Guides · Updated
Do you live in the United States, or are you about to move there, and want your child to keep a strong connection with the French language and school system? You are not alone: tens of thousands of French-speaking families ask the same question every year. This guide explains the options, their pros and cons, and how to choose based on your family's plans.
Why keep a French education in the United States?
Families usually have several reasons: preparing a possible move back to France without falling behind, allowing the child to earn the French Brevet and Baccalauréat, preserving real bilingualism (in writing as well as speaking) and a dual culture, or keeping French and European universities open through Parcoursup.
A child who only attends American school often speaks French at home but gradually loses written French, grammar and the cultural references expected in the French system. The wider the gap, the harder the return.
The four main options
- A French school in the US (on-site): a full French education, but only available in some large cities, with high tuition.
- American school only, with some French at home or as an after-school activity: free (public school), but not recognized by the French system.
- CNED (the French public distance-learning provider): follows the official curriculum, but relies mostly on independent work with few live classes.
- An online French school with live classes, such as OFA Lycée: the French curriculum, small groups with teachers, alongside American school.
Dual simultaneous schooling: the best of both systems
The fastest-growing solution is dual simultaneous schooling: the child stays enrolled in their American school (often public and free), which covers their English-language education and leads to the High School Diploma, while following a French curriculum online in parallel.
At OFA Lycée, this model is designed so that skills learned in one system are recognized in the other: students do not redo in French what they have already learned in English. OFA Lycée focuses on what American school does not cover (French, literature, philosophy, history-geography, economics and social sciences depending on grade level), which keeps the workload manageable.
In practice, this means about 1.5 to 3 hours of live classes per week in elementary and middle school; in high school, the volume depends on the path built with the family.
How to choose: the right questions to ask
- Your plans: a likely return to France, the Baccalauréat as a goal, or simply maintaining bilingualism?
- Recognition: does the school follow the French National Education curriculum? Is it accredited (for example by Cognia)?
- Format: live classes with a teacher, or self-study materials?
- Class size: a child progresses much faster in a group of 4 to 8 students than in a virtual class of 25.
- Schedule: do class times fit your time zone and your American school's timetable?
- Budget: an on-site French school often costs three to seven times more than a complementary online option.
OFA Lycée's approach
OFA Lycée is a 100% online French school for students from Kindergarten (Grande Section) to Grade 12 (K-12). It offers two tracks: the National Education Track, which follows the official curriculum and prepares for the Brevet and the Baccalauréat, and the more flexible OFA Lycée Track, which can lead to the OFA Lycée Bilingual High School Diploma with optional DELF/DALF certifications.
The school has been Cognia-accredited since 2022, follows the French National Education curriculum and is a member of ANEFE. Classes are live, in small groups of 4 to 8 students, with certified teachers who know both systems. Today more than 400 students in 34 US states and 8 countries follow their French education with OFA Lycée, with a 100% pass rate at the Baccalauréat and the Brevet.