Jeannine Manuel School

I attended Jeannine Manuel School for four years and received an excellent education that prepared me very well for university studies. When I attended, the school was known as École Active Bilingue, Jeannine Manuel (which was sometimes shortened to J. M.) Moreover, the education my classmates and I received imparted a love for learning that's been part of my life ever since. I've been able to take the education received there to try to do better, to be a healthier person, and to enjoy life. I've also enjoyed keeping in touch with lycée classmates into adulthood. We came from and left for different corners of the globe, but we remain connected through our time at this wonderful institution for learning.

Our year at EJM in the adaptation program was extremely upsetting to our children and stressful for the entire family. We were told that EJM had “a special program to meet the needs of these students, for whom the social and emotional challenges of relocation are often as great as its academic demands.” That simply wasn’t the case. Instead we found a larger class size than promised, combined grades, and very little basic French instruction. There was no transition period. Children were expected to immediately learn in at-grade French. The teachers lecture rather than engage and many are mean-spirited and will humiliate children. Students are expected to come home each night and spend hours reviewing, rewriting and memorizing all the day’s lessons. Families find the need to hire tutors. The program director is disorganized and unhelpful. The Parents Association did what they could to keep us sane. Please carefully evaluate whether your family is up for this challenge.

This school not only put the right amount of stress on me (a student) but also helped me throughout my studies. Of course that you need to pressure students so that they feel they have to work, but what you mainly need, is to know how much stress to put on the young. I, as a student, was pushed by the school to the level where I discovered learning is a pleasure, a true pleasure! I owe that to EJM. Furthermore, a work placement is organized in 2nde as well as in 3e(obligatory for french schools) which I think shows greatly the interest of the school in the students lives. And of course, the teachers are incredible. I am able to say it as I was in a public school then a catholic private school and finally EJM. I can see a large gap with the other schools. However, you also need self confidense and motivation to make you proud of yourself.

Dear naive parent, Watch out for this school's admission process, as usually, once the school is fully booked, they still will try to charge you the 185E admissions fee knowing in advance that they wont take your child. Worst thing, that even if they took your money, they wont even invite you for a visit, saying it is fully booked. A terrible scam à la française. - Dissapointed and angry parents from London.

There aren't many bilingual schools in Paris and EABJM is a well-established institution that caters to European and US expats who work (temporarily) in Paris and to a fairly large contingent of privileged French families looking for a bilingual education for their child. My son spent almost a full year in CM2 there as I was on sabbatical in Paris. His French was not so good on arrival and he struggled quite a bit. Based on an initial assessment of his proficiency in French he was put in the lowest level class along with other kids of a similar level in French. As a result most of the communication with peers and teachers was done in his broken English, which didn't help learning French. And wasn't particularly good for his English either. We found the teachers not particularly supportive nor caring. Overall they seemed more concerned about putting into practice their pedagogical dogmas than with the well-being of their students. If I had to come again, I would not consider EABJM again, but probably opt for an exclusively French school.