L'Ecole Au Bord de L'Eau

Baie Nettlé, Marigot , St. Martin – I can’t believe that after not blogging for so long, I now have posted 3 in a row! 

Today was the children’s first day of school at L’Ecole Au Bord de L’Eau (The School on the Edge of the Water).  It is a small primary school located right in the channel that leads from Marigot Bay to the Lagoon, just next to the drawbridge that allows sailboats through 3 times a day.  Since the school play area literally is on the water, we passed it several times by boat and dinghy so I was thrilled that it all worked out for the kids to attend there.  The school is new – just opened last September – and run by three women.  There are only 30 students, ages 6-12 who are divided into 3 separate classes (one for each of the teachers).

After having visited the School Board here and visiting two other schools, Sebastian and I really liked the philosophy of L’Ecole.  They even have a website (which was not common for all the other schools on the island)!!  The school hours are from 8-1, but you can have the kids stay an extra hour for lunch until 2; and/or stay for after school activities like sailing class and art and tennis, etc. until 5; or until 6 for after-school care.  Apparently the public school system in St. Martin is closed every Wednesdays, so the school offers a daycare on Wednesdays for public school children whose parents work as well as during the summer and holidays.  The kids have English and Spanish class once a week and right now they are all preparing for the year end show, where the kids are learning to dance a minuet.  Yes, I can tell you right now, Benjie will LOVE that!  Not!  Most of all, we liked the teachers and their flexibility to take on our non-Francophone kids for only 4 weeks at the end of the school year.  Je suis trés contente!

We went for a visit last Friday and just in the 45 minutes we were there, the differences in French and U.S. education were very apparent.  There is a strict list of rules at the school that every parent and child must not only read, but SIGN!  I went through the list with the kids at home before going, but the director went through the list again with Sofia and Benjie in person, item by item and made them nod their heads to each one… it was cute to see little Benjito “signing” his name to such an important document when he can barely write at all!  They make the students sign it so there is an official contract that can be pulled out of their files if they disobey the rules…. I can just picture a mad teacher holding up the document and yelling, “See, you must do XYZ… we have a contract… you SIGNED it!”  I wonder how that contract would hold up in court?  ;  )
Most of the rules are obvious ones like “You may not use foul language,” or “You may not hit other students,” but a couple of the more salient ones are:

• You must say Bonjour and Au Revoir to all present teachers and students or parents when arriving to and leaving the school.
• You must call your teachers Madame, Mademoiselle or Maitresse (teacher); not by their name.
• You must all rise whenever an adult comes into the classroom.
• If opening a door, you must hold the door open for anyone who is coming behind you.  (I agree that children should do this… I was just surprised to see it as an official rule of the school for which you have to sign).

These are all nice rules, but again, I’m just a little surprised at the formality of it all.  The director also explained the disciplinary procedure that if you don’t follow the rules, they give you a warning.  A second time, you have to sit out at recess… and the third time, a note gets sent home to the parents.  Talk about three strikes and you’re out!!!  I try to imagine Sofia’s school back in Evanston implementing such a no-tolerance policy.  They’d have to have a separate staff just to manage The Rules.

The students seem very happy there.  One of them is a boy from Thailand who just arrived two weeks ago.  He only speaks Thai and the teacher pulls him aside half hour each day for basic French.  Sofia and Benjamin will be joining him in these sessions.

When I dropped them off, as to be expected, Sofia went right in and started asking the girls their names and ages, etc. and Benjamin stayed by my side.  As soon as he saw they had some good TOYS… he left my side and they barely even said good-bye when I left.

Yesterday I had a good Mother’s Day with the kids and was pleasantly surprised by a phone call from my Dad!  He made my week!  I hope all you mothers out there also had a good day.

First Day of School:  Kids waiting for the bus on the  main road.

The street where the school is loated.  L'Ecole is the orange building on the left .

Main entrance.  The upstairs classrooms are for the bigger kids; the downstairs for the smaller ones.

The back play area of the school.  See the drawbridge leading sailors into Simpson Bay Lagoon.  It opens three times a day.

This is how I left the kids - happy as clams!

The "Contract."

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