The French-American School of Los Angeles (Los Feliz campus) has come a long way in the years since it opened. When I first visited the campus in 1990, it was a run-down facility with a barren dirt play yard struggling to get on its feet. Now it is a thriving place of learning, with full classrooms, bright play equipment and grassy fields outside. The campus sits on six green acres, and its classrooms are a collection of one-story octagonal buildings, which are now protected by the California Historical Society. There are huge eucalyptus trees throughout, and in the background towers the famous “Shakespeare bridge” built in the 1920s. These great, round buildings are divided into pie-shaped spaces, and because the windows go on uninterrupted for 360 degrees, (picture an airport control-tower) there is a wonderful feeling of openness and light. The kindergarten program is a traditional academic one and all subjects are taught in French. The school goes up to the 12th grade, but it doesn’t feel like a typical
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