At FISW, our curriculum follows the structure of the French Ministry of Education, which divides elementary school into three cycles of education. This organization provides the flexibility needed to accommodate each child’s diversity, ability and rate of development, and acknowledges that learning occurs in a different way, and at a different pace, in every child. Cycles allow all children to be stimulated and challenged, and help teachers evaluate each student’s knowledge and work habits. As is common in France, some classes might be organized by cycle rather than grade, resulting in split or combined classes. The class structure each year depends on enrollment patterns and what works best for all the students involved.

Each cycle of learning has one report card; students work on the same concepts within the entire cycle, and have that entire cycle of time to master the concepts before moving on.

The primary grades are divided into three cycles as shown below: