La Petite Ecole began in 2003, as a small daycare center offering educational instruction out of a home in San Diego. As the school’s popularity began to increase, a larger space was needed. In 2006, La Petite Ecole opened at its current location, with five teachers, one administrator, and a handful of students. Over the past twelve years, the school has succeeded because of the professionalism of highly talented teaching staff and the high standard of education imparted to students. The school strongly advocates bilingual education, while embracing a synthesis of two centuries of traditional education and modern teaching methods. The school is registered as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation and accredited by the renowned French Ministry of Education.

La Petite École/Le Lycée Francais de San Diego is a unique French/English bilingual educational institution located in the central San Diego area, offering pre-K to 8^th grade education to about 215 children from 29 nationalities. The goal of the French educational system is to develop analytical, reasoning and critical thinking techniques through the incremental acquisition of rigorous writing skills and broad academic knowledge at each level. The school’s children come from San Diego based households of all income levels, diverse linguistic backgrounds, and whose parents value the benefits of bilingual education and admire the ethos of the French culture and educational system. Due to its non-profit mode of operation, the school is financially supported entirely by student fees and does not generally embark in additional fundraising efforts.

The school’s promotion of French language instruction is based on the long-standing success and marriage of language immersion and on a structured curriculum. At La Petite École/Lycée Francais de San Diego, students learn more than French and English languages, they learn how to

• Be respectful to each other
• Be respectful to adults
• Be polite
• Have good manners

The program derives its structure from studies that establish the need of boundaries and routine for promoting a nurturing learning environment for children. The result is happy children who are eager to learn and who enjoy being at school. By embracing another culture, the students of La Petite École are developing:

• Tolerance
• Patience
• Understanding

La Petite Ecole offers the entire French educational experience. We base our curriculum on the French Ministry of Education system, while instilling French culture and values to mold our students into valuable members of the global community. La Petite Ecole and its teachers are overseen by the French Ministry of Education with inspectors visiting our school to evaluate our curriculum, qualifications of the teachers and the everyday operations of the school.

The goal of the French educational system is to develop analytical, reasoning and critical thinking techniques through incremental acquisition of rigorous writing skills and broad academic knowledge at each level. Our early-immersion language program reinforces these skills. The French Ministry of Education divides preschool and elementary school into three cycles of education (ranging from ages 2 to 11). A cycle may represents 2 or 3 years for the students to master all concepts and knowledge defined by the Ministry of Education. Visit our Academics page to learn more about our curriculum and Cycles.

The Parents Handbook includes the rules and regulations of La Petite Ecole de San Diego

• CURRICULUM
• ADMISSIONS
• SCHOOL SESSIONS, PROCEDURES AND SCHEDULES
• SCHOOL POLICIES / GENERAL RULES
• COMMUNICATION WITH FAMILIES
• FINANCIAL INFORMATION
• HEALTH POLICIES
• EMERGENCY PROCEDURES
• MAP OF SCHOOL

This document is available upon request.