August 26, 2021
Off To A Great Start:

The 2021-2022 School Year has begun and it is an exciting time at FASTB!
MERCI BEAUCOUP to all of you for making our first week back to school a smooth success! It's been wonderful to see the smiles shining through the masks of friends, new and old. We know big transitions are not always easy, but we've witnessed students and families rising to the occasion this week-- from following new protocols to providing all necessary forms and a huge amount of helpful supplies; we thank you so much!
With your continued help, we are so excited to provide a place to play and learn safely.
News & Notes From Ms. Tamye
Welcome back to school, everyone! Thank you all for such a wonderful welcome over the summer and beginning of the 2021-2022 school year! It's been a busy time of transition, and I'm truly enjoying getting to know all of you and your students!

I've recently gotten my youngest child settled into her very first apartment at her University in Northern Ohio, and I truly understand how nerve-wracking transition and the first few days of school are for parents and children alike!

As we get settled into the new school year, please know that we are working hard to make this school year an exciting one packed with tons of experiences your children will remember for a lifetime!

We are currently working on updating the Family Directory to include all of our new families, so be on the lookout for that soon! I will also be sending home notices for any forms we are still missing to complete the student files by next Friday.

We have recently had a few families ask about using the SeeSaw App again this year. I can confirm that we are going to continue using SeeSaw, and there will be an informational session on its features next week during our Back To School Week! For anyone unfamiliar with the program, we strongly encourage you to attend the session to learn about how we communicate with parents using that app! For those already familiar, be on the lookout for content coming through SeeSaw starting September 7th!

If you need to reach me during my office hours, you may call the school or email me at tamye.crutchfield@fastb.org

I look forward to a rewarding and successful year at FASTB!
~Ms. Tamye
Back to School Meetings Next Week under the Tiki Hut !
Each year we host an opportunity for parents to meet with teachers and hear their plans for the coming year. However, since everything continues to be slightly different in the 2021-2022 school year, we have made some minor adjustments to our usual Back to School week presentations.
Taking advantage of the new outdoor classroom, "the Tiki Hut," being built this weekend, you are invited to attend a brief introductory meeting with your student(s) teacher(s) at the scheduled times below. We kindly ask all parents/guardians to wear masks and keep their distance from others. We hope you can join us for these special presentations. Teachers do offer office hours via zoom if you cannot join for the scheduled time.

Monday, August 30th
8:30-9:15 AM PS-MS EC3-EC4 with Cécile, Pauline and Kettly

3:15 - 4 PM Q&A School Handbook with Willy & Tamye
COVID Protocols with Dr. Gaetane Michaud, MD

Tuesday, August 31st
8:30-9:15 MS-GS EC4-K with Françoise - Kettly - Cécile

3:15 - 4 PM CP/1st grade and CE1/2nd grade with Marion - Magali
FLE-ESL-English Language Arts with Emmy - Mindy

Wednesday, September 1st
8:30-9:00 Art Curriculum with Magali
Suzuki Guitar with Alex Gammon
Chorus with Benjamin

3:15 - 4 PM CE2, CM1, CM2/3rd, 4th, 5th grade with Olivier
FLE-ESL-English Language Arts with Emmy - Mindy

Thursday, September 2nd
3:15 - 4 PM Music and Me with Colleen McGrath Lilley, Director

3:15 - 4 PM 6th, 7th, and 8th grade with Benjamin and Emmy;
English Language Arts with Mindy
2021 Good Burger Awards - FASTB is a finalist, please vote for us !
A Good ‘Burger is a business, organization, or individual in greater St. Pete making a positive impact in our community. In honor of a former mayor who referred to his citizens as “burgers” (as in St. Petersburgers), the Good ‘Burger Awards were established to honor those who contribute in a positive way to make our community special.

FASTB is a finalist in the category Arts and Culture, establishing St. Pete as an Arts & Culture destination on the national stage.

Award winners will be determined by popular vote. Voting is open to the public from Monday, August 30, 2021, to Friday, October 1, 2021. Winners will be announced during the 9th Annual Good ‘Burger Awards on Thursday, October 28, 2021. Tickets are required to attend.
Thank you for voting for FASTB; friends and family can vote too :-)
Drop Off & Pick Up Routines
As we continue with our COVID protocols to safely get our students checked in and out every day, we are noticing a long backup of cars during drop-off and pick-up. In order to help make this process go more smoothly, we are asking those of you who wish to get out of your cars to please park in one of the spaces towards the front of the parking lot and walk your children over to the gate. This way, the drop-off line will keep moving in a continuous flow so as not to hold people up or create a backup of cars coming off the main streets. Thank you for your consideration!

Morning Drop Off: 8:15 AM-8:30 AM
Outside of these times, please bring your children to the front door of the school.

Afternoon Pick Up: 2:45PM-3:00PM
Outside of these times, please pick up your children at the side gate to the left of the front door or at the front door if they are no longer outside.
Elementary School starts with an eruption of creative ideas!
Third, fourth and fifth graders started the week by studying volcanoes. This year, students will evaluate what they already know about the subject at the start of each learning sequence. This week students drew and presented what they already knew about volcanoes to their classmates in small groups.
Then many discussions started ... the first necessary steps of any research.
Art in the style of Gustav Klimt: l'arbre des petits citoyens
This year, the unique Art Curriculum of FASTB will be coordinated by Magali.
The entire school started this week with a cooperative work, L’arbre des petits citoyens: creating a tree of life in the style of Gustav Klimt.
Students from PS/EC3 to 8th grade/4ième will realize through this activity that our school is a place of collaboration, mutual understanding, and knowledge sharing. Kindergartners will work around the themes: "identity, prints, and materials." Elementary students will deepen these concepts through the practice of Arman's accumulations. Finally, middle school students will be inspired by Art Nouveau to create silhouettes.
The entire school productions will compose: L’arbre des petits citoyens
Revue de Presse des élèves du Collège #1
This week's News Digest from our middle school students.
All's Well That Ends Well
From left to right: Emmy Decker, Olivier Guilhem, and Magali Guilhem are back! Whew!
Adult Education and DELF classes are back!
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/

Adult Ed:
The classes take place on weekdays, typically between 5-8:30 pm; please send us your availability if you are interested in joining a class!
Email address: adulted@fastb.org

DELF preparatory classes:
At FASTB, we offer a preparatory course for students from middle school/high school and adults. The classes prepare the students for the DELF exams. The Diplôme d’Etudes de Langue Française (DELF) (English: Diploma in French Studies) is a certification of French-language abilities for non-native speakers of French, administered by the International Centre for French Studies (Centre International d’Etudes Pédagogiques or CIEP) for France’s Ministry of Education.
The French American School of Tampa Bay has also become an official testing center for the DELF and DALF, alleviating the previous need to travel to take the DELF exams. The DELF Exam designed by the CIEP is an official qualification awarded by the French Ministry of Education certifying a level of fluency in French. Such certifications are useful for school records, as well as college and job applications. The classes are an hour and a half each week after school, sometime between 3:30 to 6 pm.
For those interested in finding out more about these classes, we will have a virtual Open House on Tuesday, September 7th at 7 pm on Zoom. Specific log-in details will be sent in the coming days to all who participated last year and those who have expressed interest so far this year. If you would like to be included, please send an email to adulted@fastb.org with your name, contact information, availability, and level in French (beginner, intermediate or advanced).

Merci!
Emmy Decker adulted@fastb.org
FASTB Is Still Enrolling: No Prior French Needed for Ages 3-5
We are continuing to enroll our Preschool & pre-K students. Over the summer months, we have worked hard to enroll in the Florida VPK Program and are awaiting our contract to be signed. This is a great program that will allow ALL of our 4-year-old students to receive additional resources from the State of Florida! We would love your help to get the word out that we now have this program available, so we offer a Referral Credit of $250 for each student you refer who enrolls before October 15th.

As a reminder: Rising Preschool, Kindergarten, and First Grade 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.

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.

At FASTB, 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 5 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 great offering in Florida.

Private Virtual Tours

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.

You can also feel free to visit our Admissions page and website to explore further what we offer and learn about our admissions process.

We look forward to hearing from you soon - merci!
FASTB ranked #2 Best Private School by St. Pete Life Magazine
And the winners are...

A huge honor and accomplishment for our 4-year-old school, and especially achieving this during a pandemic!

A big round of applause for our entire school community! It's because of our families, students and staff that we are able to receive such an amazing honor!
Congrats to FASTB as we are also a 2021 Good Burger: Arts & Culture Finalist!

A Good 'Burger is a business, organization, or individual in greater St. Pete making a positive impact in our community!
We are honored to be a finalist but need your help to be selected! Please go here and vote for our school to be recognized as A Good 'Burger!
Suzuki Guitar with Alex Gammon - Registration is open!
Our returning families already know Alex through his role (and popularity) as the Music Together Teacher for the past three years at FASTB. So, you probably already know how much the kids adore him, have heard about his amazing baritone voice and his excellent guitar playing! We are delighted to inform you that Alex will be returning to FASTB but in a new role in 2021-2022. Alex is going to be starting a Suzuki Guitar Program, with his studio located at FASTB!!! Of course, FASTB students will be first in line to sign up for lessons!

It was a treat to meet Alex this summer, in Maine, where he visited L’Ecole Française du Maine and met with the Suzuki Guitar Teacher, Gary Wittner. Gary gave Alex many helpful tips and ideas on how to bring this opportunity of a Suzuki Guitar Program to life in St Pete. It’s very exciting!

Alex got his first guitar at age 13, just for show. Still, when his family thrust him into private lessons with Sarasota guitarist Jami Gee, he centered his life around the instrument, learning jazz, rock, and classical pieces. As a teen, Alex played guitar in the Fogt’s Junior All-Star Band, which performed at Sarasota retirement homes and blues festivals, covering old swing hits and dancey jazz tunes.

After studying Childhood Anthropology at Florida State, Alex was intrigued by Early Childhood Development, which led him to the Music Together program. Blending his passion for Music and Early Childhood Development, Alex passed the Music Together and Canta y Baila Teacher Training in the fall of 2018 and winter of 2019, respectively. He began working with FASTB students in December 2018, teaching the Music Together in School, Rhythm Kids, and Music History/Ukulele curriculums.

He took the role of the FASTB Suzuki guitar teacher in the Fall of 2021, hoping to bring music to the students' lives via his favorite instrument. We are thrilled to have Alex on board, offering this exciting opportunity to our school families. If you are interested in having your child take guitar (or ukulele) from this devoted teacher, you can contact him directly at:

(941) 321-7962

Rest assured- Music Together with Music & Me will also return, and we will introduce you to the new teacher soon :-)
COVID-19: Protocols, Recommendations, and Waiver
Would you please read carefully and become familiar with the drop-off/pick-up procedures and other guidelines?

Here is a summary of our 2021-2022 protocols and recommendations:

  • We encourage all parents/caretakers/older siblings to get vaccinated.
  • Masks are strongly encouraged for all members of our school community inside the school during operating hours (teachers and staff, students, and parents, as well as vendors, volunteers, and visitors). In addition, they are recommended outside on the school grounds.
  • Masks will be encouraged inside regardless of vaccination status.
  • Access to the school building is limited to essential workers and students. 

Our number one priority is always to do our best to protect our community. We need to create a safe environment for all our students who do not have the opportunity to be vaccinated. 

The school is extremely grateful to the following parents, who are medical professionals, for sharing their time, expertise and for helping us write clear protocols.
At the French American School of Tampa Bay:
Dr. Gaetane Michaud, MD, Pulmonary Critical Care, Tampa General Hospital and USF Tampa
At l'Ecole Française du Maine: 
Dr. James Gallea, MD, Emergency Medicine Specialist
Dr. Lisa Lucas, DO, Primary Care Physician

WAIVER: Parents wishing that their child does not wear a mask inside and /or outside may request an exemption from School Director Tamye Crutchfield: tamye.crutchfield@fastb.org
The French American School of Tampa Bay
2100 62nd Ave N, St. Petersburg, FL 33702
Telephone: (727) 800-2159
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