May 25, 2023

Bonjour,

The end of the school year will soon be upon us, but there is still lots more fun to be had! Tomorrow is our first spring Bike Trip at Wolfe Neck Center for those in grades 1+ (Elodie & Simon's classrooms). Please find the details below for the location and timing of drop-off and pick-up!

We would like to extend a grand merci to all Grandparents and Special Friends who attended our events this week-- it was a successful and memorable celebration of a tradition glad to be renewed. Also, a big bravo to our Suzuki music students who delighted the school community with their performances, showcasing all the hard work and practice it takes to learn an instrument. Congratulations to all!

If you have yet to do so, we ask all parents to please sign-up ASAP for a job to assist with Carnival preparations and day-of duties. Whether it's helping us acquire prizes for games or working the raffle or lunch tables, the Parents Association cannot host the carnival without a little help from everyone. Thank you for your participation!

Last but not least, don't forget to order your 2022-2023 yearbook. Full of memories and smiles, this is one surely not to miss. Follow the link to ensure you receive a copy!

Please note the special trips and performances for various age groups below during the coming few months of school:

Upcoming dates to keep in mind



• May 26th: Bike Trip
• June 1st: Pizza Party at school at 12:00 pm "Reading Contest Celebration."
• June 2nd: Geology Field Trip
• June 7th: Carnival Meeting for volunteers at 8:30 am at La Maison
• June 7th: Graduate Speech at Community Hall at 2 pm
• June 9th: Bike Trip
• June 9th: Shaina's Strings perform at the Portland Sea Dogs 6 pm
• June 16th: School Performance from 2 pm to 3 pm
• June 17th: Carnival from 11 am to 2 pm
• June 20th: Last Day of School until 5:30 pm
• June 26 to Aug 25 Bilingual Summer Camp
• Aug 31st: Meet new families and teachers; all are welcome at 3 pm
• Sept 5th: First Day of School at 8:30 am
• Sept 8th: Family Picnic at school 12 pm - 1 pm
• Sept 11-15: Back to School Presentations every day from 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

2022-2023 School Calendar

2023-2024 Calendar

Everyone is excited for our first Wolfe Neck Center Bike Trip of the spring season for students grades 1+ tomorrow, Friday, May 26th!

All 1st grade and up student(s) will need to be dropped off between 9:00 and 9:30 am at Wolfe's Neck Center instead of at EFDM, so those with younger students at EFDM can drop off at the school first.

The drop-off location: Recreation Field of West Bay (near the campground swingset)

Camping Map

Pick-up for grades 1-5 will also take place at Recreation Field of West Bay between 2:30 pm and 3:00 pm, so those with younger siblings to pick up can get to EFDM between 3:00-3:30 pm.

Teachers and chaperones will be equipped with first aid kits, extra sanitizer, wipes, and other essentials to make this trip safe. Please send a packed lunch from home along with your child.

Thank you for helping make this event possible!

Kids are already talking about the carnival!

Our school carnival is much more than a celebratory event. It plays a crucial role in our community building and creating lasting memories. We encourage families to participate and help us rally volunteers to ensure the success and significance of this beloved end-of-year celebration.

Please see the link below to sign-up for ways you can help!

This year the event will take place on Saturday, June 17th, from 11 am - 2 pm. Please sign-up for at least one portion of assisting with the carnival preparation and implementation. Of course, signing up for more than one task is also encouraged! Funds from the Parent Association Account will reimburse all shopping for supplies (besides donated raffle items). Example themes for raffle baskets: "Maine Made," "Movie Night," "Beach/Summer," "France," "Relaxation," etc.



Wednesday, June 7th

Carnival Meeting for Volunteers

8:30 am under the tent

"Grandparents and Special Friends Day" is an annual tradition at our school that celebrates grandparents' vital role in our community. Their wisdom, life experiences, and unconditional love enrich our students' education. During the event, grandparents toured the school, engaged in classroom activities, and listened to presentations from Willy LeBihan (Head of School), Martine Goldberg (Kindness Program Coordinator), and Dr. Caroline Foust-Wright MD (Parent). The event concluded with a luncheon at the Community Hall,

"Grandparents and Special Friends Day" recognizes the importance of grandparents in shaping our school and expresses gratitude for their unwavering support.

"2023 Grandparents and Special Friends Day" address

by Head of School, Willy LeBihan

Ladies and Gentlemen, Esteemed Grandparents and Dear Friends,

My name is Willy LeBihan. It is an absolute pleasure to stand before you today as the Founder and Head of School to celebrate this special day: Grandparents and Special Friends Day 2023. As we gather here, surrounded by the picturesque beauty of the small fishing village of South Freeport, Maine, we can truly appreciate why this place is a perfect haven for your grandchildren to grow up.

With its enchanting landscapes, abundant nature, and tight-knit communities, Maine offers a unique environment for our young ones to thrive. From the stunning coastline to the majestic forests, our children can explore and appreciate the wonders of the great outdoors. They embark on bike trips at Wolfe Neck Farm, immersing themselves in nature's beauty. On the school playground, they develop a deep connection with the environment. Our ski trips to Sugarloaf allow them to conquer the slopes, teaching them perseverance, resilience, and the joy of accomplishment ......... Read More

Come one, come all, to enjoy this wonderful kickoff to a great game! Shaina's Strings will play The National Anthem from the field of the Sea Dogs game on Friday evening June 9th at 6pm. All are welcome! For tickets and more information, please visit this link. A great way to enjoy the warm and bright evenings to come this season!

Our school community was pleased that music performances resumed this year after the never-ending pandemic! Our concerts took place on May 22 and 23 at the Community Hall of South Freeport Village and showcased talented and dedicated students whose daily practice and weekly lessons were center stage.

The music teachers include Shaina Graff (violin), Peter Degas (piano), Ben Noyes (cello), Jara Goodrich (harp), and Tom Ryan (bagpipes). The concert was a great success thanks to these teachers and supportive parents. Attendees witnessed the transformative power of music education and encouraged the children's pursuit of music. Congratulations to all the students who performed. Your achievements brought joy, and may your musical journey continue to flourish, enriching lives.

Dr. Shinichi Suzuki's words resonated during the concert, emphasizing that music education fosters character development. Dr. Suzuki's belief in the potential of every child, the importance of parental involvement, the development of character through music education, and the power of positive nurturing and environment in shaping a child's abilities and outlook on life.

"Where love is deep, much will be accomplished." Dr. Shinichi Suzuki

Despite a recent unfortunate injury, the audience could still experience a beautiful rendition of Mozart/Suzuki's "Twinkle Variations" as a classmate stepped in and graciously lent a helping hand to play the bow. A heartwarming display of kindness :-)

Just a reminder: The WE LOVE TO READ CHALLENGE continues through the end of May. We are so close to reaching our goal of 20,000 minutes for the We Love to Read Challenge. At the last count we had 19,430-- you can almost smell the pizza party already!

Week of May 22nd- 31st Theme: My Favorite Book Character

Draw a picture or dress up and take a picture of your favorite book character. 

Please email all pictures to the office to be printed and displayed in the hallway with our minute count. Drawings can be passed in to Sarah, Elodie, or Simon.

The second graders have been working hard this year, reading and writing in English. These past few weeks, students transitioned to reading chapter books and learned how to pick a book that is 'just right' for them. Be sure to ask your child about the book s/he is reading!

The informational essays and models associated with the ancient cultural structures project are quite impressive! We hope to complete them this week and set them up for display in La Maison by next week. If you have time, please stop by to take a look! 

As a culmination of their studies of Newton's laws of motion, aerodynamics, and electricity, the upper-level science class is building a battery-powered, motorized car. A mini one, of course! This project requires dedication to detail and patience to work through the inquiry process. We look forward to seeing how students design and build their cars. 

Welcome to the CP/CE1 time machine, where students explore mysterious objects from the past! Our 1st and 2nd-grade students loved checking out all of the various devices collected by Elodie-- from camcorders and flip-phones to tape recorders and typewriters! Their unit on communication was complete with learning about different alphabets and ways of writing, and they even got to walk to the post office to mail a little special something home!

For Grandparents' Day, the early childhood maternelle classrooms got extra time to perform with Lindz from Music Together. Everyone sang "Frère Jacques" in French and English, with their grandparents and special friends. What a special show!

Each classroom then did a small project together with the guests. The petite section class made a paper flower, while other classrooms made a card for sharing the love! All of the projects turned out beautiful, thank you to our grandparents and special friends for helping!

To expand upon their unit of animal studies, Grande Section students recently had a very special visit from some very special guests. Southern Maine's wildlife expert Josh from Sparks Ark brought a variety of calm, cool, and awesome animals to meet our K classroom. We are so grateful to be able to learn from experts in our community!

Don't forget to check in with the Choose Love calendar for May! You will be sure to find daily suggestions and inspirations for all!

We will continue our journey into the Choose Love Formula, now that we are nearing the end of the year after covering all the essential ingredients: COURAGE, GRATITUDE, FORGIVENESS and COMPASSION. 

The National French Contest AATF Grand Concours is an annual competition organized by the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF). It is designed to promote and recognize excellence in studying French language and culture among students in the United States.

The contest is open to students from grades 1 to 12, as well as to college-level learners. Participants are evaluated based on their listening, reading, and speaking French proficiency. The competition includes multiple-choice questions, listening comprehension exercises, and free-response tasks.

Many top-performing students at l'Ecole Française du Maine received certificates of achievement and medals! Bravo!

Also, congratulations to their teachers and Laura Piehl, who coordinated the contest.

The IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) for children aged 3 - 12 nurtures and develops young students as caring, active participants in a lifelong journey of learning.

The PYP ignites curiosity and encourages learners to ask questions, fostering a love for exploration and discovery. In the PYP, critical thinking skills take center stage, enabling students to navigate the complexities of the modern world. They learn to analyze information, evaluate diverse perspectives, and make well-informed decisions.

Through inquiry-based learning, PYP students become active participants in their education, actively seeking answers and developing a deeper understanding of concepts and ideas.

L'Ecole Française du Maine is a Candidate School* for the Primary Years Programme (PYP). This school is pursuing authorization as an IB World School. These are schools that share a common philosophy—a commitment to high-quality, challenging, international education that EFDM believes is important for our students.

*Only schools authorized by the IB Organization can offer any of its four academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), the Diploma Programme, or the Career-related Programme (CP). Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted. For further information about the IB and its programmes, visit www.ibo.org

This summer, we will welcome Léna Dahéron, 22, a certified BAFA summer camp counselor from Brittany, France to the Summer Camp staff. Léna is a graduate student preparing a Master's Degree in Adaptive Sports Management. When not studying at the university, Léna enjoys handball, track, yoga, wheelchair sports, traveling, and literature. Léna is looking forward to working at camp with Suzie.

Suzie Rannou, 24, comes from a family of teachers from Rosporden, Brittany, France. She holds a Master's in Social Work from the University of Lorient and worked for the Parks and Recreation Program in Quimper, France. Suzie enjoys spending time with family and friends, listening to music, traveling, and playing sports like tennis. Suzie was a Teacher Assistant at L'Ecole Française du Maine in 2018-2019 and has worked as a camp counselor/program director in France for many summers.

In May 2004, we discovered the Soule School building by driving around Cumberland County. At that time, the building was set to be demolished the following month. The preservation of this magnificent 1955 "Soule School" building is an incredible achievement that benefits our entire school community. It is a remarkable structure, perfectly designed to fulfill our international bilingual mission.