History

On the initiative of the French Abroad Advisor of the French Embassy in Washington, the Honorary Consul of Norfolk, and the French Cultural Attaché, a delegation of the Mission Laïque Française (MLF) was received by the US Military authorities in preparation for the schooling of French military children.

In February 2010, on a new request of the French Joint Staff (FJS), the MLF sent its representatives to Norfolk in order to set up the project in cooperation with the French National Support Element (ESN) in Norfolk. The aim was to overcome the lack of French academic structure in Norfolk as the number of children to be schooled was constantly increasing. The French ESN of Norfolk has developed a project to create a French-American school with the agreement and support of Norfolk’ mayor who was particularly active on this issue.

The Norfolk Public Schools (NPS) School Board worked closely with the French ESN and the MLF in the development of a Franco-American pedagogical partnership. The Principals of the concerned institutions, Crossroads School and Northside Middle School as well as Granby High School, were also involved in the project. Now all students attend elementary and middle school at Crossroads and Middle school and Granby High School.

As the result of a tripartite partnership between the MLF, FSJ and NPS, the French-American School of Norfolk welcomed its first students in the fall of September 2011.

In September 2022, after signing a partnership with Virginia bEach Schools, the FASN-EFAN program opened at a new facility located in the city of Virginia Beach at Cox High School.

In September 2023, the FASN-EFAN program opened at a new facility located in the city of Virginia Beach at Great Neck middle School.