Rochambeau The French International School

Rochambeau is a non-profit school, approved by the Ministry of Education and operating within the framework of the Agency for French Teaching Abroad (AEFE). As a member of this unique network of nearly 500 schools in 135 countries worldwide, we offer the best of an education system acclaimed for the breadth of its program and its teaching of skill, providing its students with critical thinking, discipline and rigor.

Rochambeau is the only school in Washington DC and its surroundings to provide an education based on a unique combination of the French program and a high quality English program. It welcomes students from the Toute Petite Section preschool class (2yr old) to senior year, representing over 60 different nationalities, with varied cultural, socioeconomic and linguistic backgrounds.

This extraordinary diversity is an asset that we are quite proud of! Our students understand from an early age that differences and otherness are the richness of the world and great sources of discovery and personal enrichment.

At the crossroads of French and American cultures, we further increased the value of our academic and educational approach by integrating the best of the American approach in terms of self development, autonomy, responsibility building, self-trust and creativity. By giving our students access to a Maryland High School Diploma, as well as a French Baccalaureat, this unique education opens for them the doors of Francophone and Anglophone colleges and universities around the world.

The mission of Rochambeau, the French International School, is to create a multicultural learning environment built on a rigorous French curriculum accredited by the French Ministry of Education. The school is part of the worldwide AEFE network of schools and provides a safe environment that welcomes students of all backgrounds and nationalities, guiding them to become confident, caring, and open-minded critical thinkers who will gain access to the best universities and thrive in a diverse competitive world.

Rochambeau, the French International School, values diversity, celebrates multiculturalism, and empowers students to understand and improve the world around them. The school's core values are:

• Pursuit of Excellence, expect and help everyone to do their best
• Intellectual rigor and fairness, strong emphasis on hard work and work well-done
• Adaptability to a changing world
• Respect for diversity, the individual, ideas, cultures and the environment
• Support and cooperation between and among our students, our staff and our community
• Openness and transparency in our decision making process and communication

Diversity is a hallmark of Rochambeau, with over seventy nationalities represented in the student body. Rochambeau is committed to cultivating a multilingual, multicultural learning environment that affirms the benefits that diversity and inclusion brings to all aspects of academic and campus life. We encourage all community members (students, parents, faculty, staff and Trustees) to participate in and continuously reinforce our learning community through thriving discussions, interactions and shared discoveries, anchored in a constant thirst for knowledge. Engaging on these important issues inside and outside the classroom is central to Rochambeau’s longstanding commitment to nurturing leaders who will seek a world that respects diversity in all senses throughout their lives.

Choosing a school and an education system is one of the most important decisions a parent will make. In the greater Washington DC area, Rochambeau presents a unique opportunity: a truly transformative environment in which students learn, grow and become fully prepared to thrive and succeed in an ever-changing world. Rochambeau optimizes students' potential by giving them as many opportunities as possible for their future. Having a broad base of knowledge, the ability to analyze and think critically, and an understanding of the world from different perspectives, Rochambeau graduates are bicultural and bilingual, often multilingual. With both a US High School diploma and a French Baccalauréat, they choose to continue their education in the US, Canada, the U.K., France or anywhere in the world.

Our academic program is based on the French national curriculum with a strong emphasis on languages. It is a comprehensive, world recognized educational program organized in cycles from Maternelle to 12th grade that follows a core of classes including languages, the sciences, math, the arts, music, technology, history (including US and French history), geography and philosophy. Students taking the OIB option (Option Internationale du Baccalauréat) successfully demonstrate the strength of this bilingual program, mastering both English and French as native speakers and writers.