A Week Of Honor
Bonjour – On this National Day of Mourning for President and World War II veteran, George H.W. Bush, News de Nous looks at two of his WWII contemporaries recognized at last Thursday’s Légion d’Honneur ceremony at FASTB. Also in this busy issue – a recap of the MLF visit with our teachers, classroom reports, launching Suzuki Music and Music & Me, Parent-Teacher Conferences, Open Houses past and future, and more. Let’s dig in…
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We were most honored to host what turned out to be a great ceremony and event at FASTB last Thursday. Joseph Corbin and Francis Smith received the Légion d’Honneur in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 175 supporters, family & friends.
Consulate General of France in Miami, Clément Leclerc (below left), and Brigadier-Général Germain Barrau (below right) awarded the honorees with France’s highest distinction.
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FASTB Head of School, Willy LeBihan (left), welcomed all to the school and after the formal ceremony was complete, provided an informal forum in our lobby for the honorees to answer questions from USF St. Pete, USF and Shorecrest Preparatory School students (below). Special thanks to Dr. Frederic Leveziel and his USF St. Pete students Corey Kimer (Master of Ceremonies), Liliane Tran and Sydney Snyder plus USF student and Gunnery Sergeant Brandon Jordan, USMC, for their participation in the ceremony
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Delicious food at the reception was provided by Gateau O Chocolat Chef Emmanuel Roux. The event also provided an opportunity for the Consulate General to visit & tour FASTB for the first time with Elizabeth & Willy LeBihan (left) – we hope it will be the first of many visits!
Thank you to all who attended, planned and participated in this wonderful event!
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From left: French Elected Representative Xavier Capdevielle; Jérôme Train, MLF America; Consulate General Clément Leclerc; FASTB Founders Elizabeth & Willy LeBihan; FASTB Director Dan Hannigan
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Parent-Teacher Conferences Friday
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Our first Parent-Teacher Conferences begin this Friday at noon. If you need to clarify your time slot, please give us a call.
A reminder that classes end at 11:45 that day and students will need to be picked up. You can call Dan in the office if you have any questions. Merci !
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We are very excited to announce the start dates of two music programs at FASTB. Music & Me begins this Friday and is a local early childhood organization that brings the award winning Music Together program to FASTB. Music Together nurtures each child’s natural musicality in a playful, musically rich learning environment.
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The research-based music classes are designed to be non-formal and non-performance oriented so your child can learn at their own pace, instinctively and constantly, teaching themselves through imitation and play. The program also has an at-home element, which is very important to development, and each family will receive supportive take-home materials: an illustrated songbook and recordings of the music used in the classes.
Instructor Alex Gammon (below) will be teaching a 30 minute session to the Pre-K class and another to the Elementary class, once per week. Welcome to the FASTB family, Alex!
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Music In The Air Part 2: Suzuki Instruction Begins January 10
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Thank you to the families who have signed up for our introductory Suzuki Violin session, which begins January 10 and will culminate with a performance on February 15. If you have not signed up yet, please contact our instructor, Jennifer Diedrich – the deadline is next Monday, December 10th. You can click here to download the enrollment form, which has her contact info. These small group lessons will be conducted during school hours, twice per week.
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Rapport de Classe – Pre-K Enjoying Change of Seasons
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With the change from Autumn to Winter coming soon (felt like it this morning!), Priscilla’s Pre-K class explored the effect of all four seasons on trees through the lens of art.
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Students traced their hands to begin and transformed their tracings into trees accented by the colors of the seasons – painted cotton wool. The results below.
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Rapport de Classe – Elementary Découverte du Monde
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Discovery of the World – That’s the theme in Claire’s class, looking at the non-living and living, such as plant life. Students are studying and monitoring the growth of bamboo shoots in the class (right) and within that same theme, working on vocabulary and phonology (below).
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There was also some time for yoga this week (below) – stay tuned, as we will have a yoga component added to our Music & Me offering beginning in January!
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Successful Visit – MLF America
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We were very pleased to have Jérôme Train, of Mission Laïque Française ( MLF-America) and the Dallas International School, join us last week to provide instruction and pedagogical support to our teachers. Jérôme conducted observations of classes (above left) as well as both group and one-on-one sessions with our teachers (below left).
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Topics included and introduction to MLF, class preparation and French institutional resources. Jérôme will return in February to continue his work with our teachers. The benefits of FASTB’s membership to this worldwide organization are far-reaching and include a tremendous amount of support and resources that are available for the professional development of our staff. Merci, Jérôme & MLF America !
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Open Houses Past & Future
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Thank you to all who attended our Open House last week – both parents exploring our school, and parents of current students! It was a great evening. If you couldn’t attend, please mark January 15 and February 7 on your calendars – we will have more details on those Open House times in the coming weeks.
You can also contact us directly for a tour during school hours or at another time that is convenient for you – simply contact Dan Hannigan to set up a time!
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Openings for 2018-19 & Beyond: Steps To Apply
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As we continue to enroll students for 2018-19, and also look ahead to 2019-20, if you are thinking about applying (or know someone who may be interested), please consider a visit and tour. 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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Click on the calendar to the right to get our updated schedule for the school year, reflecting the move of the Suzuki performance to February 15. Please also check the Events tab on FASTB.org periodically for more specific information on certain events. We will also be releasing the 2019-20 calendar soon. As many of you know, our calendar this year was impacted by the summer building construction. Next year, the school year will align with all the area private & public schools.
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Notre École Dans le Maine
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To keep tabs on activities up north, don’t forget to visit the Blog and Instagram of our school in Maine, L’Ecole Française du Maine – Year 18 is rolling along!! Have a wonderful 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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