingual K-12 option on the island — if this school isn't a fit, the realistic alternative for expat families is enrolling in the local French-curriculum public or Catholic private school system, taught entirely in French.
- TIS is not yet an accredited IB World School — it states an intention to pursue IB authorization but currently blends French national standards with some British/Cambridge-style content, so don't assume a full IB diploma pathway is available today.
- Published tuition numbers for TIS are hard to find online; the school uses an 'à la carte' fee structure (base tuition plus optional extras like language add-ons, transport and lunch), so budget-conscious families should contact the school directly for a current, itemized quote rather than relying on generic web estimates.
- TIS is located in Punaauia on Tahiti's west coast, a short drive (not walking distance) from central Papeete — factor commute/transport into your housing choice if this school matters to you.
- If you're aiming for a September start at Tahiti International School, start the application process the school year before — TIS's own paperwork ties full fee/enrollment confirmation to June 30 of the preceding year, so summer-before-term applications are cutting it late.
- TIS is essentially the only dedicated 'international' school option in Tahiti; every other realistic school route runs through French Polynesia's own public/private system in French, which is a real barrier if your child doesn't already speak French.
- French Polynesia's homeschooling rules are genuinely different (and currently more permissive) than mainland France's post-2022 reform — don't assume mainland France homeschooling blogs/guides apply directly here; the local process runs through French Polynesia's own DGEE and the commune's Tavana, not DASEN.
- We could not confirm a dedicated local homeschooling co-op or support group in Tahiti — if this matters to you, plan to ask around in local expat/nomad networks after arrival rather than expecting a ready-made community.
General Context
- Note
- Outside of TIS, mainstream schooling in Tahiti (public and most private/religious schools such as Catholic-run collèges) follows the standard French national curriculum with instruction in French, not a distinct international or bilingual track. These are effectively local-system schools rather than international schools, so they are not broken out individually here.
Regional Tuition Benchmark
- Amount Local Low
- CFPF 510,000
- Amount Local High
- CFPF 2,040,000
- Amount Local Top Tier
- CFPF 2,550,000
- Description
- A regional (not Tahiti-specific) international-school benchmark for Polynesia broadly puts annual tuition in the $5,000–$20,000 range, with top-tier programs exceeding $25,000/year. This is a general regional figure, not a confirmed Tahiti or TIS-specific number.
Schools And Curricula
Tahiti International School (TIS) — Ecole Bilingue De Polynésie
- Founded
- 2010–2011
- Location
- Pointe Fishermen, Punaauia (west coast, roughly 15 minutes by car from central Papeete)
- Age Range
- Kindergarten through Grade 12 (K-12)
- Notes
- This is described as the first and, based on available information, the only dedicated international/bilingual private K-12 school on Tahiti. It follows a French academic calendar (school year runs roughly September to end of June).
Curriculum
- Accreditation
- Accredited by the French Ministry of National Education and listed as part of the UNESCO schools network
- Primary Track
- French national-standards curriculum with Montessori-based kindergarten
- Languages Taught
- French, English, Mandarin and Spanish are taught to all students; some drums, piano and French Sign Language options also offered
- Additional Frameworks
- Also incorporates elements of the English National Curriculum, Cambridge (British) coursework, and Singapore-style teaching tools, and states an ambition to eventually become an authorized IB World School — it is not yet an accredited IB member
- Bilingual Instruction
- Runs a bilingual English/French program, though the proportion of each language varies by grade level
Enrollment And Homeschooling
Homeschooling
- Process
- Rather than mainland France's stricter post-2022 system requiring prior authorization for a narrow list of approved reasons, French Polynesia currently runs on a declaration-based process for home instruction: families submit their request and supporting documents online via the territorial 'mes démarches' portal, and declarations must be made before the September school holidays except for duly justified exceptional cases (any request made after that point must be explained and will involve back-and-forth with the DGEE). Families must also make a declaration to the Tavana (mayor) of their commune, who is responsible for monitoring compliance with the schooling obligation, and the DGEE acknowledges the declaration and, if the outcome is positive, issues an official attestation of home instruction (needed, among other things, for family-benefit agencies).
- Authority
- Direction Générale de l'Education et des Enseignements (DGEE), part of French Polynesia's own Ministry of Education, working alongside the local commune's Tavana (mayor) — not mainland France's DASEN, since education in French Polynesia is governed by its own territorial Charter rather than the mainland national education code.
- Legal Basis
- French Polynesia, as an autonomous overseas collectivity, runs its own education framework rather than mainland France's post-2021 'loi séparatisme' authorization regime. Under French Polynesia's own law, Article LP 2 of the Loi du Pays n° 2017-15 of 13 July 2017 (as amended) relating to the Charter of Education makes instruction compulsory for every child aged 3 to 16, and this instruction can be fulfilled either through schooling or through home instruction ('instruction à domicile') for the child.
- Legal Status
- Decriminalized or tolerated
- Local Homeschool Community
- We could not find genuine, documented evidence of an established homeschooling co-op, support group, or regular meetup specific to Tahiti (as distinct from mainland French homeschooling federations like Les Enfants d'Abord, which operate in metropolitan France). We are not asserting one exists — nomad families interested in homeschooling in Tahiti should expect to build their own support network locally rather than assume an existing group is waiting for them.
International Bilingual Enrollment
- Overview
- Tahiti has only one long-established internationally-oriented option, Tahiti International School (TIS) in Punaauia, founded in 2010-2011. There isn't a dense market of competing international schools like in a major Asian or Gulf hub, so 'competitive waitlists' in the sense of large international-school markets aren't really documented here — the more realistic constraint is that TIS is a single small campus with limited seats per grade, so timing your application to the local school-year cycle matters more than beating out dozens of competing applicant families.
- School Named
- Tahiti International School (TIS)
- Application Timing
- The school year starts at the beginning of September and finishes at the end of June (10 months) and follows, besides a few exceptions, the official school holidays calendar of French Polynesia. Fee/enrollment deadlines are structured around the calendar year before the intended start: annual fees are due in their totality when enrolment is confirmed by June 30th of the year preceding the start of the school year, meaning families intending a September start should be aiming to finalize enrollment by roughly the June before — i.e., applying well before that, ideally 6-9+ months ahead, rather than trying to enroll over the summer just before the term starts.
- Waitlist Realities
- There is no publicly published waitlist length or acceptance-rate figure for TIS, so we cannot honestly quote a specific number of months of waiting or odds of admission. What is documented is that the school's own paperwork ties financial/enrollment confirmation to a hard cutoff (June 30 preceding the school year), which functions as an informal deadline — arriving families who apply only a few weeks before the September start risk finding the current year's seats in their child's grade already confirmed and paid for by other families. Contacting the school directly, as early as possible in the school year before your intended move, is the realistic strategy rather than assuming rolling admission.
- Other Options For Foreign Families
- Outside of TIS, the rest of Tahiti's schools (public and most private Catholic establishments) run under the standard French Polynesia system overseen by the Vice-rectorat de Polynésie française and the territorial Direction Générale de l'Education et des Enseignements (DGEE) — these follow ordinary French/Polynesian zoning and enrollment procedures rather than an 'international admissions' process, and instruction is primarily in French, which is a real practical barrier for non-French-speaking foreign families beyond TIS.
School Facts
- Tahiti International School was founded in 2010 by Philippe and Sandy Stora in an effort to offer a style and quality of education that does not exist otherwise in French Polynesia.
- Tahiti International School (TIS) is the first international school in Polynesia.
- Our school is accredited by the Ministry of National Education and is part of the UNESCO schools network.
Required Documents
- A student will be admitted at Tahiti International School only after the school issues a formal enrolment certificate — enrollment isn't automatic on application, it is confirmed by the school.
- Parents must provide the school with certificates (a medical certificate or an extract of the 'carnet de santé') showing the child has received all compulsory vaccinations for their age, or documentation justifying a medical exemption.
- For children with allergies, food intolerances, or long-term health conditions compatible with regular schooling, families must disclose these; the school reserves the right to decline or terminate enrollment if a child's needs exceed what the school's resources can support (this is stated explicitly in TIS's own regulations, not a generic policy).
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
This section has no cited sources.
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Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.