L'Etoile du Nord French Immersion

While most of kindergarten through 4th grade have been great for my daughter, 5th grade has been dismal. The classes are huge, her teacher left midway through the school year due to multiple issues, and after several replacements a sub was hired who is unqualified and does not have the correct training or skills to teach, and seems to think yelling at the children will improve performance. The principal does not train or adequately monitor new teachers and the kids pay the price of a inadequate and unhealthy environment. Many of the teachers are exceptional, but leadership is poor, and issues are not dealt with by the principal.
--Submitted by a parent

LNFI is a very good language immersion school. Overall, I am happy with my child s education, but wish more academically-challenging math and reading options were available. Because LNFI is a city-wide St. Paul public school it has the flexibility to move (and has moved) to new locations throughout the city of St. Paul. As a result, this school retains parents who are very committed to language immersion. I encourage the SPPS district to better manage the enrollment of L Etoile du Nord in order to be able to continue to guarantee students the ability to attend the established language immersion programs at Ramsey Jr. High and Central Sr. High.
--Submitted by a parent

We LOVE this school! It's a public school, with a private school feel. The diversity is amazing - there are children, families and teachers from all over the world at LNFI. There is a warm and genuine sense of community, the teachers and staff are incredible, and the parental involvement is absolutely phenomenal. The 15+ French and Belgium interns and student teachers that are there each year, provide an even more enriching environment for all grades on a daily basis. Anyone that wants to get involved and participate is very welcome and appreciated. We can't believe our good fortune in getting an open enrollment space for our out of district child, we are happier here than we could have ever imagined we would be in a public school. The only thing that would make us happier, is if it became a K-8!
--Submitted by a parent

Why are the low parent reviews of LNFI I saw last year on greatschools.org absent? After a year at LNFI, we have applications in at several other top performing schools outside the SPPS system. Communication from our child's teacher is poor and does not seem to be a unique challenge in the school. The principal seems unaware of her own school's demographics and constantly passes the buck on responsibility. To get a sense of the parent community, I highly recommend you read through the FB discussions. You will see everything from the way new parents interested in a uniform policy are dismissed to a shocking lack of concern over the low diversity of the school. There is a lot of good at this school, but it seems to come with a heap of bad.
--Submitted by a parent

I am so glad that I picked this school for my son.It has been a great experience and I look foward to my daughter going there in a few years.I love the fact that the Interns at the school is from a French speaking Country.We plan to be a host family for an intern someday.This is the best school ever!
--Submitted by a parent

A great community of teachers , students and parents all interested in learning and broadening their horizons. Intimate, the staff and teachers know and care about the students individually.
--Submitted by a parent

i love this school all of the teachers are nice and caring they can put up with any kid at any time this is a best choice you can make for a school . I'm also really good french speaker . i hope i can tell you Bienvenue a notre ecole.
--Submitted by a student

L'Etoile du Nord offers an over all enriched education for all kids, develops globally-minded citizens, and critical thinkers. There are very few schools in this state that offer the excellent educational experience that all students get at this school.
--Submitted by a parent

Extra language perspective yields better thinking skills in children, as well as in the teachers/school workers. Teachers have global perspective and respect /tolerance is more apparent at this school than in our normal school district. We drive far for such an institution! The poor teacher ratio is only because each classroom has an assistant which is not counted due to 'only' foreign country teaching qualification but not USA teaching qualification. Also a positive is the active use of parent volunteers. However, too much fundraising... hopefully govt will simply provide more funding for such a superior education, for the future of this nation.
--Submitted by a parent

I was committed to the idea of bilingual education for my child from the start, but L'Etoile has even more on offer: the principal is savvy and effective; the students are challenged in both creative and academic areas, teachers are excellent, and parent involvement is stellar. The intern program which brings young native French speakers to all classrooms is really the glue that binds teachers, students, parents and administrators in an effective collaborative learning environment. I thought I was getting the next best thing to a private school, but now that I've seen what it has done for my child, I'm convinced that it's quite a bit better than any of the expensive private schools in the metro area.
--Submitted by a parent