Bonne vacances !
All smiles as our Winter Fest performance sent everyone off to the holiday break – News de Nous has full coverage of the 2-show engagement, plus news about our first School Council meeting, upcoming Back to School days, the start of our Café et Conversation series, the return of Adult Ed for semester number 2, opportunities to host a French intern, our first day as an official DAEFLE testing center and much more…
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Première réunion du Conseil d’école
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Thank you to the Parent Representatives: Tara Deubel, Gabriella Freeman and Dee Dixon-Lynch, and FASTB Teachers & Administrators: Erika Ruhlmann, Emmy Decker, Magali Guilhem, Olivier Guilhem, Dan Hannigan and Willy LeBihan for serving on the School Council this year.
Our first meeting was held on December 9, 2019 from 3:30 to 6:30pm and was quite productive and positive (detailed minutes are on display on the wall outside the office). Olivier Guilhem, FASTB Pedagogical Coordinator, led the discussions which covered parents’ feedback, questions and requests – as well as parents’ compliments and encouragements too!
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Merci aux représentants des parents d’élèves : Tara Deubel, Gabriella Freeman and Dee Dixon-Lynch, aux enseignants et administrateurs de FASTB: Erika Ruhlmann, Emmy Decker, Magali Guilhem, Olivier Guilhem, Dan Hannigan and Willy LeBihan pour leur participation au Conseil d’École cette année.
Notre première réunion a eu lieu le 9 décembre 2019 de 15h30 à 18h30 et a été très productive et positive (le compte-rendu détaillé est affiché à l’extérieur du bureau). Olivier Guilhem, coordinateur pédagogique de FASTB a mené les discussions qui ont portées sur les recommandations, les questions et les demandes des parents – ainsi que sur leurs compliments et encouragements !
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A packed house for two big shows, Wednesday and Friday, and our students rose to the occasion! Our 2019 “Spectacle de l’hiver” saw all ages singing and reciting, all en français – and dancing too! Our preschoolers kicked things off with a couple numbers, including “La fourmi m’a piqué la main” (the ant bit my hand):
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The Kindergarten class soon joined in for “La famille tortue” (the turtle family – above) and we were off and running. Elementary students chipped in, reciting poetry, such as “Locataires” below, by Jean-Luc Moreau, and joined in the “Vent Frais” round with the Kindergarten and Middle School classes.
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The middle school students later took the stage alone for “Deuce France” (above), or Sweet France, a patriotic song that dates back to World War II when composer Charles Trénet first performed it for French prisoners in Berlin. The performance closed with “La danse des pingouins”, performed by all students AND staff (below).
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A big thanks to our teachers, Olivier, Magali, Erika, Emmy and Pauline for preparing our students over the past 3 weeks, to our parents who brought in tasty refreshments and, of course, to our students for all of their hard work – Bravo !
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FASTB Parents: We will be doing a school-wide project with wrapping paper when we return in January, so please save your used wrapping paper and instead of tossing it, bring it to us – we’ll put it to good use. Merci !
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Back To School Week: The Sequel
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Much like we did at the beginning of the school year, we will be holding Back to School sessions in the Preschool, Kindergarten and Elementary classes during the first week back from break. This is an opportunity for our teachers in these classes to discuss their approach and their plans fro the second half of the year. Here is the schedule:
Wednesday January 8: Kindergarten 3:15-4:00
Thursday January 9: Preschool 3:15-4:00
Friday January 10: Elementary 3:15-4:00
All are welcome to attend these sessions.
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Début de Café et Conversation
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Also upon our return from break, we will begin weekly Café et Conversation sessions. Each week, a different topic will be discussed, involving a teacher, administrator or another program leader. These informal meetups will go from 8:30-9:00 every Thursday morning, beginning January 9th – the first sessions include:
- Jan 9: Café et Conversation Introduction – Willy & Olivier
- Jan 16: Parent Association – Willy
- Jan 23: Kindergarten & Art – Magali
- Jan 30: Adult Education & DELF – Emmy
- Feb 6: Parent-Student Handbook – Willy
- Feb 13: Suzuki Music – Jenny
- Feb 20: Elementary Class – Olivier
- Feb 27: Preschool Class – Erika
All parents are welcome to attend these sessions, which provide an opportunity to discuss the topic of the week in a relaxed environment, over coffee, of course.
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Over the past few weeks, we have welcomed many visitors to tour our school, looking ahead to 2020-21 or considering a mid-year 2019-20 enrollment. If you or someone you know would like to learn more about our school and campus, please feel free to contact us to schedule a tour. You can give us a call at (727) 800-2159 or email dan.hannigan@fastb.org. Below is the sequence of steps to apply and enroll at FASTB:
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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: Click here for our online Enrollment Application which offers the convenience of applying and paying the fee entirely online
- 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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2020-21 Scholarship Opportunities To Open Up Soon
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We are approaching renewal time for those enrolled in Florida scholarships – January is the month for renewals and then new applicants are welcome to apply soon after. Please visit the sites below regularly as specific enrollment dates will be announced in the coming weeks.
FASTB accepts Florida state scholarships and we are a participating school on the Step Up for Students, AAA Scholarships, Family Empowerment andMcKay Scholarship websites, so when you apply and you are awarded a scholarship, you can opt for our school there.
Please note that there are two income based scholarship offered by the state of Florida: the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship and the Family Empowerment Scholarship, which was created earlier this year. Key points for the FES are:
- For students currently in public schools OR students entering Kindergarten
- Income thresholds are higher than those in the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship
If you meet the criteria in the first item above, it will definitely be worth filling out the free online FES application to see if you qualify.
The total number of scholarship programs that we will accept in 2019-20 and 2020-21 is five:
- Florida Tax Credit
- Family Empowerment
- McKay
- Gardiner
- Hope
Here are the links:
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Adult Ed – New Students Welcome, Open House January 8!
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With our first semester of Adult French Education successfully in the books, we are fixing our gaze on semester two, which will begin the week of January 13 and run 15 weeks. New students are welcome to join us and, of course, our existing students are encouraged to continue – to get us all in the mood for the upcoming semester, we are having an open house on Wednesday, January 8th at 6pm at FASTB for all adult students, both prospective and current. All are welcome!
We will have enrollment forms on hand that evening, but if you are feeling particularly enthused, you can download the form here and email it to Dan Hannigan in advance. The tentative schedule of classes is on the form – the final schedule will be based on actual enrollment. Looking forward to seeing everyone on the 8th! Bonne année !
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Interns On The Way in 2020 – Host Families Needed
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The French American School of Tampa Bay (FASTB) is an official partner of the Teacher Training Institute (INSPE: Institut National Supérieur du Professorat et de l’Education) at the Université de Bourgogne in Dijon, France.
This coming semester, we are delighted to welcome two French graduate students, who are pursuing Master’s Degrees in Elementary Education. This “stage” Practicum is an essential first step in completing the Master MEEF 1er degré – to become a certified teacher for the French Ministry of Education (Professeur des écoles). Olivier Guilhem, Pedagogical Coordinator at FASTB, and Pascale Crispin, Professor at the Université de Bourgogne, will supervise these internships.
Let’s meet the Interns:
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Emilie Bonneau, 22, comes from a small village, Pougues-les-Eaux, in the Nièvre region of Central France. She is studying to become a primary school teacher at the Université de Bourgogne. She loves pets and spending time with her family, enjoys cooking & shopping, and is a big fan of Harry Potter & Disney movies!
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Alice Meiner, 21, has a Bachelor’s Degree in Education and is currently pursuing her Master’s Degree to become a certified teacher for the French Ministry of Education. Alice grew up in Nevers, in the Nièvre Region of Central France and, like Emilie, is a Harry Potter & Disney fan. She also enjoys reading, animals, discovering new things and traveling, as well as spending time with friends and family.
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Emilie and Alice will be with us from February 8 to March 5 and we are looking for host families. If you are interested and would like to know more about host family roles and duties, please contact Willy LeBihan at wlebihan@frenchschool.me.
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FASTB Proudly Presents: The DAEFLE Diploma!
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The French American School of Tampa Bay is pleased to announce that we are an official center for a new diploma!
The DAEFLE (Diplôme d’Aptitude à l’Enseignement du Français Langue Etrangère) is a professional development diploma for anyone who is preparing to teach, or is already teaching, French to a non-French speaking audience in France or abroad. Created through a partnership between the Alliance Française Paris Ile-de-France and the National Center for Distance Education (CNED), the course can be followed anywhere in the world.
We are also an official testing center for this program and recently administered our first exam to a DAEFLE student. If you are interested in finding out more about the coursework or the testing, please contact the school at (727) 800-2159.
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DELF For Advanced High School French Students
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We are offering after school advanced French classes for high school students, who wish to pursue a greater proficiency in the language. The Diplôme d’Etudes de Langue Française (DELF) is a certification of French language abilities for non-native speakers, administered by the International Centre for French Studies for the French Ministry of Education.
The program includes six different units (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2), with each leading to an exam and, if passed, a French diploma. The last levels of the program can give access to French universities without having to take another proficiency test before enrolling. US colleges also recognize the value of these diplomas and they are also be very valuable professionally as proof of fluency in French.
If you or someone you know might be interested in this program, please contact the school. You can visit our DELF page for more information or click here to view the brochure pdf. Merci !
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FASTB is exploring the creation of a vegetable garden on the school grounds with master chef, organic gardener and FASTB friend, Emmanuel Roux, pictured above left with Magali and Olivier Guilhem. Final location to be determined but it is coming in 2020 so stay tuned…
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A big thank you to Lucie Le Page, who recently donated a large number of French books to our school library – including many 20th century history selections. This wonderful donation adds to our rapidly expanding library, which now contains numerous books in French for our adult students.
We are looking for volunteers to help organize all of our books – if you are interested, please contact the school at (727) 800-2159. Of course, if you have any children’s books, in French or English, that you would like to donate, we would gladly accept them for our library.
Thank you to all who have donated this year!
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FASTB Calendar A Click Away
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You can click on the image below to download our school calendar and, as always, be sure to check the Events tab on FASTB.org periodically for more specific information on certain events. We will be adding more events as we turn the corner on the new year so please stay tuned. Merci !
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French Education Thrives In The US
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In case you missed it, click the image above and check out a terrific article in France-Amérique about the success of French schools in the US. If you’re especially ambitious, there is also a link within the story to another fascinating article by Fabrice Jaumont about the benefits and relevance of being bilingual. Many of the points in these articles reinforce the foundation of our mission here at FASTB.
Joyeuses fêtes à tous !
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2100 62nd Ave N, St. Petersburg, FL 33702
Telephone: (727) 800-2159
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