News

We could not let you go without one final “Weekly Letter from Jean Yves.” This one will be even more special and will end this amazing year with a bang. We are excited to write to you today to share some major news about the development of our school. Upon retiring four years ago, Yves Rivaud, the co-founder of The École, correctly identified that securing a long-term lease for our Elementary and Middle School building, as we had done for the Maternelle building, represented one of the most pressing challenges to come.

Yesterday’s Field Day is the perfect cue for a letter about sport–a subject I don’t usually discuss with you. It might not be very obvious, but I am passionate about sports. Even though I still run regularly (despite an uncooperative knee), I must admit that my glory days are behind me. I am more of an armchair athlete nowadays (as Andria can testify–if it’s a sport and it is televised, I will watch it). My sporting “career” was punctuated by very few victories and a wide range of sprains and fractures of all sorts–I was a puny kid, ill-equipped for physical prowess on the icy, windy sports fields of the Ardèche.

I’ve been meaning to write this letter to you for a while now, but as you know, time flies, and I have so many things to tell you that it almost slipped my mind to share our MAP Growth winter results with you. I had a lot of positive feedback on my first message about the fall results, and I am delighted to be able to share the latest results with you today.

I’ve said it before and’ll say it again: a school should be a memory-making machine.  For its students, of course, but for the adults in the community, too! We should also have the right to experience moments we will treasure for years. Ever since I started out as an educator, I have strived to organize and contribute to motivating projects for students that I can enjoy as well.  I have always considered it a recipe for success, which probably explains why I love my job so much!

When it comes to leading a school, there are several indicators that a head must keep on their radar. These indicators vary according to context; in many schools throughout the States, one of the most crucial gauges is the amount raised through fundraising. Michael, Coco and Gala’s dad, told me recently that the majority of my counterparts in New York (aka fundraisers-in-chief) spend their evenings soliciting fat checks from families—I don’t envy them for a second.