Feb. 12, 2026

Bonjour,

Tomorrow’s Early-Release Day (dismissal at 11:30) kicks off the start of February Vacation, 2026. However, if you haven’t got plans for Friday afternoon, we’ve reserved the rink for one more chance to skate together as a community and invite you to attend! All ages are welcome, feel free to check details and sign-up for le patinage using this link!

This newsletter includes important information regarding the fast-approaching schoolwide performance of Le Petit Prince at the Franco Center in Lewiston. Students have been working hard to prepare for this performance, engaging in both the musical/theatrical elements and the literary and philosophical themes of the work throughout their classes and in each of their IB units! The formal invitation details, as well as logistics and ticket information for an optional luncheon at the Franco Center, are all shared below. We will be sharing all logistical information directly again soon to ensure all families have a plan in place for the big day!

Also introduced in this newsletter is EFDM’s first-ever Career Day! This year on March 25th, we invite all students to come to school dressed up for the career of their choice! We welcome parents who wish to share their own career paths or past work experiences to keep an eye out for the sign-up page for individual presentations timeslots that will be shared soon. More details below!

Priority Re-Enrollment for 2026–2027 will remain open through tomorrow, Friday Feb. 13th. After this priority window closes, invitations to enroll will be shared to newly applied families. Re-enrolling during the priority window is the only time to ensure current students will have a spot in the new year. We encourage all current EFDM families to send in their re-enrollment information before this window closes and to please reach out if you need to be re-sent your re-enrollment invite.

As always, please get in touch with the office with any questions at office@frenchschool.me



Merci beaucoup!

Emily and Willy

Upcoming dates to keep in mind

• Friday Feb. 13: Early Release, Dismissal for all 11:30 am - Ice Skating at Troubh (opt in event) 12:00 - 2:00 pm
• February 16 - 20: February Break, No School (Vacation Camp available for those who inquired previously)
• February 27: Friday X-C Ski Day for grades 2 and up+/CE1 and up+
• Thursday March 12: School Theatrical Performance at 11 am Franco Center
• Friday March 13: Sugarloaf Friday
• Tuesday March 17: Grade 1 Showcase (French) at 8:45 am
• Thursday March 19: Grade 2-3 Showcase (French) at 8:45 am
• Friday March 20: Grade 4-6 Showcase (French) at 8:45 am
• Wednesday March 25: Career Day (Family Volunteer Day)

2025-2026 School Calendar

2025-2026 Events Calendar

==>> New !! 2026-2027 School Calendar

Extend the Celebration – Join the La Rencontre Luncheon!

After the performance, enjoy La Rencontre, an optional luncheon celebrating Franco culture in Maine. This vibrant event features live music by local entertainers and a delicious meal inspired by Franco traditions.

 Price: $17 per person (includes lunch and entertainment)

 Tickets: Must be purchased online by noon on Thursday, March 5, 2026

 Click Here to Buy Tickets

Schedule for the Day

• Doors Open: 10:00 AM
• Performance: 11:30 AM - 12:00 PM
• Luncheon: 12:15 PM
• 
  

For more information, contact the Franco Center at 207-689-2000 or visit us online to purchase tickets.

Don’t miss this unique celebration of culture, history, and community!

Event Schedule & Logistics:

 Meeting Point: Franco Center parking lot, 10:15 AM

Carpool Encouraged: We hope to organize a school-wide carpool to simplify transportation. Please let us know if your students require a ride.

 Timeline:

• 10:15 AM – Franco Center parking lot - Students gather with their class.
• 10:30–11:00 AM – Student Rehearsal
• 11:00–11:15 AM – Break
• 11:15 AM – Presentation
• 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Performance (Free Admission)
• 12:15 PM – Student Pickup (Early Release Day – No Aftercare Available!)

Franco Center parking lot - Students gather with their class.

• 12:15–1:30 PM – Optional “La Rencontre” Luncheon ($17 per person, pre-purchase required)

Important Notes:

•  Early Release Day: There will be no aftercare on this day. All students must be picked up at 12:15 PM from the Franco Center parking lot.
• All Students Will Perform: Every student in the school, including Petite Section, will be on stage, making this a truly special moment for our entire community!
• Carpooling Strongly Encouraged: With the whole school attending, we encourage families to organize carpooling to ensure smooth logistics. Emily will be reaching out to ask for confirmation of your travel plans and to help navigate carpooling.
• Snack Time for Students: Students can bring snacks from home and will have the opportunity to eat backstage before and after the performance.

Questions? If you have any questions about the performance or logistics, please contact us at office@frenchschool.me

Petite Section students have been working hard exploring their new IB unit, How We Express Ourselves: We use different art forms to understand and share our emotions. Through this unit, students explore: how music is used as a tool to express oneself in the world; visual arts as a means of discovering and listening to oneself, and dance and movement as a medium to express one's emotions. 

At the start of this unit, the children voted on the colors they felt best represented each emotion: red for angry, blue for sad, green for calm, and yellow for happy. They then worked together to create an emotion wheel for their classroom, which became a new ritual part in their morning routine. Upon entering their classroom in the morning, students identify how they are feeling today by placing a colored sticker on the corresponding emotion on the wheel and expressing that emotion through sign language they have been learning in class. Taking time to be present and think about how we feel is not only a great way to develop mindfulness, but also deepens connections to this unit's learner profile attributes of becoming open-minded, communicators.

As part of this inquiry, the PS students listened to three different pieces of classical music and noted the emotions they felt while the music was playing, encouraging thoughtful discussion and emotional awareness. During one of these pieces, Russian Dance from the Nutcracker, students donned their smocks, got out their paints and worked on their lines, emotions and colors as they painted lines (vertical or horizontal) whenever the music played (stopping whenever the music stopped). But there was a catch: none of the lines could cross! This activity was based on Theo van Doesburg’s own painting: Rhythm of a Russian Dance (June 1918), where he too was inspired by what he heard and transferred his emotions onto his canvas with oil paints. Please take time to admire each individual interpretation of our peintres whenever you get a chance to see them at school! Bravo les petits!

Last week, the CM1-CM2-6ème students had the opportunity to dive deeper into the history of how we communicate as they wrapped up their latest installment of their How We Express Ourselves Unit: We share information to communicate with others and shape our world. In this unit, (which examines: types of information sources and audiences, the responsibilities of sharing information, and how we make sense of information we encounter), students got their hands dirty to learn how paper is made by creating their own recycled paper!

Ahead of this experiment, they read articles and conducted research on the history of paper and the tools used in its production. This preparatory work allowed the students to develop their research skills by reading, observing, and making connections even before the experiment, which strongly reflects the IB Approaches to Learning. What could be better to understand how recycled paper works, or more interesting, than making it yourself? 

The experiment began by tearing old newspapers or magazines into small pieces. These were left to soak in a basin of water for a short while, and glitter was added to create unique sheets of paper. The students then used a paper mold, a useful tool in the papermaking process, to shape the mixture and create a uniform, flat sheet. Once the water had completely drained, the students left their sheets to dry on a towel for 1 to 2 days.

This interesting activity allowed students to understand paper recycling while developing their creativity, environmental awareness, and, above all, a sense of responsibility toward sustainable practices.

Second graders are wrapping up their opinion writing and have been working on some fun prompts to pick between two options and support their reasoning. Do you like salty or sweet? What scientist would you prefer to be? What superpower would you like to have? Students must make sure they follow up their choices of opinion with reasons and explanations all while working on spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure. Bravo 2nd Grade!

Meanwhile, in 4th Grade, students are continuing their research in their IB unit "Where We Are in Place and Time: Exploration of other worlds teaches us more about ourselves.", diving specifically into the line of inquiry: "How fictional stories from all cultures and in all settings teach us about our own humanity." 

The students were paired up and read The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal by Idries Shah, who famously collected folk tales from Central Asia and the Middle East. This tale, which features a dangerous animal (which, upon the clever boy’s observation, happens to be a watermelon) invites students to question assumptions and to think for themselves. 

Students reflected together on the moral of the story, and spoke of the importance of taking risks and not fear the unknown. They then were inspired by the stories to find examples in their own lives of how the wisdom of the clever boy (and the foolishness of those who were afraid of watermelon) could influence how they might take some time to consider for themselves the opinions of others.

In 5th and 6th grade, students are exploring their unit through their love for fantasy fiction by reading Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell. The story is about two children who must work together to save magical creatures from disappearing, exploring themes of environmental stewardship. Through this unit, students will also practice reading comprehension and analysis skills such as character development, plot arcs, and themes as they prepare for their upcoming 5th Grade Exhibition (but no spoilers yet here).

We were delighted to be able to include parents in our opening explorations of this new unit when, like at the beginning of each unit, students illustrate a cover page for their portfolios exploring their initial ideas. Students then do a written reflection structured by guiding questions. This week, during their showcase, students were asked to expand this reflection by interviewing their parents (and Emily!). What is your favorite genre of fiction and why? Winter is the perfect time to get cosy with a good book and foster our love for reading. We encourage our entire school community to think about what books have had the greatest impact on their lives and which books might next spark joy in their hearts. 

Mark your calendars, Career Day, a new-to-l'école event, is scheduled for March 25th! Students will be invited to come to school dressed for their dream career as they listen to the presentations of the many parents and family members we hope to welcome into our classrooms for this special day of discovery and inspiration. We are excited to announce The Freeport Fire Department will be joining us as well!

Whether you would like to share stories from your current field or have stories from past roles, your presence and insights make this day truly inspiring for our students. Emily will be sharing a sign-up sheet where presenters will be able to choose their twenty minute time slots which will be available from 8:45 and will continue throughout the day. Presentators will also be asked in which classrooms they would like to present, although they are more than welcome to sign up to present in multiple classes to inspire students across the entire school. 

Thank you for helping us make this event an inspiring exploration of the many possibilities the future holds and be on the lookout for the sign-up link to share your career story at l’école!

La Moyenne Section stepped out into the crisp winter sunlight, to launch their newest IB unit How We Express Ourselves: Colors insight different reactions. This MS unit explores three key lines of inquiry: The transformation of colors in art and in the natural world; Our relationship to colors and how art helps us understand our feelings and The role of colors in expressing our emotions. 

In coordination with our school’s initiative to bring learning outside, the children embraced the natural elements of the winter season by collecting icicles from across the playground, and brought them under a tree by La Maison du Maine, before using environmentally friendly food coloring to create a beautiful “ice fairy garden” in the snow. By painting the icicles with different colors, the class observed what happened when the colors mixed, and chose and mixed colors for their icicles based on their emotions.

After returning inside, Moyenne Section students were formerly introduced to the IB unit How We Express Ourselves, observing images of children displaying different emotions, and learning to identify and name each emotion. Students then examined different pieces of artwork and were invited to match each one with the emotions they  had previously identified. This unit develops the learner profile attributes of Open-Minded, Reflective, Communications as students explore ways in which colors express emotions and allows us to identify, reflect upon and express the ways we feel through art. We are very excited to see where this unit takes our Moyenne Section as they prepare for our upcoming winter performance and ask that you keep your eyes peeled for their icy fairy garden next time you step on campus. Bravo les enfants!

Last week, in preparation for our upcoming performance, the class of GS/CP got to work on an art project related to their current IB unit in How We Express Ourselves: Stories help us express ourselves, think, feel, imagine and understand others. This unit allows students to explore through the role of empathy in storytelling: How to tell a story, how to bring a story to life, and why we need stories and how they are told around the world. 

After reading the first few pages of the Le Petit Prince with Anaëlle, together, they set forth to meet the Little Prince’s request to the aviator: “S’il te plaît… dessine moi un mouton”, “Please… draw me a sheep”. By being risk-takers with their creative choices, the students each drew their own versions of a sheep. No rules or limits were given, they had to imagine their own sheep completely on their own. Different interpretations emerged, some more detailed, others more colorful, each bewetiful in its own way. 

After completing their oeuvres, they each presented their sheep to the class and explained their drawing choices, quickly realising they all had different interpretations and none looked alike. This activity has enabled the students to show empathy, compassion and respect for others' creations all while diving deeper into Le Petit Prince as they prepare for the upcoming play. Bravo les GS/CP!

We are excited to offer once again this year our summer childcare/camps from June 22, 2026 to August 21, 2026.

Enrollment is now open and space is limited!

If you are looking for a safe and enriching place for your kids to enjoy the summer, please join us! Mornings filled with fun French activities, and afternoons of arts & crafts, games, and plenty of time for free play, the Bilingual Summer Camp is l’ultime Maine summer fun! (Early Childhood children will be offered time for rest in the afternoon.)

Open to children ages 3-12. Hours: 8:30 am -3:30 pm, with extended day offered from 3:30 pm -5:30 pm. For a detailed description of weekly themes, please read more on our website!