A Beautiful Score … the 74th !

All of our lives are marked by a certain number of rituals: end of year parties, the new calendar year or the start of the new school year. As students, we all lived through a number of new school years and we can therefore appreciate how important these first few days are in a new class, in a new school for some students, with a new teacher or new instructors. For us, the administrators, the start of this new school year is a bit like composing a musical score, different every time.

It takes several months to compose this score, starting with the hiring of new teachers over the spring, their training starting in mid-August, and finally the big day – the first day of school. I am therefore pleased and proud to be able to affirm that this new school year began well thanks to the efforts of my team and the involvement of all of the members of our community.

Like all the other schools in New York, we worried that enrollment would decline due to the economic crisis. That was not the case and despite the deliberate closing of 17 spots in preschool and 9 in CM2, our numbers are the same as they were last year, that is, 1369.

This year the Lycée Français decided to offer the new French-American bac which is a well-thought out combination of Advanced Placement exams and the traditional French baccalauréat. Thirteen Première students chose the challenge of preparing for this bac already this year. The Director of College Counseling and I are going to visit a number of American colleges to promote the new diploma.

In the Primary, starting in CM2, we have started teaching written Mandarin and typing on a computer keyboard. In the Secondary, the shortening of class periods from 50 minutes to 45 minutes allows us to offer three dialogue periods, during which the teachers are available to help our students individually or in small groups.

This summer we improved the educational environment by installing 19 electronic whiteboards, bringing the total to 58 throughout the school. We should therefore be in a position to achieve the goal we set two years ago of equipping all of our classrooms by the start of the September 2010 school year.

May this 74th year of the Lycée Français be synonymous with success, achievement and happiness. We look forward to seeing you next year, during the 75th!

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