Our Middle School—Grades 6 through 8—is a challenging, fun and thoroughly engaging experience.
Our Middle School students are making the pivotal transition from childhood to adulthood. They acquire the study habits and organizational skills to navigate a daily menu of academic subjects taught by specialists. There is no glass ceiling in our Middle School because the teachers also teach at the highest level in our International High School. These teachers request Middle School classes because they particularly enjoy the enthusiasm and special energy of the adolescent years.
Our program is unique. We offer the undiluted curriculum of the French Ministry of Education, taught by teachers trained in France. In addition to this, our students are further challenged by program elements, taught in English, essential to a well-rounded education in an accredited California independent school.
Our Middle School program highlights include but are not limited to:
Two mother tongue literature classes—Our “balanced bilingual” Middle School students study literary greats like Shakespeare and Molière. Other authors include: Gerald Durrell, Richard Wright and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. As early as Grade 6, the students read and analyze an abridged French version of Homer’s Odyssey.
A third language—Our students are fearless language exponents by the end of 5th Grade. We offer fast-paced beginning courses in Spanish, Mandarin and Italian. Students participate in cultural and linguistic adventures in China, Guatemala, Spain or Italy.
Two cultural perspectives on mathematics—In order to complement their mathematical studies in French (where geometry and line by line defensible logic are traditionally privileged), students attend intensive algebra classes taught in English. By the end of 8th Grade our students are solving quadratics and dividing complicated algebraic polynomials.
History and Geography taught together—The famed French histoire-géographie program begins with the birth of agriculture in Mesopotamia and ends with revolution, the Enlightenment and the seeds of modernism. The approach is a global one, not merely Eurocentric. Student texts are chock full of documents and period artworks. Students learn to interpret primary and secondary source material themselves. The same critical thinking and evidence-based approach is echoed in our US history class taught in English.
Hands-on sciences taught in French and digital technology—Our students learn to manipulate scientific apparatus, analyze data and design their own experimental protocols. Teachers in every discipline enrich the student learning experience by designing and facilitating set-piece class activities in our multimedia/digital classroom.
Latin in Grade 7—This introductory program dovetails with the study of ancient civilizations encountered in histoire-géographie and texts chosen in literature classes in English and in French. Latin further consolidates the romance languages for our students who by this stage are becoming intrepid meta-linguists.
Interscholastic athletics and the creative arts—Our students compete in basketball, soccer, volleyball, and cross-country against peer schools. Education of the whole student is rounded out by delightful and various opportunities for “days in the sun” in the performing and visual arts.
Climactic exchange trip to Paris—This genuine exchange is a rite of passage for our students that takes place just before graduation. Our families have already hosted their French “correspondents” before the entire grade embarks for Paris in May. Many of our students initiate lifelong friendships and connections during this time. The Paris Exchange truly represents the culmination of Middle School and a ten-year bilingual quest for each one of our students.