State Schools Superintendent renews agreement with French academy

OLYMPIA — An agreement renewed on June 22, 2012 will help students from France and Washington learn about the language, history and culture of each of their countries.

The memorandum of understanding (MOU), between the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Académie de Nantes in France, renews a formal agreement between the organizations originally signed on April 27, 2010. 

Under the agreement, each had agreed to consider partnerships, such as the sister school program, that could benefit students at every grade level.

“I am pleased to be renewing this agreement,” State Superintendent Randy Dorn said. “The MOU has already helped Washington State and the Académie de Nantes in France to establish sister school in ten schools in each country. Washington students are already benefiting from this opportunity to directly interact with a variety of cultures and languages in order to become respectful and responsible global citizens of this world.”

The goal of the collaboration is to provide educational opportunities that will:

• support the teaching, learning, and understanding of the respective languages, cultures and their contributions to history and contemporary issues;
• promote a better knowledge, understanding and appreciation of our respective educational systems;
• provide students, teachers and other educators and administrators with educational opportunities and resources, both linguistic and cultural, that prepare them for future personal, academic and professional success; and
• incorporate international dimensions and comparative approaches in teaching, learning, training and research, and the evaluation of these areas.

The Académie and OSPI have recently issued an annual report for 2012 detailing the progress made on the collaboration. The renewed memorandum of understanding sets the agreement at four years, with a chance for renewal if both parties agree.

The Académie de Nantes is composed of about 3,600 schools, ranging from kindergarten through college, serving more than 665,000 students. The Académie serves Nantes, a city of more than 800,000 people that is located about 200 miles southwest of Paris.