GIS the International School of São Paulo

A small Reggio Emilia and IB primary school in Moema, run by the same European founders who built IS Como, IS Bologna, and IS Ticino in Lugano.

GIS opened in São Paulo in 2019 as the South American sibling of three Italian and Swiss schools that combine Reggio Emilia early years with full IB programmes. Ages two to eleven, English-language instruction, on Alameda dos Jurupis. The school is selective in size and the early years follow the Reggio approach with the classroom treated as a third teacher.

Parent feedback is consistently warm on facilities, multicultural mix, and the teacher quality in the early years. Families looking for a calm, small-scale start with proper Reggio Emilia practice and a clear pathway into IB tend to settle here. The constraint is age range. There is no upper school yet, so families plan a transition out by around grade five.

• Parents praise a small, multicultural early-years and primary school with a high adult-to-child ratio and an inquiry-driven curriculum that blends IB PYP with the Reggio Emilia approach.
• Reviews cluster around the early years and lower primary, where the Reggio influence shows most clearly; the school only goes to age 11.
• Independent review pools are small and uniformly positive, which is consistent with a young, fee-paying school in Moema rather than evidence of widespread sentiment.
• Families value the multinational mix and the Moema location, away from major airline flight paths and heavy traffic.