When I was in Middle School, I wanted to become a journalist (after having first wanted to be a garbage collector and then a professional soccer player). I was an avid watcher of the evening news and any program that featured the press (Michel Polac’s Droits de Réponse, devoted to the editors-in-chief of France’s leading newspapers, was a highlight of my week). I still remember writing an essay describing my dream job and citing my hero Hervé Brusini as an example—his reporting, tone, delivery, and the way he concluded his segments were a real source of inspiration and an invaluable resource for understanding the world around me.
Obviously, my life took a different turn, but what got me thinking about my journalistic aspirations was the wonderful news I received during the spring break that our Middle School WebTV, coordinated by Mr. Bouchet, who teaches French in Middle School, and Ms. Hénin, who teaches drama and theater from 2nd to 8th Grade, won the Médiatiks competition organized by our partners at the MLF and the CLEMI – the department of the French Ministry for Education dedicated to promoting media literacy. The Ecole’s WebTV episodes were awarded first prize in the International Schools Middle School category by a prestigious jury, chaired by none other than Hervé Brusini! Congratulations to Bérénice, Céleste, and Zahra from 6th Grade, and to Jean and Samuel in 7th Grade, for all their hard work. And thanks also to Maya, our librarian, who discreetly entered the kids in the competition.
Another nice surprise this spring break (and we needed some good news to cheer us up after Andria fractured her ankle on the second day!) came from our Budding Ambassadors team that traveled to San Francisco with their “Coach” Camille, our French 5th Grade teacher who leads a weekly debate elective in Middle School—many thanks as well to Cassie for chaperoning. The École team made it to the finals, with outstanding presentations from Rachel and Xul (8th Grade), Ève (7th Grade), and Ali and Lara (6th Grade), and the icing on the cake: Bella (7th Grade) made the All-American team! You might recall that last year at the same competition in Boston. The École also did wonderfully, with Ella winning a place on the All-American team, as well. We are clearly developing some excellent habits!
And the good news kept coming (really, we should take vacations more often!), I was officially informed that The École has been deemed “substantially equivalent” for the 2025–2026 school year. For those wondering what that means, please see the letter I wrote almost exactly a year ago—our students from 3rd through 8th Grade had to take an additional test (TerraNova), but that will not be the case this year. We’ll see what the future holds, but for now, it is a relief for everyone.
Finally, we received one last piece of good news from the organizers of a mathematics competition we recently participated in: one of our 1st Grade students ranked first among all French schools in the U.S. and Canada! But let’s keep a bit of suspense for now, since the results haven’t been officially released yet. All in all, it was a busy break, though we still managed to get some rest before entering the final stretch.
Thank you to those who joined us for the apéro last night—it’s always a pleasure to see you and spend these moments together.