News & Weekly Letters

I’m writing to you this week from Chicago,* where Benoît and I are attending the annual AEFE (French Government Agency for French Schools Abroad) seminar in the company of heads of schools and directors from the other 61 AEFE-accredited schools in the USA and Canada. Some highlights include a speech by the French consul, a progress report on the joint strategic plan, and a wide range of workshops, particularly one about keeping a network like ours relevant when its schools have such diverse backgrounds and identities.

The return of After-School activities means the return of conversations in the lobby of the Elementary and Middle School Building with parents who are waiting to pick up their kids from drum class or Capoeira. It’s a chance, as the day is winding down and I’m preparing to head home, for me to catch up with moms and dads I don’t see that often. During one of those catch-up conversations, Ilkka (Cato from 2nd Grade’s dad) recommended a podcast that had really made him think.

A quick glance at my agenda this week confirms my suspicions – The École is well and truly back! The languid days of August at school, when the hours stretched out endlessly, uninterrupted, and silent, are a distant memory. And happily so! It’s a delight to be back in the swing of things – even if the alarm going off at 5:30 a.m. in the morning feels a little like a poke in the eye.

It was such a pleasure to see you on Tuesday. Like many of you, I imagine, I had a restless night on Monday – and it wasn’t just the sudden heatwave that kept me awake. For our team, back to school isn’t just about seeing familiar faces again; it is also the moment when our plans become reality: Will the class schedules that look so great on paper flow as they should? Have all the rooms been allocated to the right people? Have we forgotten to order something obvious?

Some of you will remember that last February, our Falcons basketball team had the honor of playing at Madison Square Garden. On the big day, Coach Soden, Andria, and I met the kids and their parents three hours before tip-off, sat courtside to watch the Knicks and the Clippers warm up, and made our way to the dressing room, where we tackled the thorny logistical question of how to make sure the kids looked cool on the court wearing Knicks Jr kits that were three sizes too big for them.