UPPER SCHOOL (Grades 5-8)

Individual abilities shine as students take a greater role in their educational experience

Our Upper School curriculum is designed to encourage students to stretch their advancing skills and acknowledge their full capacity, asking them to acquire the recommended competencies of both the French Ministry of National Education and the U.S. Common Core. Every foundational subject—Humanities, Math, and Science—is taught in both French and English, by native-speaking specialists, exposing students to the pedagogical expectations of each academic system. To ensure they develop a multi-cultural worldview, their study can enhance their exposure to world languages by studying Spanish.

Agile Minds

Putting perspective to work

It’s during the Upper School years that our students begin to personally recognize and apply the benefits of their bilingual experience. Immersed over their years at L'École in not just two languages, but two learning systems, they know there is always another way to look at and solve a problem, no matter the subject. Empowered with multiple approaches and tools, they develop the confidence to select those that work best for them in their day-to-day schoolwork, or that help them embrace and adapt to new cultural experiences, both in the classroom and out in the world.

Open Hearts

Giving kindness a voice

Surrounded with classmates of wide-ranging nationality, but connected through their two shared languages—and an increased capability in a third—our Upper School students’ demonstrate and champion a respect for people and points of view from places other than their own. Supplemented by our formal Character Education program and school- and community-services clubs, they nurture in themselves, each other, and their communities the traits of a truly caring society.

Bright Futures

Preparing for a bigger world

In the final years of L'École, our staff works beyond the classroom with students—and their parents—as they increasingly focus on high school planning in Denver or abroad, helping them connect with the schools of their choice and navigate through testing and application processes. Their continued strong performance beyond our school walls is a great source of pride, and the stories of our growing alumni community proof that our bilingual program prepares students to both personally flourish in and positively contribute to the world around them, wherever their path takes them next.

UPPER SCHOOL CURRICULUM

There are various models of teaching French which is one of the most studied foreign languages in American schools. While the name of the programs may vary depending on the school, our institution offers a very intense Francophone immersion. The goal of this structure is to make students both bilingual and biliterate but also to allow them to access academic excellence based on the richness and solidity of the French program and on the skills required by Colorado standards. L’École therefore offers a program in which at least 50% of the subjects are taught in French, which allows the student to be fully successful and excellently prepared if he wanted to continue his studies in a French-speaking country or in the United States.

At L’École de Denver, immersion is partial. We harmonize the 2 different programs, and the teachers work constantly in great collaboration.

For 5th grade and Middle school, in math, L'Ecole will use Singapore Math curriculum, which aligns with the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and centers on problem-solving and a three-step learning process (concrete, pictorial and abstract), to help students master mathematical concepts and apply those concepts to complex math problems. Singapore Math emphasizes word problems, rather than repetitive math drills, and is used by many leading schools in the US and abroad. Also, in science, we teach the inquiry-based Full Option Science System (FOSS), or similar program to inform the science curriculum. FOSS is a research-based program designed for grades K-8. Then, in technology, we start to teach Coding classes in 5thgrade thru Middle School (Scratch, Python)