As I already mentioned here, February 14, five years ago, was the day I wrapped up my interviews for the position of head of school at The École. It remains an important date for me, an opportunity to reflect on the journey I have taken. To mark the occasion, Andria and I will have dinner tonight in the same restaurant we bustled into in 2020, and we’ll toast the upcoming February break.
This year, February 14 was the deadline to submit our academic calendar 2025-2026 to the French authorities for approval. It came down to the wire because, for the first time ever, my initial proposal didn’t cut the mustard—falling short of the minimum number of teaching hours required by the French Ministry of Education of 864 a year.
Starting the school year after Labor Day, ending it with Juneteenth, recognizing the religious holidays of everyone in our community, respecting the French guidelines for October and February breaks, factoring in some professional development for our teachers, and, of course, including the US holidays is a lot to juggle when compiling a school calendar, and unfortunately this year, something had to give.
Ideally, in the future, we should organize a calendar committee to examine the different options (mea culpa—I realized too late that everything wouldn’t fit in the calendar next year. Until now, it always worked out, mainly by removing the professional development days that my colleagues sorely miss!) In the end, I had to make a few drastic decisions, though they were inspired by conversations with parents during my monthly P’tits déjs (the calendar is a recurring topic) as well as the approaches adopted by my fellow heads in other accredited French schools in New York.
Finally, I submitted a calendar with a school year totaling 884 teaching hours (our students will be in class more than is required!), retaining the Labor Day to Juneteenth arc and maintaining the rhythm of breaks every six to eight weeks, as required by the French Ministry of Education. The changes, as you will see, mostly affect religious holidays and Veterans’ Day. For example, the school will remain open for Rosh Hashanah, Good Friday, and Diwali. Naturally, we will ensure that children who celebrate these holidays will not miss any tests or field trips and that they can easily catch up on any work covered in class in their absence. Staff who are affected will have the possibility to take leave on those days, in keeping with our religious leave policy. The school will be closed for Yom Kippur (October 2) and Eid al-Fitr (March 20.) As Yom Kippur falls on a Thursday this year, I created a long weekend for students by reintroducing an in-service day for staff on Friday, October 3.
Every time I publish a calendar, I have the vain hope that it will please everyone—minimizing the number of school-free days for families, providing the teachers with precious professional development opportunities, and showing the French inspector that I am abiding by the rules, etc. But I know full well that aiming to please everyone is a futile task. My ears will start burning the moment I hit send on this letter, and I will doubtlessly soon hear about the many ways the calendar disappoints, but having had the privilege of being head of school at The École for almost five years is more than worth it. You can find the calendar for 2025-2026 here.
Wishing you all a happy Valentine’s Day and a lovely break (with a special thought for those who are running the Camp next week.)
PS: The École will remain open on March 13, even if it is the momentous day when Philippe is awarded the insignia of the French National Order of Merit.