French Preschool Program

The goal of L’École is to help children become bilingual and develop the qualities needed to enter Kindergarten and become successful students. In this sense, L’école uses the French Government’s official curriculum for the classes of Maternelle (2-5 years old) adapting it to our students who have various levels of French. The curriculum can be divided into 6 main axes :

• Appropriation of language
• Discovering writing
• Becoming a student
• Physical expression
• Discovering the world
• Perception, feeling, imagination, and creation

The oral language is the main focus of the program. Students will learn to express themselves in French by building sentences with precise vocabulary and learning to communicate with their peers and the teacher. L’école encourages interdisciplinary work constructing its schedule around diverse projects. The project approach helps children make sense of what they are learning. Each child is given a “cahier de vie“ (life notebook), which is a reflective personal notebook of the child’s life in class. We use it to tell about our activities and keep a record of rhymes, songs, drawings, and work. This notebook is also used to build a strong connection between L’école and the families. Families are able to complete it on a regular basis with pictures, stories, or explanations of special events that happened at home. It gives the child the opportunity to explain it in class.

The preschool has 4 classrooms :

• Très Petite Section de Maternelle 1 (TPS1) – for the 2 year olds
• Très Petite Section de Maternelle 2 (TPS2) – for the 3 year olds
• Petite Section de Maternelle (PS) – for the older 3 to 4 year olds
• Moyenne Section de Maternelle (MS) for the 4 to 5 year olds

Aligned with the French school system, the Preschool is held every morning from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm, or until 3:00 pm for our full day program. The children have lunch together around 12 pm.

The daily schedule is based on the following:

• 8:30-8:45: arrival, welcome and free play
• 8:45-9:05: circle time with daily rituals and language (calendar, weather, rhymes…)
• 9:05-9:30: gross motor skills activity (obstacle race, dance, games, mime…)
• 9:30-10:15 : activity (art, music, science, counting, writing…)
• 10:15-10:50: choice of centers
• 10:50-11:30: recess/outdoor play
• 11:30-12:15: lunch
• 12:15-12:30: circle time
• 12:30 : departure of the half day program students
• 12:30-2:00 : nap time
• 2:00-2:30 : recess / outdoor play
• 2:30-2:50 : art
• 2:50-3:00 : circle time
• 3:00 : departure of the full day program students

Preschool Financial Policy
2023-24

Registration Fee

The registration fee is $200 per family. This fee is non-refundable under any circumstances and must be paid at the time of registration. The child will not be considered registered until the registration fee has been paid. If the child is registered later during the year, the registration fee remains the same.

2-year-old students have the option to apply for 2 days a week minimum.

3-year-olds born after August 31st must apply for 3 days a week minimum.

3-year-olds born before August 31st must apply for 5 days a week minimum.

4-year-old students must apply for 5 days a week.

Tuition

Tuition for 2023-2024, for a half-day, coming soon:

Tuition for 2023-2024, for a full day, is coming soon:

2 to 5 years old is the best age for children to learn another language. All children are welcome in our french preschool program regardless of French language experience. We have a mix of French, bilingual, and non-French-speaking families.

If you are interested in enrolling your child in our preschool, please fill out the contact form below or request a tour.

A morning childcare program is offered to all children enrolled to allow parents to drop off their children as early as 7:30 am.

The after-school care runs from 3:00 to 6:00 pm and is charged $350/ month.

L’ecole – French school of Raleigh, NC, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, and other school-administered programs.