Students from all cultural, ethnic, and language backgrounds are welcome at SFIHS. There are no entrance exams and there is no tuition or students; any student who has attended school in the United States for four years or less is welcome to enroll.

Our students have traveled amazing paths to arrive in America. They are adolescents who are in ransition to a new country, a new culture, and a new language. Our students are often used to school systems in other countries, with different customs and cultural norms. Some of our students were at grade level in the countries, and read and write their own languages well. Others have been out of school for months or years, a result of the political turmoil, wars and upheavals that engulf large parts of the globe. A very small number may have never, or almost never, attended school.

We expect our students to be representative of the population of San Francisco and of student enrollment in San Francisco Unified schools. To offer some examples of our expected diversity, Oakland International High School serves students that speak 21 different languages and come from 23 different countries.