Denver’s First Public French/English Bilingual School

Do You Want Your Child to Be Bilingual?

The French American School of Denver is a DPS charter school opening in fall 2021 offering a proven, research-based French immersion education to students K-5 (growing to a K-8 by fall 2024). As a public school, 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!

Not “Cancelled” Just Delayed – FASDenver will open in 2021

Dear Families,

Thank you for being part of the incredible community that came together over the past year and a half to support the creation of Denver’s public first French immersion school. We are grateful to everyone who joined us on this mission and we look forward to continuing to build this community over the coming months.

Unfortunately, the opening of the French American School of Denver has been deferred for one year. We fell just 15 students short of the enrollment target once the SchoolChoice algorithm was run and DPS will not allow us to open for the 2020 school year. We are disappointed by this outcome, but given the current state of the world, perhaps opening in 2021 will be for the best. We hope you’ll consider applying to FASDenver again in 2021!

– FASDenver Founding Team

French Immersion Option to Consider for 2020-21: L’École de Denver

L’École de Denver is committed to offering an equitable French Immersion program for students from ECE to 6th grade. From La Maternelle to Middle School, we blend the best of the French and American educational systems, gifting our students with deep bi-literacy, whole-child skills and knowledge, and a multi-cultural perspective. L’École is a small school with small class sizes based on the French cycles system. Tuition for the full-day option is assessed on a sliding scale to make a high-quality French education available to a diverse community.

Full-day (ECE – 6th)
After-school programs
CNED tutoring
School break camps

Learn more: ecoledenver.com

Fast Facts

Serving grades K – 5 in 2020-2021 and adding additional grades in subsequent years to grow to a K-8 (Denver’s only French immersion middle school).
No previous French experience required. We will support students at all grade levels.
1 full time teacher and 1 paraprofessional in each kindergarten classroom.
Experienced leadership team.
Apply ONLY through SchoolChoice. It’s fast and easy.
Regular daily hours: 8:00a – 3:15p.
Central location near City Park.

Information en français

Información en español

Check Out this CBS4 Story About Our School

ESSENTIAL INFO:

Church in the City at 16th and York is the future home of FASDenver

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. Over the coming months, we will expand the existing outdoor play space and refresh the interior classrooms. 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.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Community events will begin once it is safe to gather again as a community.

See ALL Upcoming FASDenver Events

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA:

INSTAGRAM: @FASDenver

FACEBOOK: Facebook.com/FASDenver

Why French Immersion? Hear What Parent Dwayne Treece Has to Say:

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.

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: DPS bus service for families living within the DPS boundaries
Before-school programming: YES. Additional details coming soon.
After-school programming: YES. Additional details coming soon.
Lunch: YES. Additional details coming soon.
Uniform: YES. We believe school uniforms play an essential role in building school culture and community and in improving learning by reducing distraction. Uniforms also make socio-economic differences among students less prominent, and consequentially, help enable greater scholarly development. FASDenver’s uniform 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

Download this helpful overview of immersion education:

What Parents Want to Know About Immersion Download

“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