May Day!
Bonjour ! May Day in France is Fête du Muguet, or Lily of the Valley Day (represented artistically above). At News de Nous Headquarters, we begin May by looking back on the last week of April, which came to a close yesterday with a jammin’ Jazz Day – full recap with video below.
Speaking of video, our Maine school was on TV today and we have a clip from the Suzuki Strings recital this past weekend, plus scholarship and enrollment news, a unique opportunity for high school students studying French, classroom reports, Camp FASTB and more below…
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FASTB Jazz All-Stars address FASTB and St. Petersburg Christian School students during Tuesday’s International Jazz Day celebration. The band featured (from left) guitarist Alex Gammon, our Music & Me instructor; local musicians Ed Kennedy on trumpet & bass, Andy Foertsch on trombone and Ron Gregg on drums; our Suzuki instructor & violinist Jenny Diedrich and FASTB Director Dan Hannigan
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The first ever FASTB/Music & Me Jazz day was a great success, and turned into a fully participatory event for all in attendance! A big thank you to Kathy Spangler at St. Petersburg Christian School for bringing her first grade students and teachers across 62nd Avenue to join our FASTB students, teachers and parents.
As you would expect, we interjected some French into the program, putting the words “joli oiseau” (pretty bird) to the beat of C Jam Blues. First, students got the words down and then, next thing you know, they’re jazz singers!
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With singing mastered, it was time for everyone to join the band – percussion instruments went out to all (above) and we closed with a couple New Orleans classics, “Just a Closer Walk” and “When the Saints Go Marching In” (below).
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Special thank you’s to all who attended and participated in making this a great event, especially our teachers and students, whose terrific musical art work was on full display, our visitors and our great jazz musician guests!
Our event was one of hundreds of celebrations of International Jazz Day 2019, spanning 190 countries!
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Florida Scholarships for K-12 – Apply Today
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Good news for families with students entering grades K and up this fall – FASTB will be able to accept state scholarships: McKay, Florida Tax Credit, Gardiner and Hope! We are in the final stages of having our school listed on the scholarship websites – we now know that will be this month, hopefully very soon.
Even with that pending, it is very important that you apply now if you want one of these scholarships – the way it works is that your application is reviewed and the scholarship is awarded before you choose a school, so you can get started right away. Here are the links:
We will announce, via News de Nous, our website and social media, when FASTB is added to the list of participating schools. Merci !
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2019-20 School Year – Enroll Today!
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We are continuing to accept applications and enroll students for Pre-K through 8th grade for 2019-20, so if you are thinking about applying (or know someone who may be interested), please consider a visit and tour. If you are further along in the process and wish to contact us to finalize and secure a spot, please give us a call at (727) 800-2159.
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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Coming This Fall For High School French Scholars
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We are pleased to announce that this fall we will begin 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 click on the photo above, or here, to view the brochure pdf. Merci !
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Hard to believe – summer and camp is not that far off! But it’s not too late to throw your name in – 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 begin to finalize 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
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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Daring Duckling Rescue and Other Pre-K News
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Some drama on the playground this week as an apparently strong-willed duckling decided it was time to leave home and move on with his life. That’s when our preschool teacher, Priscilla leaped into action and intervene – good thing she did because it turned out that he just took a wrong turn. She helped him back through the fence and into the lake (below) – and it was like he never left!
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Meanwhile, real life mimicked art this week as students discovered some caterpillars in our jardin des papillons (above) and then went to work at the art table to create their own (below)!
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Stay tuned – butterflies usually follow…
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Elementary Class 3 M’s – Math, Music & May
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Multiplication tables were the focus in math this week with students working through manual activities and games to get them down.
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Jazz Day preparation was also on the elementary plate – students continued to work on their musical ear, naming instruments with the help of the book, “Charlie et le Jazz” (above). More listening and tapping out rhythms (below) and they were ready for the big day!
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And, artistically, they welcomed May with a creative rendering of the Muguet du premier mai, with the good luck wish, “Je porte bonheur” (below).
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Suzuki Strings Impressive at Recital
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Jenny Diedrich’s Suzuki Strings students put on an impressive performance in their year-end recital Saturday. Performing individually, in small groups or all together (above), their skills and talents were on full display:
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To think they all started with the basics that our Suzuki students are working on right now – very inspiring!
Speaking of our students, our year-end performance will be coming up in a couple weeks – details in next week’s News de Nous!
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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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Our school in Maine, L’Ecole Française du Maine was featured on the local NBC affiliate today – great job by Willy LeBihan, the students and parents who participated in the story!! Click here to view the feature.Don’t forget to visit the Blog and Instagram of the school up north – Year 18 is in the home stretch!
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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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