Do they even have schools in Paris? The city is known for its museums, monuments, cafés, bridges over the Seine, but when you're there you don't normally see any schools. But if there are families, there are children, and if there are children, there must be schools.
Our children were in elementary, in 1st and 2nd grades, so we weren't too worried about what school they went to—just that we'd find a nice and affordable school in the city. Many expats opt for private British or American schools because of the language issue or because they want to continue in the American or English systems, as well as for the community. There are several schools like that, such as American School of Paris, International School of Paris, or Marymount International School, but we'd each have to sell a kidney to pay for them because only those who are transferred to Paris by multinational corporations can afford them.
Since acquiring languages happens so easily at their ages, we thought it would be nice if they learned some French during the year, even if that wasn't the main goal. So we ruled out enrolling them in an English-speaking school. We also ruled out French public schools because we didn't want to traumatize them at such a young age.
We learned that besides standard public schools and independent private schools, they also have state-contracted (sous contrat, under contract) private schools. They must teach according to the French education system, but the teachers are paid by the state, so basically you get state-funded international schools with a pretty reasonable tuition. We found a few of these schools, and after some research and talking to friends who'd lived there, we settled on three that seemed to welcome children who didn't speak any French: Eurécole, Ecole Active Bilingue-EAB Monceau, and Ecole Active Bilingue Jeannine Manuel. These last two used to be one school—Ecole Active Bilingue—but ended up splitting in two around 1979. To further differentiate themselves, the schools recently changed their names to Ecole Internationale Bilingue-EIB Monceau and Ecole Jeannine Manuel. All three schools were sous contrat private schools.
Obviously we told our kids about our plan. We explained it was just for a year and that we would be coming back to our same house and to their same school. All their friends would still be there. I think they were young enough not to worry about all the things adults worry about and knowing they would resume their normal lives in a year was enough to keep them happy.
We scheduled school visits and interviews and then booked a flight to Paris. Who ever thought we'd be back so soon?
We found a nice little VRBO apartment on the top floor of a building on Rue Prony, next to a beautiful park we had never heard of before, Parc Monceau, and very close to one of the schools. Could that be a sign?
We spent the first few days in Paris fighting jet-lag and getting acclimated. Spring was in full bloom and we enjoyed some incredible weather at the Jardin d'Acclimation, a favorite of the kids from last summer, and the Jardin des Plantes, a beautiful place to spend a day, where the main botanical garden in France as well as the Museum of Natural History are located. The kids also loved the trip to the Parc de la Villette, which included the City of Science and a tour of the Argonaut submarine. We also visited the Jardin du Luxembourg and did a late-night trip to the Eiffel Tower.
The first school we visited was Eurécole, a small school located in a non-distinct building on Rue de Lübeck, near Place d'Iéna in the 16th arrondissement. All we knew from our initial inquiry was that we'd meet with the Director (or Headmistress, as they're called there) and the children had to be present since they'd be asked to complete a little task adapted to their age. A decision would be made after the interview, and if the children were accepted, you'd then send in your enrollment paperwork.
The actual interview consisted in us meeting with the principal in her tiny, cramped office, kids included. I wish I could've taken a picture. The kids were given a blank piece of paper and were asked to draw or color while she explained the French school system to us. We thought that was a bit informal but definitely relaxing. Although they call themselves a French immersion school, after visiting a couple of classrooms we realized their immersion system consisted in putting the few new foreign kids they get each year with the rest of the French kids and providing language support when needed. At the end of the visit we were told we would be accepted as long as they received all the paperwork within two weeks. We wondered if that's what they told everyone, but it was nice to know we basically had a school, which made the following interviews less stressful.
Ecole Active Bilingue-EAB Jeannine Manuel, located in the 15th arrondissement near the Eiffel Tower, had a different process. They had a presentation on one of the days we were in Paris, which we attended along with a couple dozen high-octane parents. The school is well placed among Parisian schools and admission is very competitive, but just learning about their application process made us dizzy (for example, applicants had to submit a standardized admission test). Not what we were looking for for just a year in Paris, so we quickly crossed it off our list and did not pursue an interview.
The next day we had our interviews at Ecole Active Bilingue‑EAB Monceau, located in a beautiful building right next to Parc Monceau. By now we had figured out that Parisian schools were housed within regular buildings.
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The actual interview consisted in us meeting with the principal in her tiny, cramped office, kids included. I wish I could've taken a picture. The kids were given a blank piece of paper and were asked to draw or color while she explained the French school system to us. We thought that was a bit informal but definitely relaxing. Although they call themselves a French immersion school, after visiting a couple of classrooms we realized their immersion system consisted in putting the few new foreign kids they get each year with the rest of the French kids and providing language support when needed. At the end of the visit we were told we would be accepted as long as they received all the paperwork within two weeks. We wondered if that's what they told everyone, but it was nice to know we basically had a school, which made the following interviews less stressful.
Ecole Active Bilingue-EAB Jeannine Manuel, located in the 15th arrondissement near the Eiffel Tower, had a different process. They had a presentation on one of the days we were in Paris, which we attended along with a couple dozen high-octane parents. The school is well placed among Parisian schools and admission is very competitive, but just learning about their application process made us dizzy (for example, applicants had to submit a standardized admission test). Not what we were looking for for just a year in Paris, so we quickly crossed it off our list and did not pursue an interview.
The next day we had our interviews at Ecole Active Bilingue‑EAB Monceau, located in a beautiful building right next to Parc Monceau. By now we had figured out that Parisian schools were housed within regular buildings.
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We had already corresponded with the elementary director and knew their admission process was a bit more formal. We had already sent our applications and references from their current school and were expecting an interview and some form of evaluation of the kids. We thought we'd first meet with the elementary director before the kids did their assessments, but as soon as the director appeared in the reception area she said, "Okay, who wants to go first!" We had coached the kids on more or less what to expect, and what kinds of questions they wanted to ask, but were not expecting this. Fortunately Daniela said "Me!" right away, and after her went Nicolás, then Andrea, each one taking about 20 minutes to complete their evaluation. Although it was reassuring to know we'd already been accepted in one school, it was a little nerve-racking waiting in the reception while all three got done.
After that it was our turn to go upstairs. We discussed our goals and their assessment of the kids, which were spot-on, and we got a pretty good sense of the school and their methodology. This school has a great French immersion program in which each grade has a separate class (called "adaptation class") where all the new foreign kids (around 12-15 kids) are placed. Most subjects are taught in French, ensuring that all the kids learn French at about the same pace. That's what real immersion looks like, and seemed to be pretty unique to this school. They guaranteed that after four months the kids would speak some French and that by the end of the year most kids would be speaking French fluently and would graduate to the following grade. Those who continued in the school would then be placed within the regular classes, opening spaces for the next wave of newcomers. We definitely liked this school very much.
Thankfully all three did great and were offered spots in the adaptation classes. We could not contain our excitement: this was probably the biggest hurdle in our plan to move to Paris and in no small way it was happening thanks to them. If everything else went as well as this, we'd be moving to Paris to start school in September.
After that it was our turn to go upstairs. We discussed our goals and their assessment of the kids, which were spot-on, and we got a pretty good sense of the school and their methodology. This school has a great French immersion program in which each grade has a separate class (called "adaptation class") where all the new foreign kids (around 12-15 kids) are placed. Most subjects are taught in French, ensuring that all the kids learn French at about the same pace. That's what real immersion looks like, and seemed to be pretty unique to this school. They guaranteed that after four months the kids would speak some French and that by the end of the year most kids would be speaking French fluently and would graduate to the following grade. Those who continued in the school would then be placed within the regular classes, opening spaces for the next wave of newcomers. We definitely liked this school very much.
Thankfully all three did great and were offered spots in the adaptation classes. We could not contain our excitement: this was probably the biggest hurdle in our plan to move to Paris and in no small way it was happening thanks to them. If everything else went as well as this, we'd be moving to Paris to start school in September.
