<p>I am having some trouble sorting through some of the schools, because after 9 years in French Immersion for grade school (SK-8) my daughter wants to continue her French. </p>
<p>Is there anyone here who was or who has a child in a similar situation? And if so, were the US schools able to continue the French education? </p>
<p>My daughter has said she is willing to switch to Spanish or Chinese if she has to, but would rather keep going in French so she can test for her bilingual certificate later.</p>
<p>Also, if anyone would like to suggest a school based on the French language program, I am all ears.</p>
<p>Are you looking for schools only in the North America? My children are in a French immersion school in Europe. If you’re open to Europe, check out IB schools in Switzerland. Keep in mind FA is very limited.</p>
<p>It’s not quite clear what you mean from your post about continuing her French education. If you’re looking at the mainstream US boarding schools, obviously it wouldn’t be an immersion type program. But many (most?) schools do have language classes even beyond the AP exam level. For instance, if you look at the Hotchkiss curriculum guide online, you’ll see that there are two full years of French that you can take beyond the AP exam course, plus there’s the option of studying abroad for a semester or full year. And at most schools there’s also the option of doing an independent study, so as long as there was a French teacher willing to be the supervising teacher, she could continue French studies even at the most advanced levels (presumably focusing on literature, current events, or the like).</p>
<p>While what soxmom says re: Hotchkiss may be correct, you might want to look at boarding schools with better access to top flight colleges and universities near Boston or Western Mass. If a student truly tops out the language program at a BS, in addition to the SYA option they could well be able to take advantage of college level courses (if proximate). My own experience of AP + French at Andover way back put me in position to take 300 level French lit courses as a college freshman no problem.</p>
<p>Both my sons were fluent in French but still found challenging classes in their prep schools. Most have at least up to AP and some beyond that. AP is at least 2 years beyond grade 8 immersion.</p>
<p>We are looking at a few (2) Canadian schools, but the financial aid for them is a max of 50%. And while it is possible we could afford that, it is VERY iffy right now. But thank you cdnhockeymom, I had hoped the schools that offer film and lit classes in French would be advanced enough for students who don’t require beginning languages, so hearing what you had to say eased my mind there a bit.</p>
<p>And no, I do not expect her to remain in an immersion program if she is accepted and chooses to attend a boarding school. I imagine if she attends the local school, she will remain in the program though for how much she enjoys it.</p>
<p>Don’t know about the language program specifically, but Choate is near Yale University and I believe they have programs in place to take some classes/do research at Yale. Looking quickly at the course catalog they do have a number of classes in French beyond AP - looks like a very strong department. They also have a French film class to combine her two interests.</p>