The Lycée as a Hub for Teacher Excellence

Hosting AEFE Professional Development

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If you've noticed a few unfamiliar faces on our Sausalito campus this week, here's why — and we think it's something worth sharing.

A School That Invests in Its Teachers — All Year Long

The Lycée is regularly selected by the AEFE (Agence pour l'Enseignement Français à l'Étranger) as a host site for professional training sessions that bring together educators from across the French school network in North America. One of the AEFE's core missions is to provide ongoing training for all staff working in the school network abroad — a key factor in the quality of teaching across French schools worldwide. Being chosen to host these sessions reflects our standing within that network — and our commitment to being more than a great school for our own students.

This year, our campuses have hosted several significant training sessions, welcomed visiting educators from across the continent, and sent around twenty of our own teachers to professional development programs at partner schools throughout North America. Here is a look at what that has looked like in practice.

Renewing the Teaching of Reading — MARCH 2025

In MARCH, our campus welcomed 19 participants for a three-day training on innovative approaches to reading in the classroom (Grades 6–12). Led by educator Elsa COPETE, the session focused on practices that foster more active student engagement with texts — taking into account learner diversity, integrating digital tools, and rethinking how interpretive authority is shared between teachers and students. It was a rich conversation about what it means to truly read together in the classroom.

Media Literacy in the Age of AI — APRIL 2026

This week, our Sausalito campus is welcoming 16 teachers from French schools across North America for a three-day AEFE training running from APRIL 8 to 10. The topic: media and information literacy in the age of artificial intelligence — one of the most pressing challenges in education today.

Led by Morgan LOTON, the session invites participants to explore the pedagogical approaches that help students engage with information in a critical, thoughtful, and responsible way — especially as AI tools become increasingly present in students' daily lives. At the Lycée, we believe that in a world where AI can generate content instantly, the ability to evaluate sources, question what we read, and think independently is not just a skill — it is a form of citizenship.

Affective and Relational Education — APRIL 27–28

Later this month, our Ortega campus will host Nicolas LOUISOT, Life and Earth Sciences teacher and AEFE trainer for North America, for an internal training on affective, relational, and sexual health education. In addition to the faculty session, a presentation will also be offered directly to students — reflecting our commitment to supporting student well-being in an integrated and thoughtful way.

Arts, Water, and the ZAN'ART Network — FEB 2026

During our February professional development day, Primary School teachers took part in a training led by Laure FRANQUES (AEFE) connected to the ZAN'ART project "Un musée imaginaire de l'eau" — an imaginary museum of water. This initiative invites students to create artistic and written works around the theme of water as part of a collective, network-wide project that weaves together creativity and environmental awareness. It is a beautiful example of what it looks like when pedagogy and purpose align. This training inspired our Sausalito Semaine des Arts that delighted our students a few weeks ago.

Beyond Our Campuses

Professional development at the Lycée is not only about what happens on our campuses. This year, around twenty of our teachers participated in AEFE trainings hosted at partner and accredited schools across North America — including Orlando, Montréal, Ottawa, New Orleans, Boston, Dallas, New York, and Chicago. English faculty and teams engaged in IB programs have also attended their own dedicated conferences and training opportunities throughout the year.

The AEFE coordinates a global network of schools across Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa, and the professional learning that flows through it is one of the quiet strengths of a French education. When our teachers grow, our students benefit — and that is exactly the point.

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The AEFE coordinates a worldwide network of 496 schools in 137 countries, enrolling approximately 355,000 students each year. The Lycée Français de San Francisco is a proud member of this global community.

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