Welcome from Head of School Jeff Bissell

Welcome 欢迎 (huānyíng), to the Chinese American International School, the oldest Mandarin immersion school in the nation. Founded in San Francisco in 1981, CAIS is a leader in its field and prides itself on being a life changing, world changing institution.

While chaperoning CAIS’s 8th grade program in Guilin, China this year, Head of School Jeff Bissell interviewed students about their experiences for a series of dispatches back home.

For 42 years, CAIS has prepared students to navigate the interconnected world they will inherit. At CAIS, we have created a challenging educational program which provides students with the academic skills and core social emotional competencies that will serve them across American and Chinese language and culture. We envision new generations of passionate, engaged, and reflective learners who lead meaningful and impactful lives across languages and cultures—and it is our commitment to foster this future.

If this vision interests you, I encourage you to visit our school and get to know us better. Familiarize yourself with our educational programs and the group of talented, dedicated and creative students, educators, parents and friends who comprise our inclusive community.

Best,
Jeff

Jeff Bissell | 毕杰夫
@cais_hos)_jeff_bissell

Bissell’s Blog

The pandemic-prompted need for more frequent communication led to the creation of the Head of School Newsletter, which changed in frequency from weekly to biweekly and finally monthly based on the flow of information that was critical to share with families. Past issues, along with Special Bulletins, linked below chart the progress of CAIS’s response to the pandemic and other important developments in the life of the school, such as the 19th Avenue Campus project.