The News Is Piled High!
Bonjour ! So much to tell you about this week both in and out of the classroom so let’s get right to it…
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Open House – February 7th 6-8pm
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Our next Open House is just 8 days away – Thursday, February 7th from 6:00-8:00pm. We are in the midst of our enrollment period for 2019-20 so if you are considering our school, we urge you to attend and please spread the word. We will be conducting tours and answering questions, plus you will have a chance to meet teachers and parents. A great opportunity to explore the lifelong gift of language for your child!
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Bourse Scolaire for French Citizens
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We were very pleased this week to be approved to receive French scholarships beginning in 2019-2020! The Bourse Scolaire is a need-based financial aid program administered
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by the French government for citizens with educational expenses at accredited French schools outside of France. To apply, you must be registered with FASTB and you can click here for application instructions. The deadline to apply is February 20 – feel free to contact us with questions.
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French Schools Invade New Orleans
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Heads of School from the 54 North American schools accredited by the French Ministry of Education in New Orleans this week. Can you find FASTB’s Willy LeBihan? (Clue: top railing, a little left of center)
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FASTB Founders, Elizabeth & Willy LeBihan participated in this week’s 3-day conference in New Orleans for the 54 schools in North America accredited by the French Ministry of Education. Beth, Willy and all of the directors worked together to design and plan staff development for teachers in 2019-20 academic year and shared pedagogical projects.
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Elizabeth & Willy LeBihan with Francis Carlier, Director of the San Diego French American School
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Workshops were led by Vincent Sciama, Consulate General of France in New Orleans, Laurent Signoles, Secretary of the AEFE (Agency for French Education Abroad), Jean-Christophe Deberre, General Director of MLF (Mission Laïque Française), Bruno Eldin, Cultural Attaché at the French Embassy and Sophie Beaumont, AEFE Pedagogical Inspector for North America. Willy and Beth reported that there was a particularly interesting session on Innovation and Pedagogy, led by David Instance, Professor at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland.
“This was a great opportunity to collaborate with other Heads of Schools and Pedagogical Directors in our network!” said Willy.
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The LeBihan’s also caught up with retiring Director of MLF in North America, Jean-François Genay (above). A great mentor to Beth & Willy, Mr. Genay was also Principal and Head of School of several prestigious institutions, including: Lycée Français de New York, United Nations International School and Lycée International de Los Angeles. We wish Mr. Genay well in his retirement!
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Pre-K Class: Art de la Fourchette
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Have you ever had a fork and some paint and wondered what to do? Problem solved: create a panda! That’s among the many art projects that Priscilla’s Pre-K class was involved in this week, exploring their creativity and learning about animals. The class also worked in some math and counting while engaged in play, plus a little writing as well (below left).
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Looking ahead, February 2nd is La Chandeleur, a French holiday perhaps best known for eating crêpes – lots of them! Since it’s Saturday, parents in Priscilla’s class will be bringing in crêpes for their children on Monday (another way to use a fork). Tasty recipe posted below:
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Chinese New Year – February 5
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FASTB is marking the Chinese New Year next Tuesday at 12:45 with an event featuring a special guest. Dr. Linda Carroll, a longtime professor of Chinese and Japanese at USF and currently an instructor at the Tampa Bay Chinese School, will do a presentation on the new year and the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac, Chinese culture & language and will also bring some traditional Chinese clothing. Parents are welcome – please let us know if you will be attending.
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Elementary Class – New Year Prep and Butterflies
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Elementary students also enjoyed a great session last Thursday with volunteer Wendy Risk (below), who brought in some caterpillars and a butterflies! Ms. Risk raises monarchs and for many years was a French, English and ESL teacher of students ranging from middle school to college.
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Claire’s Elementary class has been preparing for the Chinese New Year with some lantern art work (above) and a geography lesson to find China on the world map (left). Additionally, students learned to write Happy New Year in Chinese (below) and have been learning Chinese history in the book, “La Légende du Cerf-Volant”.
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Thank you, Wendy, for sharing with our students. We can’t wait to see what you have in store for us this week!!
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You may recall that students studied the book, “La Chenille qui Fait des Trous” (“The Hungry Caterpillar”) earlier this year, so this was a perfect way to bring to life all of the lessons Claire taught related to that book, including the stages of life from caterpillar to butterfly.
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As we mentioned in last week’s News de Nous, we are planning our first Immersion Summer Camp! The plan is for one or two 1-week full-day sessions, depending on enrollment, and will be entirely en Français ! Dates are to be determined – we invite your input so please don’t hesitate to reach out with your thoughts and your interest. We look forward to hearing from you – Merci !
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2019-20 Enrollment: Steps To Apply
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While we continue to enroll students for 2018-19, we are very focused on 2019-20, so if you are thinking about applying (or know someone who may be interested), please consider a visit and tour – we’ve had a lot lately! Below is the sequence of events for our application process:
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- Inquiry: Submit the Application Inquiry Form on our web site and we will contact you to set up a school visit to give you more information about FASTB and answer questions
- Apply: Print, fill out and mail our Enrollment Application and fee
- Interview: After receiving the completed application we set up a parent or guardian and child interview to assess readiness and ability to benefit from our program
- Acceptance & Enrollment: Upon acceptance, an Enrollment Contract must be signed and deposit paid to secure a spot for the upcoming year
Please visit FASTB.org and click on the Admission tab for more on the process, tuition, financial aid and more – we look forward to hearing from you!
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FASTB Calendar 2018-19 AND 2019-20
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We have released our academic calendar for 2019-20 and you will note that the timing is more in line with area schools (no construction project thissummer!). To access the new 2019-20 calendar, click on the image below left and you can download a pdf. For this year’s calendar, click the image below right. Please also check the Events tab on FASTB.org periodically for more specific information on certain events. Merci !
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To keep tabs on activities up north, don’t forget to visit the Blog and Instagramof our school in Maine, L’Ecole Française du Maine – Year 18 is rolling along!! All of us on the News de Nous staff wish you a great week – Merci!
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The French American School of Tampa Bay, (FASTB), founded in February 2017 by Elizabeth and Willy LeBihan, offers a unique immersion school experience to students from Early Childhood through grade 12.
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2100 62nd Ave N, St. Petersburg, FL 33702
Telephone: (727) 800-2159
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