Admissions policy

The American School of Paris is committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming teaching and learning environment for all members of the community. Consistent with its mission, organizational beliefs, and obligations under French law (article 225-1 Code Pénal), ASP prohibits unlawful discrimination. ASP admits qualified students regardless of race, color, national or ethnic origin, disability, family situation, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression of any other characteristic.

Subject to limits on available space and resources, ASP seeks to admit from among the pool of applicants those students who (in the judgment of the School’s Admissions personnel) will be most likely to benefit from ASP’s programs and contribute to the ASP community as a whole. ASP considers a variety of factors in the selection of students for admission to the School, including but not limited to the applicant’s academic potential, maturity, and ability to interact constructively with others.

Academic crietria

ASP is a university preparatory school that challenges students to meet high academic standards. ASP expects all students to strive to meet their maximum potential. Through their previous schools' records and reports, applicants must demonstrate their motivation to achieve academically and to cope successfully with ASP's requirements.

Behavioral criteria

ASP is a learning community bound together by adherence to our School beliefs and the principles of respect, responsibility, and honesty. As such, we accept only those students whose past records demonstrate a clear commitment to these ideals.

Linguistic criteria

The principal language of instruction at the American School of Paris is English. ASP accepts students with no prior education in the English language through Grade 5. Within Grades 6–8, we accept students with lower levels of proficiency, providing them with additional support for English and/or social studies within their daily schedule.

For all grade levels, the School will also consider whether a non-native speaker of English can acquire through the instruction available at the School, an ability to comprehend and communicate in English at a level sufficient to benefit from (and participate meaningfully in) the School’s overall program and activities. When judged appropriate, and space permitting, non-native speakers of English will be enrolled in our English as an additional language (EAL) program, for Grades 1–8, to help them develop their English skills prior to integrating fully into their grade level classes.

Inclusion and learning support criteria

The American School of Paris believes that a high-quality education is a basic human right of all children.

Including students with diverse learning needs is fundamental to who we are and how we build a compassionate and rich learning community. Therefore, ASP is committed to well-designed, research-based, and thoughtfully implemented teaching and learning practices that embrace a wide variety of learning differences.

ASP offers a range of support services for those students who need additional resources to attain their identified learning goals.

A student with an Individual Learning Plan (ILP), either from a prior school or from ASP, may receive the following services:

  • Program delivery within the mainstream classroom for students with identified mild to moderate learning needs which can involve accommodations and modifications for students who require these to be successful;
  • Individual and small-group support for students outside the mainstream classroom;
  • In certain circumstances, individual educational assistants support students with moderate learning needs;
  • EAL for students whose mastery of English is insufficient to allow them to succeed;
  • Support from internal or external specialists, such as occupational therapists, speech language therapists, educational psychologists, counselors, and independent mentors.

Please note the following:

  • In order to assess our ability to provide the necessary support for a student, ASP must receive accurate and complete diagnostic information from families; withholding such information from the school is not in the ultimate best interests of the student.
  • To determine if a child requires learning support services, a recent (within the last three years) psycho-educational assessment report and/or other pertinent records regarding past educational plans and services should be submitted to the Admissions office.
  • Individual educational assistant support, learning support, EAL, and testing or external services provided by specialists such as occupational therapists, speech language therapists, educational or clinical psychologists incur an additional fee; please see this page for further information regarding all fees.
Siblings

We make every effort to keep families together when considering siblings requiring learning support.

Waiting pool criteria

ASP was primarily established to serve the transient global community of expatriate families. While the School welcomes local residents who share our educational values, we reserve the right to give admissions priority to expatriate families over those with a viable local alternative.

Every effort will be made to accept students applying to ASP. In a managed admissions process, there inevitably comes a time when a child applies to a specific grade, only to discover that that grade level is filled to capacity. When this happens, the student will be placed in a waiting pool if requested by the family. When a child is placed in a waiting pool, parents are informed when a place becomes available.

While places are offered according to the date when a complete application is submitted to the Admissions office, the following criteria are also used to guide the priority of students in a waiting pool at any time during the school year:

  • Siblings of ASP students (including newly admitted students) not currently placed in another local school;
  • Students from expatriate international families;
  • Students from host national families;
  • Students from former ASP families.

Questions?

Patricia Rozenberg
Admissions Manager
Isabella Veronesi
Admissions Coordinator