The Liceo Franco Mexicano A.C. or the Lycée Franco-Mexicain is a private French school with three campuses. It is one of the largest French

lycée In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

s in the world with over 3,000 students in its two

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

campuses:

Polanco Polanco is a neighborhood in the Miguel Hidalgo borough of Mexico City. Polanco is an affluent '' colonia'', noted for its luxury shopping along Presidente Masaryk Avenue, the most expensive street in Mexico, as well as for the numerous pro ...

Miguel Hidalgo Don Miguel Gregorio Antonio Ignacio Hidalgo y Costilla Gallaga Mandarte y Villaseñor (8 May 1753 – 30 July 1811), commonly known as Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla or simply Miguel Hidalgo (), was a Catholic priest, leader of the Mexican Wa ...

in northern Mexico City, and

Coyoacán Coyoacán ( ; , Otomi: ) is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. The former village is now the borough's "historic center". The name comes from Nahuatl and most likely means "place of coyotes", when the Aztecs named a pre- ...

in southern Mexico City. There is a third campus, ''École

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

de Cuernavaca'' (''Escuela Molière''), in the city of Ocotepec,

Cuernavaca Cuernavaca (; , "near the woods" , Otomi language, Otomi: ) is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state, state of Morelos in Mexico. Along with Chalcatzingo, it is likely one of the origins of the Mesoamerica, Mesoamerican civilizatio ...

Morelos Morelos, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Morelos, is a landlocked state located in south-central Mexico. It is one of the 32 states which comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Mun ...

History

The Lycée was established in 1937 so that the extensive French community in Mexico could give a French education and culture to their family and stay linked to their motherland. Since then the school has evolved a lot and the number of students has increased considerably. Nowadays the school receives mostly French-Mexican and Mexican students, but also children of many diplomats from all over the world, the children of all the French expatriate workers and many other students from other European countries.

Structure

Before the equivalent of

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

, the school is divided into a "French" and a "bilingual" section. In the first one, all the courses are given in French (except language courses). In the other section, the classes are taught in Spanish, but they include a

French language French ( or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-R ...

course. By high school, students of the "bilingual" section are proficient in the language and the two sections are mixed together under the French system and all courses are in French.

Academic performance

The academic level of the school is extremely good and it is recognized as one of the best schools in Mexico, especially recognized for its high level of mathematics (on the same level than the Mexican-Japanese Lyceum and the Colegio Alemán Alexander von Humboldt). The results of the

Baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

are especially good, with 97% of students having passed the exam. After graduating, the students follow several paths. The majority are admitted into prestigious Mexican universities, however a good amount also follow superior studies in French universities and the so-called "classes prepa". There is also an increasing number of students who decide to study in other countries (US, Switzerland, UK, etc.).

Architecture

The school building was designed by Vladimir Kaspé. The National Institute of Fine Arts (Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, INBA) declared that the original building has artistic value. The Secretariat for Housing and Urban Development of the Government of Mexico City (Secretaría de Desarrollo Urbano y Vivienda del Gobierno del Distrito Federal; SEDUVI) declared that the original building has heritage value.

Notable alumni

Artists, scientists, CEOs, academics and politicians (as former Secretary of Foreign Affairs Jorge Castañeda Gutman and acclaimed German historian Friedrich Katz) all studied at the LFM, among many other distinguished alumni. * Arielle Dombasle : Angélica Aragón : Jorge Castañeda Gutman : Justo Sierra : Friedrich Katz : Elena Poniatowska : Daniel SanMateo : Nicole Reich de Polignac : Jorge Volpi :

Thalía Ariadna Thalía Sodi Miranda (; born 26 August 1971), known mononymously as Thalía, is a Mexican singer, songwriter and actress. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Pop", she is considered one of the most ...

: Juan Manuel Gómez Robledo : Anna Fusoni

References

External links

Lycée Franco-Mexicain

Lycée Franco-Mexicain

Escuela Moliere
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lycee Franco-Mexicain French international schools in Mexico High schools in Mexico City International schools in Mexico City Private schools in Mexico Schools in Coyoacán Buildings and structures in Morelos Cuernavaca Education in Morelos AEFE contracted schools Educational institutions established in 1937 1937 establishments in Mexico