L’Alliance Preschool’s curriculum is taught entirely in French to create a fully immersive learning environment, establish the foundation for true bilingualism, and open your child’s mind to a broader understanding of the world.
Our curriculum focus includes:
Daily classes are built around various weekly or bi-weekly themes that students explore in every aspect of our curriculum: language, arts, math and sciences, and motor skills through engaging activities and projects conducted in groups to foster socialization or individually to promote independence. Such scaffolding provides appropriate levels of interactivity and flexibility to match each child’s ideal pace and learning modality.
For toddlers 2½ years old
15 students max
For toddlers 3 years and older
15 students max
Monday–Friday,
8:30 am-12:30 pm
Monday-Friday,
8:30 am-2:30 pm
Extended day option available until 6 pm
Lead Preschool Teacher
Prior to joining the Montclair Campus of L’Alliance New York, Isabelle West worked for 11 years in a French immersion school in New Jersey, primarily in pre-school but also tutoring children between the ages of 6 and 16. A nurse by trade, Mrs. West also worked as a pediatric nurse in France and in Switzerland before coming to the U.S. where she has worked as a registered nurse and then as a teacher. Her interests include art, travel, cooking and baking. Her passion is to integrate these activities into the classroom as a vehicle to encourage children’s creativity and spark the joy of learning. Isabelle was born, raised, and educated in the North of France. She has lived in Manhattan and Northern New Jersey, where she and her husband raised their child.
Lead & Art Teacher
Florian has worked as an early childhood educator (ages 2 to 5) for more than ten years, including several years at the Science, Language & Arts International School (SLA) in Brooklyn. Florian is originally a painter from Paris. After earning a degree in fine art at Auguste Renoir school in Paris, he traveled significantly, spending time in Southeast India and Vietnam where he learned and practiced scuba diving! After several art exhibitions in Paris, Rome and New York he settled down in Brooklyn. He moved with his wife to New Jersey where his son was born. Florian joined the L’Alliance New York team in October 2020.
Teaching Assistant
Safietou (Sophie) Mbengue has been a French assistant teacher since 2015. Of American nationality, she is of Senegalese origin. Coming from a family of teachers and a French-speaking country, she is bilingual in French and English, and has some knowledge of Spanish. She studied early childhood education and has worked in a variety of school systems, including the French Academy in New Jersey, and most recently in a Fort Lee public school, providing individualized support to kindergarteners. Sophie is passionate about creating a personalized approach to support her students, and has developed her knowledge and professional skills in creating guided work and preparing class lessons. She is interested in student development and following students’ practical progress, including fostering their creativity and curiosity
Raising a bilingual child has been proven to nurture life-long skills in planning, problem-solving, and staying focused. Learn more about the benefits of bilingualism at the bottom of the page.
Our teaching methods integrate non-French-speaking children and those with a connection to French at home. Various individual and group activities meet children at their own learning pace and, more importantly, forge a lasting cognitive connection between learning and having fun in a community setting.
Early immersion in a foreign language lays the groundwork for bilingualism and primes young minds for a broader understanding of the world. The Preschool at L’Alliance provides the foundation for your child to be conversational in French after two to three years of enrollment.
In the first year, children will begin to absorb and understand the language through embodied and visual cues, such as daily routines and gestures. When a child speaks in English or another language, teachers respond by rephrasing the question in French. Children might not say much in class at this early stage, but at home, they’ll sing the songs and use the words they’ve learned.
Studies have shown that children are more likely to speak a language spoken by their peers. For children with French-speaking parents or family members, the L’Alliance Preschool provides a supportive social setting that is vital to encouraging your child to understand the French spoken at home and to verbalize it themselves.
Whether part of a French-speaking home or not, children in the L’Alliance Preschool will quickly master a broader vocabulary that allows them to speak in French and begin forming simple sentences and become conversational after two years. Whether they go on to an American, French, or French immersion elementary school, these preschool years offer a pivotal foundation for your child’s mastery of the language and a lifelong love of French.
L’Alliance Preschool:
Montclair Campus
17-19 Munn Street
Montclair NJ, 07042
