On June 15, 2012, the School celebrated its 10th graduation ceremony. The entire school community of students, faculty, support staff, parents, grandparents and friends gathered to see the students perform skits, poems, songs by the Chorus and a grand opening by the school band. Bravo to all of the participants!
During the ceremony, each child received a certificate for completion of a successful year, and upper grade students graduating out and moving on to other schools were recognized and congratulated personally both by the Commencement speaker, Richard Ortoli, and the School.
Commencement Speaker, Richard Ortoli, spoke to the audience about the value of learning more than one language, and described how being bilingual through attending L'Ecole Française du Maine will open the world for our students in the future. He congratulated the parents for making the decision to send their students to L'Ecole Française du Maine. The School thanks M. Ortoli for making the trip from New York to attend the graduation ceremony.
Commencement Speaker, Richard Ortoli, spoke to the audience about the value of learning more than one language, and described how being bilingual through attending L'Ecole Française du Maine will open the world for our students in the future. He congratulated the parents for making the decision to send their students to L'Ecole Française du Maine. The School thanks M. Ortoli for making the trip from New York to attend the graduation ceremony.
Richard Ortoli is a founding partner of the law firm Sanders Ortoli Vaughn-Flam Rosenstadt LLP on Madison Avenue in New-York City. The son of a French diplomat, Richard was born in Sydney, Australia. He has lived in New Zealand, France, the United States, England, Spain, South Africa, and Brazil and has traveled widely in many other countries. He was educated in New Zealand, England, Spain, France and the United States. He received a B.A. with honors from the University of Leeds, England, in 1971 and a J.D. from Cornell University Law School in 1980. After graduation from the University of Leeds, Richard served as an officer in the French Air Force, retiring with the rank of lieutenant. Richard speaks and writes French, English, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian fluently. Richard serves on the board of numerous organizations such as: Musée Fesch in Corsica, North American Foundation for the University of Leeds, New-York French American Charter School, The French School of Ralegh, NC; Richard is the president of the Association of the French Speaking societies of NY-City. Richard is an elected "Conseiller des Français de l’Etranger" (representative of the French living on the East Coast of the United States). In 2006 the French government awarded Richard the title of Knight of the National Order of Merit, for military and civilian services.
Many students received special awards and honors, including National Medals and certificates earned in the Grand Concours National French Contest. Once again, the students of L'Ecole Française du Maine placed nationally in several divisions, even earning an impressive first place/ gold medal award in the FLES Division, and two gold medals in the Upper School Division! L'Ecole Française is proud to announce that 3 students earned National Silver Medals, and 13 earned National Bronze medals. Additionally, 9 students received a Certificat de réussitte, and 19 earned a Certificat d'honneur.
- Gold medal: National rank 1- We earned 3 medals!
- Silver medal: National ranks 2 and 3- We earned 3 medals!
- Bronze medals: National ranks 4-10- We earned 13 medals!
- Lauréat national certificates: National ranks 1-10
- Certificat d'honneur: students in the top 80th percentile- We earned 19!
- Certficiat de Réussite: students in the top 50th percentile- We earned 9!
A few students were honored with Presidential Awards for special Honors and Achievements, including Academic Achievement, Academic Excellence, and Citizenship. To receive these awards, the students must be nominated by two teachers, and the School is extremely proud of the recipients!
The School made a special tribute to Elodie Chancelier and Amelie LeGall who are returning to France. Willy LeBihan (classical guitar), Elise LeBihan (violin) and Linda Vaillancourt (viola) played "La Musica Notturna delle Strade di Madrid" by L. Boccherini while a slideshow shared many fond memories of Elodie and Amelie. They will both be missed and we wish them all the best in the future.
After the graduation ceremony, all of the school families gathered on the school playground for a picnic lunch and musical entertainment by Matt Loosigian, Maine singer and songwriter.
Thanks to Margot and Charlie from Provisions and to Jay and Jenn Yilmaz for making food available for this event!
Thank you to all who attended and sincere congratulations to the students and teachers- it has been a wonderful year! Enjoy the summer- we look forward to seeing you all in the fall!
Thanks to Margot and Charlie from Provisions and to Jay and Jenn Yilmaz for making food available for this event!
Thank you to all who attended and sincere congratulations to the students and teachers- it has been a wonderful year! Enjoy the summer- we look forward to seeing you all in the fall!
