Poisson d’avril !
Bonjour ! Students delighting in decorating unsuspecting director’s backs with fish is merely one of the newsworthy items in this week’s News de Nous – also, upcoming events such as Suzuki concert number 2, Grandparents & Special Friends Day, and FASTB Jazz Day; plus lots of art, math and vocabulary in our classrooms; FASTB on NPR; camp & school enrollment info and more…
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Suzuki Surprise Guest Helps Prep for Performance
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Our students are in final preparation mode for this Friday’s Suzuki Violin Performance at 12:30 – family and friends are welcome to join us and see our young violinists expand their repertoire before your eyes.
Students enjoyed a special treat last Thursday as Elise LeBihan (above), daughter of Beth and Willy, joined in on our class to play with students and perform some pieces, such as the familiar Harry Potter melody in the video below. Elise began Suzuki lessons at age 4 and has grown to be a highly accomplished violinist, studying in France last year, and performing her final college recital this weekend before graduating in May. A great inspiration for our students – Merci Elise !!
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Grandparents and Special Friends Day – April 15
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Many people associate April 15 with taxes but not here at FASTB – for us, it is Grandparents and Special Friends Day and we are very excited to begin what will be an annual tradition, celebrating the integral role these family matriarchs and patriarchs play in the lives and education of our students, and, by extension, our school!
The start time is 10:00 and grandparents & special friends will be able to sit in class with their student and get an up close look at what they are doing in the classroom – and our students will be very happy to show you all they know!
We look forward to seeing everyone on the 15th – if you have any questions or need any special considerations, please do not hesitate to contact the school at 727-800-2159. Merci !
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Quite a colorful aquarium developed on the back of our director Monday as students took great delight in tapping him on the back and saying, “Comment ça va?” as if nothing unusual were happening. All part of the French April 1st tradition of “Poisson d’avril” or April Fish. Both classes were in on the joke, preparing all week to get the fish ready – some at maximum concentration (below).
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It’s not too late – visit our Camp FASTB page on FASTB.org to get information and access to our camp online inquiry form. Please fill that out and submit so we can get an idea of enrollment. Even if you have already contacted us informally about your interest, we ask that you fill in the form so that we have consistent information for everyone – Merci!! Camp FASTB Details: Beginning June 10, we will offer up to 6 weeks of French Immersion camp broken down as follows:
- Full Day – 9am-3pm $300 per child, per week
- Half Day – 9am-Noon $200 per child, per week
- Extended care will be available at an additional cost. We are targeting the weeks beginning June 10, June 17, June 24, July 8, July 15 and July 22.
Campers must be at least 5 years old before 9/1/19
Ultimately, enrollment will dictate what we will be able to offer so please let us know as soon as you can.
We are also accepting applications for French speaking camp counselors so if you or someone you know is interested, please let us know – merci!
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2019-20 Enrollment: Online Application Form & Steps to Enroll
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We are in the middle of our enrollment period for 2019-20, so 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 (please note that there is a new online application form):
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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 new 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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NPR To Air FASTB Feature Monday
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After a couple of delays, we now have word that NPR will air its feature on FASTB this coming Monday, April 8th, at 7:44am and 5:44pm on WUSF 89.7FM. There will also be an article on the WUSF website. Special thanks to reporter Kerry Sheridan, who visited our school a few weeks ago to do the story.
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Art and math topped the charts in Priscilla’s Pre-K class this week as students converted egg crates (above) into flowers (below).
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Students also spent time with Pauline boosting math skills by using objects to help provide meaning to the numbers they are learning (below).
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Meanwhile, in Claire’s elementary class (above), students played a fun bingo-style game using syllables to help bolster vo-ca-bu-lar-y. Students listen for the syllable and find it on the card – then try to create words. Claire subtly injected some math in there too asking how many spaces are left on the card – very sneaky.
In Art, students worked on mixing colors within the ocean theme of “Nos petits poissons” (below).
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Our first-ever FASTB International Jazz Day Jam, co-sponsored by our friends at Music & Me, is coming up on April 30th at 1:30 right here at FASTB. We will have more info as the big day draws closer, but mark the date – jazz is all about inclusiveness and we plan to involve everyone in the jam!
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FASTB Calendars 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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Cultural Exchange – Host a French Student
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Peggy Labat (center) with Constance (right), a French student who visited Florida in February, and Zsofia (left) whose family hosted Constance
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Recently, we enjoyed a visit from Peggy Labat, who has developed a new high school exchange program between her hometown of Le Havre, France and Tampa Bay, through which students spend a few weeks with a host family, completely immersed in a new language and culture!
Are you interested in hosting a French student for a few weeks? Do you, or someone you know, have a high school child that might want to visit France for a few weeks? If so, please take a look at this summary of Peggy’s program and feel free to reach out to her by email at peggy@englishnstuff.com. We also have a few pamphlets that describe the program here at the school if you’d like to stop by and pick one up. Merci !
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Sometimes it’s hard to tell… even in April. To keep tabs on activities of our hearty friends 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!!
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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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