News de Nous - French Accreditation ! - French American School of Tampa Bay

June 25, 2020

Team Effort Results in French Accreditation !

We are very proud to announce that The French American School of Tampa Bay (FASTB) is accredited (“Homologation”) by the French Ministry of Education and the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs (AEFE). The announcement was made in the May 31 edition of the “Journal Officiel” of France.

It took only two years for FASTB to achieve this recognition – a credit to the incredible efforts of our staff, under the leadership of Willy LeBihan and Olivier Guilhem, and the support of our entire FASTB family!

Opened in August, 2018, FASTB is now the only accredited French school north of the Miami area, in the state of Florida, with the closest accredited schools outside of the state in Atlanta and New Orleans. Our school offers a bilingual French and English curriculum with an emphasis on the arts and music, for students in preschool to 8th grade. FASTB also offers DELF certification in French language proficiency from the French Ministry of Education.

FASTB, eligible to be included on the map below, is now part of the extensive AEFE network of nearly 500 French schools, with over 300,000 students enrolled in 139 countries. France is one of the few countries which has made a choice to have such an extensive network of schools outside of its borders.

AEFE, headquartered at the French Embassies of Washington and Ottawa, certifies that the teaching provided by the school complies with the demands, curricula, teaching objectives and organizational rules of the French education system. All students from accredited schools can pursue their education in any French school, either in France or abroad, without having to take an entrance exam. Additionally, qualifying French families attending FASTB are eligible for financial assistance from the French Government.

Working Together

Our accreditation also brings valuable memberships to the Association of French Schools of North America (AFSA) and the French International Schools of North America (FISNA). These memberships, along with our previously established membership with Mission Laïque Française (MLF), focusing on pedagogical best practices, affords us tremendous resources as we move forward. For more information on all of these organizations, and AEFE, please click on each logo.

Local & State Recognition

Just 48 schools in North America are both approved by the French Ministry of Education and by their local and state departments of education. In addition to our French accreditation, FASTB has recently obtained full licensure of our preschool through the Pinellas County Licensing Board, allowing for year round preschool and childcare, and 2020-21 will mark the second year of recognition by the Florida Department of Education to provide state scholarships to our students.

During these uncertain times, we certainly feel very fortunate to be able to share this good news with all of you in our immediate and extended FASTB families. Your constant support emboldens us to face the challenges and celebrate the joys and achievements that lie ahead in 2020-21 and beyond. Merci beaucoup !