French Immersion schools in Austin (camps, moving to, design)

[umaboshi]

Hi,

We are planning on moving to Austin, and were wondering if anyone was to familiar with the French immersion schools in Austin. We are a French speaking family and currently raising our two children bilingual and are planning to send them to a French immersion school (this is part of the reason why we chose Austin).

As far as we can tell, there are two: "Austin International School" and "Austin French for Kids".

Does anybody send there kids to either of these two schools? We can find some information about AIS, but the other school, "Austin French for Kids" comes up with nada. I mean literally nothing but their website: About us & Admissions. That seems a bit strange, so we were wondering if anybody knows anything about this school at all (???)

[cBach]

I don't send my kid to Austin International School but my ex wife used to work there. It's a very small school in a commercial area (off Oak Knoll and 183) with a small play yard in the back for the kids to play. So the physical plant of the school is unimpressive. The curriculum is designed solely by the teachers (there's no school wide curriculum per grade they give teachers ultimate flexibility which can be good or bad), so the quality of your child's instruction varies greatly depending on the competency of the teacher. That being said, it's a great school, there's a large French community there and their potluck dinners are delicious!

[Janki_ray]

Austin French for Kids is a family owned program and both, the Primary and Secondary Years, are not located in a commercial area, at least until next fall. The program is a small community of parents and most of them have been with the program for four to five years. I found out about Austin French for Kids last year form another parent of AIS and I signed up my daughter in their summer camps. While my daughter has been immersed in French for about five years, she wasn’t speaking French at all, and lost some of her understanding since her full-time immersion. We have been thrilled and amazed about her progress in French that summer so we decided to enroll her in their after school program. A year later, not only she is speaking French but she loves going to her French sessions! We are applying now for their full-time prep program hoping that she will be ready by fall. The program has developed high standards and excellent academic achievement with highly qualified teachers. They are working with us to get my daughter ready for next year with 1:1 tutoring sessions in Math, Science, Latin and French. All I can say is that this is probably the best thing that ever happened to us and we are VERY happy to have found them. Having said that it is quite difficult to get in; the owner practically chooses the students (and the parents) because of the small capacity of both programs.

[RAB_1997]

I would highly recommend Austin French for kids for your children. My daughter has been attending Lycée Descartes (LYD) for three years now. Although the program is small, I believe its limited capacity is one of the many reasons of its success. The very low Student-Teacher ratio can generate very strong relationships between the teacher and the students, but among the students as well. My daughter who always has been a very shy child had blossomed by attending the program. She built a very strong confidence throughout the years and throughout her academic improvement. The staff is not only very qualified but also very inspiring, which I believe is a winning combo when it comes to teaching children. My daughter looks up to her teachers and especially to the director with whom she has been very close for the past three years. She keeps telling us how she’d like to follow her footsteps. Something we wouldn’t be complaining about since she is considering applying for premed at several schools.

[umaboshi]

@Janki_ray and RAB_1997

Thanks for your input. My wife visited the school and met with the owner and was very impressed. It seems that the level of education is incredible.

It is good to hear some feedback about the other students. With a school so small I am sure it is even more important what the other students are like.

Our kids are small, the oldest would be starting in pre-K, I'd love to hear from other parents with kids in JJR...

[Clowrey]

I cannot say enough good things about the school. My son is five and has been with JJR since he was three. We feel like family to H and her parents. The work is so individualized that no matter what skills your child posesses, he or she cannot help but excel. It a truly unique evnvironment. It is also the main reason for us staying in the Austin area. I can't imgaine having a school like this anywhere else. (And Austin is pretty awesome.) Please feel free to email me your questions as I am one of the parent volunteers. lowreychristen@yahoo.com

[umaboshi]

Originally Posted by Clowrey

I cannot say enough good things about the school. My son is five and has been with JJR since he was three. We feel like family to H and her parents. The work is so individualized that no matter what skills your child posesses, he or she cannot help but excel. It a truly unique evnvironment. It is also the main reason for us staying in the Austin area. I can't imgaine having a school like this anywhere else. (And Austin is pretty awesome.) Please feel free to email me your questions as I am one of the parent volunteers. lowreychristen@yahoo.com

Christen,

Thanks. It's great to hear such feedback. My wife already visited and had a wonderful first impression. We will surely be meeting in Austin soon enough!

[rhino5]

Where is JJR/LYD located exactly? I checked out the website but didn't see anything about the location. Looks terrific!

[umaboshi]

Originally Posted by rhino5

I checked out the website but didn't see anything about the location.

That omission might be intentional, it's probably best to contact the school for the location.

[spellow]

does anybody know the zipcode atleast, so I can look at housing in that area.