Please take a few minutes to read it through carefully. - Merci beaucoup!

El Cachivache Orkesta is currently one of the most popular tango groups and is widely recognized on the world music circuit. Sometimes called ‘Tango Punk,’ the group is undeniably creative, original, and a very “danceable ” style. Some call them “modern buffoons,” others describe the music as “communal flat groove,” and both are true. El Cachivache serves up its music in a lively manner with a good dose of humor, mixing up overdriven traditional tango music with a post-punk look, which simultaneously frightens and attracts the tourists. Witty song introductions emerged with the music, livening up already energetic performances. The band is very popular in its home city of Buenos Aires, playing around 90 concerts a year.

We are very fortunate that El Cachivache Orkesta is making a stop in Tampa Bay in the middle of their world tour! This event is sponsored by FASTB, the Parents Association, and Tampa Tango Argentino, owned by FASTB parents Victoria Sarquisse and Federico Jorquera from Argentina, a school dedicated to teaching and promoting Argentine Tango and culture in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, and surrounding cities in Florida. 

3:00: Reception organized by the Parents Association with band members of El Cachivache Orkesta at the Tiki Hut.

Professional Day on Tuesday, November 16: No School

Please mark your calendar! As you know, we are working diligently towards becoming an IB World School offering the IB PYP- Primary Years Programme, and this is no small undertaking! As an approved Candidate School, we are on our way! Currently, our teachers are enrolled in an IB class, and we will be taking a professional development day for this purpose.

Conseil d'Ecole / School Council Wednesday, November 17 at 3:30PM

Congratulations to FASTB for joining the Florida Council of Independent School (FCIS). The French American School of Tampa Bay is now officially candidate for accreditation in 2023, quite an accomplishment for our young school. FCIS Board of Directors reviewed FASTB's application and the visit report of Melissa Alton, Director of Accreditation for the Florida Council of Independent Schools. Melissa visited the school, met teachers and discussed the mission of the school and its strategic plan with Willy LeBihan, Head of School. Melissa Alton serves as a resource for member schools as they engage in the challenging work of self-examination and school improvement.

Thank you to our 2021-2022 parent representatives: Tara Deubel (2nd and 4th grades), Debora Folisi (4th Grade) and Dana Hamdan (Kindergarten-Grande Section). Next meeting is Wednesday, November 17 at 3:30PM

This week, the middle school students worked on density of liquids. By measuring the mass and the volume they observed that density of liquids demonstrates the amount of “stuff” (atoms, mass) that is present in a particular volume of the juice. Then, because it’s necessary to experiment, they made some Mocktails! Yum ! This activity helped bring home the idea of density in liquids, not to mention it looks cool when you're all done - it’s tasty, and it’s even good for you – what more could you ask for in a science activity ?

click to read What is an IB education.pdf

Monday: Arts & Crafts with Sami - Sami will provide weekly Arts & Crafts activities that will include seasonal crafts, abstract creations, painting, and more!

Tuesday: Spanish with Sarah - Participants will learn basic Spanish words and greetings while exploring unique and particular aspects of various Hispanic countries. Activities will include play, song/music, & arts and crafts that highlight the language and cultures of Latin America and Spain. Sarah is a native Spanish speaker born in Puerto Rico and has over 20 years of experience working with children as a nanny and tutor.

Wednesday: Social & Dining Etiquette and Dance with Victoria - Victoria trained at the Protocol School of Washington, and she specializes in etiquette, starting with children as young as three years old!  Her etiquette classes are based on understanding and living with respect. Classes are super fun, filled with activities, interactive lessons, and role-playing games to get the best manners out of our little ones!

Victoria teaches dance classes and workshops nationally and internationally. She will be teaching dance as a free form of self-expression for boys and girls (including hip-hop, modern, and theatrical). We will have a presentation at the end of the semester.

Thursday: Gymnastics with Sami - Sami has been a gymnastic coach for the past three years. She will work with your children on flexibility, tumbling, balance, and coordination techniques! The students will work towards a final performance of their skills after the 10-week session!

Friday: Funday Friday with Tracy - Funday Friday is an opportunity to have a playdate at school! Our students work so hard during the week that they will look forward to playtime with friends to kick off the weekend! The kids will play board games, do outdoor activities, learn some card games, and more!

Tutoring Club with Cécile - Cécile will be here Tuesday - Friday from 3:00 PM - 3:45 PM to assist any student who signs up to receive additional assistance with their school work! The Tutoring Club is available on an "a la carte" basis.

FASTB is now offering the Florida VPK Program!

This wonderful program will allow ALL of our 4-year-old students to receive additional resources from the State of Florida!

As a reminder: Preschool and Kindergarten students can enter our immersion environment with no previous instruction in French. These years are foundational for language development, and students at this age are particularly suited to thrive in this environment.

Kindergarten students are not only at a great age to learn a second language, but they also have the bonus of being eligible for Florida scholarships (must be five on September 1), which are available to students K & up. Please see the latest on Florida scholarships and Step Up for Students in the article above to learn how you could benefit from this excellent offering in Florida.

In case you missed them, please take a look at these articles - why it's great to start learning a language at a young age; and this article on the cognitive benefits of multilingualism.

You hear things about language immersion, but what does it actually look like? Well, the best way to see what we do first-hand is to schedule a private virtual tour, which will take you inside our dynamic and safe classrooms to see where it all happens.

We also conduct after-hours in-person tours and will continue to do so through the fall months. Please feel free to visit our Admissions page and website to explore further and learn about our admissions process. We look forward to hearing from you!

Bonjour!

We are very excited to announce that Adult French classes and DELF preparatory classes return to FASTB this year! Unfortunately, because of Covid precautions, our first semester will be online only. The Fall semester includes 13 classes, from the week of September 13th to December 18th. 

You can find the class description, costs, and online enrollment form on our web page. https://fastb.org/community/adult-education/

Emmy Decker adulted@fastb.org