Le Lycée Français de San Diego

Great environment for the little ones to learn french! Bonjour, hello! Mercy, thank you! The children are spoken to in french by a french speaking lead teacher that also know English to better bond! It is newly reconstructed and staff is friendly caring and fantastic activities!

Great school. Our 2 daughters have excelled in their studies and have stayed at the top of their class in high school. Our older girl has been accepted into all the universities she applied to. Why? I strongly believe it is the result of the early, bilingual education she received at la petite ecole. The studies have proven that investment in early, bilingual education gives your child huge, lifetime benefits. It's not just for language.. Gaby's favorite subjects are math and science which she was very well prepared for. Please don't hesitate to learn more about this school.

Fantastic school!
Two of my children have attended La Petite Ecole since 2017 and they are currently in second and third grade. While we are native French speakers, my younger child, having attended a English-speaking preschool, did not speak French before starting “Moyenne Section” (Pre-K). He caught up very fast and now speaks fluently in both languages, as we do in our truly bilingual home. Teachers at LPE are phenomenal and, along with the low ratio of students to teacher, that ensures that every child is addressed individually and in a way tailored to their needs. I know that some teachers give particular attention/tutoring to children in English –only households.

Before Covid hit, we already loved the school – it is a small, caring, really fun school where you end up knowing everybody very fast. I volunteered at the Multi-Cultural Fair one year to present my home country of France, and I was amazed at the children’s curiosity, knowledge and engagement.

But really, the school’s handling of Covid was most impressive to me: schools were shut down on a Friday, and due to the foresight and planning by the administrative staff and teachers, the children had online classes the very next Monday. Everyone adapted very quickly to the “new normal” of online classes. We struggled in our family unit to all work remotely from home (it doesn’t helps that our baby’s daycare had shut down too), but teachers were very attentive and offered extra support, particularly to our oldest who was having trouble with his math exercises.

The school reopened in September for in-class instruction (still offering a virtual option for those who preferred), and our children went back into the classroom. The reopening plan was very well thought out and executed, with parents becoming involved in steps taken by school staff: e.g. parents that were epidemiologists and physicians helping with the plan; parents setting up Plexiglas partitions and creating the infrastructure for social distancing and remote learning…

The efforts paid off – since September there have only been 2 confirmed cases of Covid (1 family) , and no in-school transmission. The drop-off an pick-up lines are very efficient. The kids are learning and thriving in school and we couldn’t be happier with our choice to go to LPE.

The school is planning development of its sports programs, which we are very much looking forward to. Our boys attend the judo classes offered at the school (pre-pandemic, in the school’s own dojo, and virtually now), and they love it. We feel fortunate to have a judo champion as a PE teacher and judo instructor!

Our third child will start preschool at LPE in time as well, and we are looking forward to having all our kids grow and learn in such a thoughtful, stimulating place.

We have been sending our children to La Petite École for 11 years and going, beginning when they were two. We are an American family who speak English at home but wanted a second language for our children. What an amazing experience it has been. They are bilingual! And in fourth grade they begin Spanish. Wonderful French teachers, diverse student population, small classes enabling teacher attention, French curriculum aligned with California/US education requirements. Our oldest has transitioned seamlessly to public middle school. Incredible value for full language immersion, private school education.

Our family loves LPE and would definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking for a high-quality and truly French education, the opportunity for your child to learn in two languages, small class sizes, caring and excellent teachers and administrators, and a school environment where your child will have the opportunity to learn to be a global citizen.

This will be our son’s second year at LPE and last year’s experience solidified the decision to have him continue with LPE beyond preschool and into elementary school. We do not speak much French at home and it was surprising how quickly our young son adjusted to being in an environment where French is spoken most of the day. Last year there were families with children attending LPE from, I believe, more than 25 different countries and different socioeconomic levels.

LPE provided the educational challenges our son needed to advance, but also focused on a balanced curriculum, including a lot of art projects and fun, as well. Overall, the administration and teachers adjusted quickly and effectively to the challenges presented by COVID-19 in spring 2020. The distance learning program was up and running effectively in about 2 business days. They are now prepared to offer several different learning model options for fall 2020 to accommodate different families’ needs. Our son can’t wait to return in person (hopefully soon) and we feel confident that he will continue to be safe there with the school’s health and safety protocols in place. Finally, the school offers a variety of extracurricular activities that the kids love. Our son’s favorite last year was cooking class. Really awesome offerings that assist with after-school care needs as well. There is a new, dynamic French director (principal) at the school this year and there is an air of excitement about further developing and improving the LPE experience in the years to come. We have loved being a part of the friendly and diverse LPE community and are looking forward to another great year.

Our children have been at La Petite École since pre-school; they are now in 2nd & 1st grade respectively. Every school holiday is marked by, "when are we returning to school?" Our family is predominantly English speaking. From the Director of school, administrative staff, and down to the teachers - they believe in the sense of community above and beyond being a school. We highly recommend parents who would like to provide full language immersion for their precious child(ren) to come check out this "mini United Nation" school! The school is growing every year, yet the class sizes have carefully been kept small. You will be surprised how many of those fluent French speaking students come from predominantly English speaking family like ours.

feel so fortunate that we had found this great school. My daughter had her preschool program there, which greatly fostered independence, confidence and intellectual development in her
couldn’t be more pleased with the love, care and attention she get from the amazing staff. It feels more like a good family and I would recommend it to anyone without hesitation.

My son is starting 5th grade and has been going to La Petite Ecole since pre-school. This is the best gift we could have given him as parents. Superb academic philosophy and curriculum, great teachers, and most importantly, a family-like environment that boosts his confidence every day.

We have had our children in this school for the past seven years. We are not a natively Francophone home, but we are multilingual. We wanted a school environment that fostered a love of books, writing, and learning, as well as an environment rich in compassion and respect.

We were impressed with what we found here at La Petite Ecole du Lycée Français de San Diego, or as we call it, "La Petite". We have tried other schools in the area at different times, but our children always claim La Petite as "home". This is where they learned to read, write, recite poetry, care for plants, sing and bond with their phenomenal teachers. I believe most of the teachers have Masters degrees from France and some even have specialties due to the competitive and rigorous expectations of the ministry of education in France. It is due to this high level of education that is expected of French teachers and French schools, that La Petite Ecole chooses to be evaluated each year by a representative from the French Ministry of Education. They also more than satisfy the requirements of curriculum as stipulated by the State of California.

Not everything here is perfect. But I can tell you that our concerns were considered thoughtfully and addressed. Some immediately and some took time. As with any place or any thing, if one chooses to scrutinize, certainly one is bound to find something to disagree with or simply dislike. There are as many opinions as there are people in any one place. Ultimately, we choose to be here or not.

I am a little bit (admittedly selfishly) apprehensive to write this review, as I'm afraid the school will inevitably grow the more word gets out of this little treasure. But I trust that as long as we have M. Thierry, he will continue to keep the culture of the school like the family that it is. This is not a pompous school, nor a high-tech one. It is a school where children learn to take pride in their work, learn good values, learn about healthy eating (hot lunch option is organic, local and served on porcelain plates!), good exercise habits and where they learn to treat people equally and respectfully. The culture of any entity starts at the top. M. Thierry is the founder, yet he is the one you will always see mopping floors, wiping down tables, setting up the kids' artwork in the halls, cleaning up spills at the lunch tables, painting picturesque scenes for the Holiday Show, and taking the time to hold open the door for a stressed-out mom when she's barely made it to school on time, greeting with a cordial "Bonjour Madame".
This school is not for everyone. But as for me and my house, we are satisfied and thankful for what this little school with all its wonderful staff and talented teachers have meant to our three children, and to our family over the years. Merci.

As parents we value the school’s immersive French language culture, rigorous application of the French Ministry of Education - AEFE’s acclaimed curriculum, and a pedagogical approach that emphasizes learning of mutual-respect, physical education, excellence in English, ST(R)EAM, and Español.

Being in a border city with a strong international image (world class universities, wireless tech, biotech, tourism and other industries), raising kids who can thrive as both American and future global citizens is of paramount importance.

Key attributes:

* 2020-2021: Pandemic-safe hyrbid/dual learning system (choice of onsite in small cohorts with full PPE and enhanced building safety measures, or online)
* Excellent and affordable pre-K through 8th grade school for quality bilingual (French) education, in the heart of San Diego (one of the most affordable private school rates in San Diego)
* Dedicated and highly qualified faculty and school management, small class sizes, ample activities both indoors (classroom, library, labs) and outdoors (playground, field trips), great spirit of small-community support among parents/staff/management.
* In operation since 2006, now in an expanded and brand new building in Kearney Mesa.