Denver’s First Public French/English Bilingual School
Do You Want Your Child to Be Bilingual?
The French American School of Denver is a Denver Public School opening in fall 2021 offering a proven, research-based French immersion education to students K-3 (growing to a K-8 by 2026). FASDenver does not charge tuition and families enroll through the DPS SchoolChoice process. All are welcome regardless of language background. Those living outside the DPS boundaries may also apply through SchoolChoice. Bienvenue!
Fast Facts
- Serving grades K-3 in 2021-2022 and adding an additional grade level each year to grow to a K-8 (Denver’s only French immersion middle school).
- No previous French experience required. We support students at all grade levels with both French Language and English Language Development Specialists on staff.
- 1 full time teacher and 1 paraprofessional in each kindergarten classroom.
- Experienced leadership team working in partnership with Denver Language School and other successful immersion schools across the country.
- Regular daily school hours: 8:00a – 3:15p.
- Central location near City Park.
Why a French Immersion Education?
ESSENTIAL INFO:
SCHOOL LOCATION: The school will lease space from Church in the City at 2280 E 16th Ave, Denver, CO 80206. This location offers convenient transportation access in addition to programming opportunities at nearby City Park, Carla Madison Rec. Center, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver Zoo and DMNS. Our classrooms have recently been renovated. Learn more about our facility.
MEET OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (PRINCIPAL): Yamile Reina Yamile grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. Her first schooling experience was in a French school in the Middle East. She studied abroad as a high school exchange student in North Africa and then again in college at the Sorbonne in Paris. After earning a BA from the University of Illinois, she moved to Denver and began her career in education. Yamile earned a MA in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies from Denver University in 2011. Following over ten years as a bilingual teacher, she has also worked as an instructional coach and assistant principal. She is excited to combine her love of the French language with her passion for education at the French American School of Denver. Read more about Yamile.
Get to Know Our School in 3 Minutes!
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Virtual Info Sessions: 1/17 at 2p; 1/22 at 9:30a; 1/29 at 5p
Zoom Q&A with the Principal: Mondays at 9:45a and Wednesdays at 5p
Zoom Q&A with the Director of Curriculum: Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4p
French Story Time: Saturdays at 11a
See ALL Upcoming FASDenver Events
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
INSTAGRAM: @FASDenver
FACEBOOK: Facebook.com/FASDenver
Cultivating Excellence for All Students
Welcoming families from all backgrounds, the French American School of Denver employs a proven, research-based bilingual French/English immersion curriculum to cultivate critical thinking, creativity and empathy. Immersion education has been shown to improve test scores in math, reading and vocabulary, and boost mental flexibility and problem-solving skills. Our collaborative school culture and commitment to equity, inclusion and culturally responsive education provides students with a supportive learning environment. Our goal is to develop open-minded, bilingual and biliterate learners who are prepared for a life of global opportunities as innovators and leaders.
Hours of the School Day: 8:00a – 3:15p (Before care begins at 7:00a; after care ends at 6:00p)
- Programs: Full-Day Kindergarten • PE • Music • Technology • Visual Arts • Library • Language Immersion • STEM • International Focus • French • Integrated Content and Language Development (ICLD) • Inquiry-Based Learning • Differentiated Instruction • Project-Based Learning
- Clubs and Activities: Community Service Club or Organization • School Yearbook or Newspaper • Student Leadership • Club Based on Ethnicity or Culture
- Early Education: Kindergarten English; Kindergarten French
- Student Supports: Language Supports: Dual Language; Special Education: Mild-Moderate Support
- Transportation: Limited bus service, RTD discounts, carpool
- Before-school programming: YES, beginning at 7am.
- After-school programming: YES, until 6pm. Specific program offerings will be determined after parent input in the late spring/early summer, but could include athletic opportunities at the nearby Carla Madison Rec Center, chess club, French study hall and music lessons.
- Lunch: YES.
- Dress Code: YES. We believe a school dress code plays an essential role in building school culture and community and enhances learning by reducing distraction. A dress code also makes socio-economic differences among students less prominent, and consequentially, help enable greater scholarly development. FASDenver’s dress code will consist of either a navy or white-collared shirt and either navy or khaki pants or skirt.
- ELA Services: Supported English content instruction • English language development services for ELLs • ELA-E and ELA-T teachers
“We have a growing body of research that makes clear that students who are bilingual have advantages, not only in their literacy development, but in the development of problem-solving skills and other areas of cognition. What we see now is that bilingualism is a gift that we can give to our students and to our communities. And that is a powerful shift in our historical perspective on bilingualism… We know that our competitiveness as a country depends, in part, on advancing that goal. A recent survey of California employers showed that a majority of employers, across all sectors, small business, large business, want and prefer bilingual employees. We know that our international competitors often do a significantly better job of preparing bilingual students. And so, we’ve got work to do as a country to ensure that we embrace bi-literacy and multi-literacy.”
– Former Secretary of Education John King (2016-2017)
Why Immersion?
Immersion is a technique used in bilingual language education in which two languages are used for content instruction including math, science and social studies. In other words, in an immersion school, students are learning key academic subjects through the language not just the language itself. Decades of research shows that immersion education reduces the achievement gap and delivers lifelong benefits. Immersion education is suitable for students from all backgrounds. Some of the benefits:
- Improves mental flexibility and problem-solving skills
- Improves test scores in math, reading and vocabulary
- Improves high school graduation rates
- Reduces the achievement gap
- Expands employment opportunities in adulthood
Read More about the academic, cognitive and economic benefits of Immersion Education.
Download a helpful overview of immersion education:
“FASDenver has designed its mission and program to serve a diverse community of students and foster global citizenship.”
French American Chamber of Commerce-Rocky Mountain
Why French?
French is the world’s 5th most spoken language and one that is projected to grow in terms of number of speakers over the coming decades. French is the official language in 29 countries, which puts it in second place behind English. These 29 countries are: Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, the Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, France, Haiti, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Monaco, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Switzerland, Togo and Vanuatu.
French is also the procedural language for the EU, the only language used for deliberations at the Court of Justice for the EU, and one of the recognized working languages of the United Nations. In addition, dozens of international organizations use French as a working language including the International Red Cross committee, International Labor Organization, Amnesty International, and Doctors without Borders. Francophone countries form an important bloc in the UN, the EU, the African Union, and the Arab League.
French is taught in every country of the world, with 100 million students and 2 million teachers – 20 % of whom are outside of francophone countries. The number of French speakers has TRIPLED since 1945 largely since most former French and Belgian colonies kept French as their language of government, education and science after decolonization. According to demographers, the total number of French speakers could rise to as much as 700 million by 2050 due largely to population growth in Africa.
“We are confident that FASDenver would be an appropriate candidate to receive future grants and Embassy support.”
Consulate General of France Los Angeles
Many Thanks to Our Supporters
