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Academics

Cycle 1, Cycle 2, Cycle 3, & Cycle 4

 
Following the French educational system, the French American School’s curriculum is organized into 4 learning cycles. Each cycle focuses on specific areas of development.
 
Cycle 1: Maternelle entails PK1 through Kindergarten and focuses on teaching students to be a part of the community.
 
Cycle 2: Elementary Grades 1-3 can best be described as when students “learn to read."
 
Cycle 3: Elementary Grades 4-6 is when “reading to learn” to get stronger and scaffolds.
 
Cycle 4: the program culminates during Middle School where students take the broad array of skills and content knowledge they have previously gained and use it as a foundation for deeper and more abstract thinking.


We have over 25 years of experience in French immersion and multilingual education. We provide a rigorous international academic program, based on a French curriculum framework, which provides the necessary coherence and continuity to meet the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in language arts and mathematics. What makes FASRI unique is not so much our written curriculum as the way we deliver it. Our curriculum is not the amalgam of two curricula: one French, and one English; it is a true dual-lingual curriculum taught in two languages, adding up Spanish as a third language in 6th grade. One core bilingual curriculum, two languages. This seamless delivery of our curriculum allows a sincere dialogue between cultures and languages and develops critical thinking and strong cognitive skills.

Our international faculty is leading by example by constantly working collaboratively. Our dedicated teachers bring their personal background, culture, and professional expertise to deliver the best curriculum possible. They are doing what we expect from every single student: successfully collaborating with people with different backgrounds to achieve a greater good.
 
Across all divisions, our students learn through language. Our immersion programs are effective because they use second language acquisition as the vehicle for learning the academic curriculum. This makes the content of the courses inherently more interesting for the student and maximizes the instructional time by accomplishing two goals at once: language acquisition, content learning and skill set development. Our curriculum is designed to provide students with strong fundamentals, build strong communication and critical thinking skills, and teaches them to speak, read, write, and think in at least two languages. Guided by our mission and core values, our students are challenged in an individualized, culturally diverse environment which helps them to acquire the skills necessary to be successful in a global society.

By the time they complete our program our students have become agile thinkers, who are able to creatively solve problems whether they are working in French, Spanish or English. The French educational system also emphasizes autonomy which fosters responsibility and confidence. Our graduates are able to connect with people meaningfully through words and ideas, and truly value what makes someone else different.