collège & lycée
L'Institut Bilingue de Chicago
Our full Secondary School Program — fully bilingual, preparing students for the Brevet des Écoles and the French Baccalauréat.
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French In Residence
We're proud to launch our French In Residence program. L'Institut Bilingue de Chicago will place French instructors in partner schools to enrich their curriculum and bring students from an A1 level to a B2 level in 24 months. We celebrate the work of our teachers bringing this exceptional opportunity to students.
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Middle School — Cycle 4
In France, Middle School, known as le "Collège", includes 7th, 8th, and 9th grades, continuing the 3-grade-per-cycle structure of the prior years. However, these years are counted down. (Yes, don't ask.) They are known as 5th, 4th and 3rd.
Importantly, many new subjects are added to the curriculum during these grades:
- An additional language — typically Spanish at LPEC
- Life and Earth Sciences (SVT: Sciences de la Vie et de la Terre)
- Latin
- Technology
- A comprehensive British and American history course, from the Roman invasion of Britain to the end of the Cold War
Our students are followed by a Professeur des Écoles for most subjects, an auxiliary for Physics and Chemistry, and another for British and American History. Our curriculum includes learning to master tools such as Excel, Word, and PowerPoint, as well as the use of internet resources to prepare materials and visual supports for presentations.
Le Brevet
At the end of Cycle 4, in 9th grade, all students have the opportunity to sign up for and take the DNB (Diplôme National du Brevet), a French national exam for all children entering the Lycée grades. Our students typically have excellent preparation for this exam.
le lycée
High School — Cycle 5
In France, High School, known as the Lycée, includes 10th, 11th and 12th grades. As for Middle School, these years are counted down. They are known as 2nd, 1st and Terminale (unnecessarily ominous, we agree).
Subjects from Middle School are reviewed in much greater detail:
- Our students typically meet the 3-language requirement using French, English and Spanish
- Life and Earth Sciences complemented with Physics, Chemistry, Technology and, for some students, Engineering Sciences
- Latin
- Term papers and independent research
To ensure that the work done in High School is validated for the purpose of transitioning to Colleges and Universities in North America and Europe, our students enroll with the CNED (the correspondence course of the French Ministry of Education) but do much of their independent work guided by an experienced Professeur des Écoles, an auxiliary for Physics, Chemistry and Math, and another for English.
Le Baccalauréat
At the end of 11th and 12th grades, all students sign up for and take the Baccalauréat, a French national exam for all University-bound students. The results of this exam essentially represent, with their CNED grades, the transcript which they need to get into university.
nos anciens élèves
Our Alumni
As we celebrate our tenth year serving students and families in Chicago, we're proud to report that our students' academic achievements are widely recognized. These are some of the universities where our alumni have been accepted, often into honors programs, with scholarships and/or into very demanding STEM tracks.
La prochaine étape...
Do you have questions or would you like to tour our school?
To learn more about our curriculum, schedule a parent interview or reserve a place on our preschool program waiting list, just call or register to begin the admissions process.
Mon–Thu 8:30a – 3:30p · Fri 8:30a – 2:00p · 620 Lincoln Avenue, Winnetka