The many snow storms of February and March didn't slow the pace at school! Au contraire! So much was accomplished while having fun sledding at recess or skiing on Sugarloaf's happy trails. In this newsletter, you will discover our celebrations of the 100 days of school, our participation in Maths and French contests, our alum successes in DELF, and so much more.

The Annual School Carnival will take place on Saturday, June 17, from 11 AM to 2 PM. Students are already looking forward to the event, so we need many volunteers! A preliminary meeting is planned for April 4th at 8:30 am for volunteers. Please let us know how you can help make this day a fabulous one for the kids!

Finally, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) voted to grant continued accreditation to L'Ecole Française du Maine for another ten years! The same week, the International Baccalaureate Organization (IB) planned an authorization visit this spring! L'Ecole Française du Maine should celebrate its accomplishments, and I congratulate our staff and school community for these amazing achievements.

I also extend a warm welcome to two new students who joined us this week.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Willy LeBihan

Founder and Head of School

Upcoming dates to keep in mind

This week, the school office got extra help to ensure successful parent/teacher conferences by adding a young Mousquetaire, d' Artagnan style, to the team! It was indeed smooth sailing! “Un pour tous, tous pour un” ~ "One for all, all for one" Alexandre Dumas

Fantastic News: The New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) Commission on Independent Schools met in Boston on February 6-7, 2023, and reviewed the Self-Study and Visiting Team Report for L'Ecole Française du Maine and voted to grant Continued Accreditation for another ten years!

The Visiting Team of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) commends Willy LeBihan, Head of School, for his vision, Emily Smith, School Director, for her leadership, and the members of the faculty and staff for their hard work, dedication, and openness to change their practice by adopting the IB (International Baccalaureate) pedagogical framework while keeping the French National curriculum (AEFE). NEASC commends the school community for its school culture, which is nurturing and focused on each child's social and emotional well-being.

Our gratitude goes to Wendy Betts, Development Coordinator at l'Ecole Française du Maine, for sharing her extensive experience in the non-profit sector conducting research and program evaluations during the 2-year re-accreditation process.

The New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), the oldest accrediting organization in the country, was established in 1885 and has granted accreditation to educational institutions in the six New England states that voluntarily seek membership for more than a century. The evaluation program that the schools go through consists of three steps: a self-study that the school conducts, an evaluation by the Visiting Team, and a follow-up program that the school implements to put its self-study findings and the Commission's and Visiting Team's reliable recommendations into practice.

(left) L'Ecole Française du Maine's IB Coordinator, Elise Le Bihan, and MLF-America, Pedagogical Advisor, Catherine Caillet at Winslow Memorial Park, Freeport-Maine.

Making the IB PYP Happen!

The International Baccalaureate Organization, headquartered in Washington D.C. has informed the School last week that we have met their requirements for authorization, and therefore the IB organization has planned to visit the school this spring! This official visit constitutes the last step towards accreditation. The school congratulates Elise Le Bihan for a job well-done and thanks Catherine Caillet for her guidance. Catherine Caillet is the former lower school director of the French International School of Oregon.

During January and February, the upper-level English classes studied an IB unit with the central idea: We can take action to make a difference in our community locally and globally.

We celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January, and February is Black History Month. Students have been learning about how to find reliable resources of information by learning to distinguish between fact and opinion. Students also read informational books about Martin Luther King Jr.’s peaceful fight for civil rights. They read about Ruby Bridges and her important role even as a young kindergartener, too! In current events, they learned about a young girl named Mari Copeny’s fight for clean water in Flint, Michigan.

This week we celebrated the 100th day of school.

The day was very successful! It was a fun and creative day. Congratulations to our students for their great work with their ingenious and varied collections and work.

Music Together offers a curriculum that parents can use at home every day! These benefits of music are a compelling reason to make every day with your child a musical one! Learning music can also help your child develop creativity, self-expression, and confidence, another significant advantage.

Gwennaël PETILLAT, AEFE Pedagogical Advisor at the French Consulate in San Francisco, congratulated our CP/Ce1 and CM1 (4th Grade), and 6ième (6th Grade) students this week for their excellent participation in "AEFE Défi Maths Zone Amérique du Nord."

The National French Contest/Le Grand Concours is an annual competition sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of French.

Students of French in grades 1-12, in all 50 states and abroad, take a written test and compete against students with similar educational backgrounds for prizes. Grades 1-6 participate in the FLES Contest. Grades 7-12 in the Secondary Contest.

Kindergarteners have been busy polishing their cursive handwriting and spiral techniques, so important for delicate and precise hand movements!

In the game presented here, a frog (the player) wants to cross the river but can only jump on the stones (represented by the purple tokens). Each time the player encounters a water lily (a green token), he/she must jump over it and not name that number. This exercise aims to consolidate their knowledge of the order of the numbers and to build reference points that will be essential when learning calculation. Well done!

L'Ecole Française du Maine is an official partner of the Teacher Training Institute (INSPE: Institut National Supérieur du Professorat et de l'Education) at the University of Burgundy at Dijon, France. Last month we welcomed two French graduate students pursuing Master's Degrees in Elementary Education, Clara, and Corentin. Completing an Internship is an essential first step in the program of study leading to the Teaching Certification of Professeur des Ecoles by the French Ministry of Education (MENJS). Big thank you to our host families, Scott-Stephenie, and Willy-Beth, who made this exchange possible.

The transdisciplinary model extends across the three pillars of the PYP curriculum framework—the learner, learning and teaching, and the learning community.

Last but not least "Sugarloaf Friday" trip was a blast. The weather was perfect, the snow freshly packed, a beautiful shiny day. While the children were having lessons with a Sugarloaf instructor, parents had fun on the slopes and at the lodge. After a well-deserved lunch, we all went to the tippy top together. A nice reward with Donuts and Hot Chocolate. Thank you to all families who made the trip!

L’Ecole Française, du Maine, offers Advanced French Classes DELF/DALF for its students who wish to keep their French after their immersion education at the School. We offer this class primarily to meet our former students’ needs, to keep challenging them, and to help them reach a higher level of fluency in French. Many of these students were enrolled in our French immersion program for years or have demonstrated interest in the French language and culture. We also welcome outside students who have had a French experience at some point and are looking to improve their proficiency in the French language.

Mark your calendar, also a meeting is planned on April 4th at La Maison

for our Parent volunteers!

Summer Camp is 90% full, and space will be limited! Please join us if you want a safe place for your kids to enjoy the summer! Mornings will include a fun French activity, and afternoons will be filled with arts & crafts, games, and plenty of time for free play. In addition, early childhood children will be offered time for rest in the afternoon. Open to children ages 3-12.

Mark your calendar for Monday, May 22nd, 2023

The graphic chart below indicates what you need to do if your child is exposed to or contracts COVID-19. Please keep in mind that these protocols are subject to change. We will publish updates in this newsletter should they occur.

Please let us know if you have yet to receive your family's 5 COVID at-home tests! Should your child be exposed to COVID or experience any symptoms, please test before coming to school.

Please use the email address office@frenchschool.me for general school correspondence. So that you know – questions and requests sent to this address are forwarded as needed. We do our best to respond to emails as quickly as possible; thank you for your patience.

Alternatively, please don't hesitate to call us anytime for an immediate response! School Office Phone: (207) 865-3308

Letterfrack, Connemara, County Galway, Ireland - photo: Willy LeBihan