The French School

This school deserves much more praise and recognition than provided in the few comments from disgruntled parents who pulled their children out. There are those of us whose kids have been in the school for several years now and are very pleased with the learning opportunity and environment this school provides. Speaking of the TFS, it is a loving caring place with a great curriculum (PYP) complemented by numerous and amazing field trips and a diverse after school program (including music, sport, etc). What we enjoy most is the welcoming environment (teachers are happy to talk to you at anytime, stop by the principal and he will invite you for a chat) and the diversity of the community, including children, parents, teachers and staff and an opportunity for social emotional growth that is hard to find in many other places. It is a school in its infancy, and along come the growing pains and some hiccups; however, problems are taken care of, ineffective teachers do not stay on board. Watching positive changes is encouraging and strengthens our belief in this great school and what s to come in the future. The children are happy, love to learn and care about each other.
—Submitted by a parent

If you love flash cards and want to judge your 8-year old by a test score is not the school for you (and BTW (in TFS only about 17 inaugural kids having taken this test so far, so hardly telling for the school as a whole). If you want to raise happy children who are engaged in learning, are inquisitive and get the math and science rather than regurgitate answers for test prep, who are independent, caring and open to the world around them without being judgmental and love to go to school every day this is the school for you. We have observed some amazing academic accomplishments (not to mention the ability to communicate in a foreign language) and when you see 2nd graders hug one another in the hallway to provide encouragement and ease anxiety about going to the principal s office (because it really is not that bad ), you know things are going well.
—Submitted by a parent

I currently have 2 children in attendance, I was very excited about their new start and experience, as time gose on I have found that to quickly demenish as my daughter was being bullied and nothing was done about it, even after speaking to the head of the school a number of time" I still find that to be an issue not only with the students but also with a staff. Their are serious discipline issues the lack of response and or correction from the staff and administration is horrible and very unprofessional!!!! There test scores are poor, very unorganized and no one seems to no whats going on, poor structure". The school needs to be reevaluated!! Perhaps the staff and administration also!
—Submitted by a parent

We had very hight hopes when our child first started attending. But the excitement quickly diminished. The discipline issues at this school are extreme compared to "normal" issues at any school. The administartion is not responsive or attentive to any issues or concerns that arise. The curriculum is inadequate and is proven by the test scores that are publlicly available. There are many other resources available to learn a foreign language. Since leaving affter less than 1.5 years my child's vocabulary has more than doubled with a supplemental program. The school has very little parental involvment, the same few parents are the only active ones.
—Submitted by a parent

We had a child at this school for two years and elected to leave. We were happy with the quality of both of our teachers while our child attended. We were not confident in the administration of the school or the actions, or lack thereof, to correct behavioral issues with some students in the school. The school seemed to be exclusionary of the parents and discourage parental involvement. That made us very uncomfortable and unwilling to allow our child to continue to attend the French School.
—Submitted by a parent

Our son is in the 2nd grade and has been attending since Kindergarten. I'm very thrilled with his education so far. He is fluent in French and often seeks out opportunities to use his French in the real world. The teachers are wonderful and this year's teacher is particularly amazing. There's a lot of hands on learning and his endless questions are always answered in a way that encourages even more learning. These teachers really care about their students. He has built a lot of positive relationships with staff and other students. Until this year, we have had absolutely no issues with the school. We have found that the administration is attentive when issues (disciplinary in our case) arise. Leadership continues to work on improving the experience for students and parents, and I can see strides being made and truly respect that. Overall, our experience is quite positive and when my spouse was considering a job outside of St. Louis one of the biggest cons was leaving this school.
—Submitted by a parent

My daughter is going into 2nd grade in the French school, and has been attending since kindergarten. We have been extremely pleased with our decision. Her teachers have been great, the administration is responsive, and the curriculum is excellent. Aside from the language piece (which is sort of secondary, because it's not like they are having French lessons all day, they are learning every subject IN French) we have been impressed with the math, art, music and science modules. My daughter has a working understanding of fractions and the water cycle after 1st grade, not to mention SHE IS FLUENT IN FRENCH! Concerns include discipline, but from my discussions with other parents in a variety of school situations is common. I feel they deal very well with situations, encouraging with positive reinforcement. All schools seem to have their hands tied a bit with this issue. We were also concerned with English reading, but an after school book club curtailed our concerns. Our child is now reading English well above grade level. Plenty of other after school activities for very reasonable cost. I would recommend SLLIS to ANY parent. This type of learning really levels the playing field.
—Submitted by a parent

^^ Parent leaving 5 star reviews after kid not even starting?? :::I must leave fifteen words here to submit my comment, hopefully this suffices.:::
—Submitted by a parent

My daughter is starting kindergarten next week and we already feel at home. The program is very interactive and we have been preparing for kindergarten since October 2010. I highly recommend SLLIS.
—Submitted by a parent