OUR IDENTITY 

EFBA is not affiliated with any political party or religious faith. 

At EFBA, our goal is to design and deliver the best part-time alternative solution to attending a full-time international school in order to reach bilingualism and biliteracy. We believe that bilingualism is an important social, economic and philosophical stake in the XXIst century as literacy was for the people and economy in the XXth century.

At EFBA, we believe that a bilingual education should not be the privilege of the wealthy. Our circle of concern includes all interested families, in particular the emigrant families, who are trying to retain their heritage and do not have the backing of an international school. Their children who grow across different worlds and cultures are trying to make sense of this “difference”. 

EFBA is a labor of love. With our work, we can help those children develop a harmonious hybrid identity and speak their mother (or “father”) tongue besides the “majority” language. In particular, we believe that children from underprivileged lower and middle-class families will benefit from the external validation of their “entire” identity, instead of having to hide it or offset it. 

Our mission goes beyond the children of immigrants. Those families who did not uproot themselves still benefit from exposing their offspring to a second language from the earliest age onward to open their minds and hearts to the world. 

The other reason why all children can benefit from receiving a bilingual education is that this type of education makes them far more likely to succeed in school in all subjects than their monolingual counterparts. Indeed, the brain is being wired and used in a different and more creative way. As a result, the advantages of becoming bilingual go beyond communication: They improve the decision-making process and mental fitness in general. 

Bilingual children grow to become global citizens, who better understand other people’s perspectives and can create new things, new solutions. They think “outside the box” as a second nature. 

We are not just service providers, for as noble as it may sound. Yes, we want to deliver great French classes for the children, but that’s not enough. We do not want to leave the unjust system in place while reducing its negative effects. At EFBA we seek to transform the status quo and create a new system that is fundamentally different. 

For this greater good, our mission is to spur the innovative solution that will transform the status quo and reach a new equilibrium. In our vision, all interested families will have the chance to give their children a bilingual education. 

So, how are we going to get there? Read on about our culture in a later section.

OUR VALUES

We build our organization on a culture of educational excellence and celebration of cultural, linguistic & social diversity. We seek inclusiveness with determination. We respect each other and the environment. We are professionals. We make things happen. Our programs are delivered in person in various educational institutions.

We can summarize the core elements of our culture as follows: 

• Public service: we get up in the morning to make the world a better place. We want to serve not just the families who live “downtown” but also as many others who live far from the city center, in suburbs and more remote areas. 
• Social entrepreneurship: we see the opportunity in the problem. We will not wait for the government to solve an injustice nor let the market regulate itself and hope for the best; we take direct action to create a new more just equilibrium. We are the change we seek.
• Innovation: we try new things, evaluate how they work, keep the findings and forgive ourselves when we fail. We pivot again and again and again, until we are satisfied with the result. We are curious and lifelong learners. We are not scared of making mistakes. Experimenting is fascinating and useful to invent a new model of school.  Outside of school, experimenting is a way to live fully and grow.
• Inclusivity: we believe that every child, every person has a potential and it is our individual and collective duty to empower that human being through care, guidance and education to become truly part of society. 
• Cultural diversity: “la Francophonie” is the result of a historical process. In a postcolonial world, we cannot undo the impact, sometimes the harm that was made by France through its colonization abroad but we can use the common language to discover and appreciate each other’s culture. Beyond the French speaking world, we believe in promoting multilingualism and multiculturalism. We actively seek to embrace and integrate diverse people in our teams. 
• Growth mindset: a growth mindset is the belief that intelligence can be developed. It is contrasted with a fixed mindset: the belief that intelligence is a fixed trait that is set in stone at birth. As a learning organization made of professional educators, we understand that each of us, not just our students, can get smarter through hard work, the use of effective strategies, and help from others when needed. At EFBA, we embrace and model that we will continue learning over our entire life. 
• Solution-oriented frame of mind: the lack of resources in a nonprofit does not discourage us, it makes us creative, frugal and solution-oriented. Except death, everything else has one or several solutions. Let’s find them together! 
• Collaboration: at EFBA we play nice and we work as a team. We appreciate individual contributors and we recognize exceptional contributions, but we don’t have favorites. We understand that we are all beekeepers of a positive and delightful work culture. 
• Accountability: Working at EFBA, you will be given tremendous amounts of freedom. We hire smart people and we try to stay out of their way. In return, we ask you to remain true to our rules, our culture and our goals. We trust there are several ways to get the job done, thus we want you to have ownership and agency over your work. In return, you will be expected to take responsibility. If one of us lets the team down, the children lose. Working at a nonprofit is only a tax status. For the rest, we aim at the utmost professionalism and have high expectations for our students, our employees and our mission.  

OUR TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

At EFBA, a child is and remains foremost a child. Our teaching philosophy is based on play-based learning which bolsters social and cognitive skills, improves problem solving, creativity, abstract thinking and collaboration.

With a decade of experience, we have designed an innovative year-round part time school with the goal of reaching fluency in French and developing a child’s cognitive and social skills. In particular, empathy and collaboration. Teaching empathy is necessary in order for children to learn and be part of a civil society. Collaboration is a core value that we want to teach as we immerse our students in French and Francophone cultures. According to research, teams that achieve the most are not those with the most star employees, but rather those with high social cohesion. 

In real life, once we reach adulthood, working in an organization, building a family, engaging in the community, requires us to excel at fostering collaboration. Indeed, nothing great is done by one superhero. 

At EFBA, we are convinced that collaboration is a desirable trait of character and we want to exemplify that quality. 

 “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with a team.”       -African Proverb

EXPECTED SCHOOLWIDE LEARNERS RESULTS

Goals and Outcomes Statement

At EFBA we strongly believe that each student is a unique individual with their own pace of development. Our goal is to introduce the students to as many positive experiences as possible. It is our hope that the experiences we provide will foster creativity and individuality in each student, encourage awareness of themselves and others and open their minds to the world.

EFBA requires continual supervision of all students at all times during the program, which ensures their safety and increases language exposure time.

EFBA has established the following academic and developmental goals for all students:

• To get to love the French language and its cultures.
• To learn and improve their command of the French language.
• To develop a curiosity and a respect for other people’s languages and cultures.
• To appreciate diversity.
• To grow personally and gain a greater sense of one’s own worth.
• To develop self-confidence and grit.
• To be inspired to lead a life of care, honesty, respect and responsibility.
• To experience improved personal relationships.
• To become better leaders.
• To have fun!

In order to help our students reach these goals, our educational team is committed to communicating with the children in French at all times. We do not force children to speak French. Instead, we encourage them and stimulate their curiosity so that they willingly become engaged in interactions that are meaningful to them. For that purpose, the staff uses various techniques and sets up a program that is interesting and student-centered. Such techniques follow our play-based and project-based learning philosophy.