How the elementary school operates ?

EFAN offers classes for children from kindergarten to Fifth grade.

EFAN students attend classes from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (times vary from school to school).

Children first follow the American immersion program in the American class to which they belong, then the French curriculum in the EFAN class.

The French subjects taught are French, mathematics and history-geography. No CNED.

Approximately 3 hours a day are devoted to the French program, which means that every day an American slot is replaced by an EFAN class.

In EFAN classes, students are in small classes and can sometimes be in multi-levels.

Worth knowing: On arrival, and until their level of English is deemed sufficient, students are supervised by a teacher specialized in teaching English to non-English-speaking children (English Second Language Programme, ESL). This teacher will help them integrate into the school and make them more comfortable with the English language.

American and French equivalents

1st grade is CP

2nd grade is CE1

3rd grade is CE2

4th grade is CM1

5th grade is CM2

This approach has the advantage of:

– avoiding a break with the French school system, and making it easier to return to French schools;
– almost total immersion in the American system;
– relieving the burden on parents and children, as French courses are taught by EFAN (no correspondence courses)
– develop children’s adaptability, as they gradually learn to juggle two different systems in terms of pedagogical, social and linguistic codes;
– build relationships with Americans and French.