Best Prep school (equivalent) in Paris

[DesperateInTheGulf]

Hi all,
I hope this is the correct message board! Please sign post me elsewhere if it is not.
I have a DD aged 3 who will soon be moving to Paris for her education. It’s a long story and I’m not exactly happy about the circumstances (breakdown of my relationship with her father who is based in the Gulf, where I also currently live) but DD will be moving to our property in Paris and I will visit her every other weekend and school holidays. Her father will alternate weekends/summers with her.

The problem is, I don’t know of any schools/education system in France! For background, DD is international in outlook due to her mixed heritage but I am hoping she will grow up to be westernised thanks to a French education and European mother. Currently speaks English as a first language with good Arabic as a second language, I would love for her to learn French.
Are there any outstanding prep schools in Paris? Ideally I would like a school that runs through all of the education years up until the 18 due to the less than ideal issues at home/parents being overseas so she has some stability.
Our property is in the 16th arrondissement although commute isn’t an issue really- I just don’t want her to be exhausted!
Thank you

Can't really help on any specific school recommendations in Paris but we live outside the U.K. and have moved around quite a bit with 2 DC over 10+ years. This year, more than any other I have realised how problematic it can be to be in a separate place to DC or rest of family.

What passports do you, ex & DD have? Is it realistic in Covid times to be able to travel to Paris as often as you say and what happens to DD if you can't? In terms of school is putting her in the French system something you want to do. She's so little that she will pick up the language very quickly and most countries have a Lycee Francais and I've been told by others that they very much the same regardless of where you are in the world so it allows for an element of future proofing schooling for moving purposes.

I have a British passport, ex has a gulf national
passport (Don’t want to completely out myself- although I’m sure I have!!- but the passport of a very conservative Middle Eastern country) and DD also has the passport of the very conservative Middle Eastern country.

This isn’t ideal at all but ex has given me the options- either he has full rights over DD in the country we currently live in (his home country) or she is educated in Europe and I can visit her. Thankfully my ex is forward thinking and is keen for DD to be educated so is all for her moving to Paris for her schooling.
If DD stays in the country where we currently reside then there is a risk her father could completely stop me from seeing her, all legally. Plus I don’t want her to grow up in this country if I am not raising her!
If I can’t make it to Paris as often as I would like (mainly due to pandemics and if I had ill health) then it would be awful and she would need to visit me. Or we wouldn’t see eachother but I know she would be safe. I am keen for DD to be educated away from the country we live in and not to live with ex as she would so I don’t think a Lycee Francais would be suitable. But thank you! Definitely points to consider

Look for schools with a Section Internationale. They offer some bilingual teaching, and a bilingual Bac at the end of schooling. There are "Sections" for over 20 different languages, you could choose British or American as she has English as a first language. www.education.gouv.fr/les-sections-internationales-l-ecole-primaire-12443

I’m a bit confused. Who will your DD be living with in Paris?

@ByTheStarryNight thank you! I’m currently trying to work out how to translate the page from French 😂. Bilingual teaching sounds great, I want her to be confident with the French language.

@daisypond with Nannies, we have nannies who DD adores and I trust them implicitly. Additionally, ex has a huge family and (in normal times) they are regularly in and out of Paris so DD will never be without an aunt/cousin/grandparent around! It’s far from ideal and I didn’t give birth to hand my child over but that’s the reality of the situation. In fact I used to work in a caring role prior to meeting ex, now I’m not trusted to raise my own child! I’m telling myself it’s the same as sending DD to boarding school and in fact she will be growing up in a property owned by her family and with nannies she loves/family who visit regularly. Plus she will (hopefully) receive a fantastic education and have a lovely varied life/friendship group.

Speaking of which, are there particular schools in Paris that are more international? Where it’s not as weird to have parents in a different country? I remember at North London Collegiate we all seemed to live with our families whereas friends at City seemed to have friends who didn’t live with their parents full time (that was a long time ago though!). So I suppose an international vibe to the school is important.

I am concerned by rising anti-Muslim policies in France (although I am not practising, but ex is) so don’t want DD to have a hard time if there isn’t an international or ‘worldly’ view

I would try Ecole Jeannine Manuel in the 15th here

Also Ecole Monceau in the 8th here

If you want all English with a bit of french thrown in try the American School in St Cloud. There is also the British School in Croissy. But if you want her to learn french the best thing is to send her to a french school, maybe one near to where she will be living. You can send her to a privée as opposed to a completely free school.

I don't know about France, but all the English school contracts I have read have specified that the pupil must go home to a parent each evening, even the secondary schools. All were Day schools though, not boarding. If a child does not live with parents, it must be with a close relative or LA approved foster carer, not paid employees. You would need to check the school will allow this set-up.

Ecole Jeannine Manuel also has a boarding school near Lille following the same bilingual curriculum and approach as the school in Paris - not sure if they accept children at such a young age, but it may be worth checking out.
Other international, English-only, day schools in Paris to look at are ISP in the 16th www.isparis.edu
and ICS in the 15th: www.icsparis.fr
Both cater for almost exclusively expat families, so she would certainly not feel out--of-place there.
Good luck!

Sorry I don't want to pry into your private life but aren't you able to move to Paris with her if you're no longer with her dad?

@mslulukat thank you! Incredibly useful and I’ve emailed both schools. I was considering the Ermitage international school but they the ISP in the 16th looms perfect! Although I would be happy with the ICS in the 15th too. Expat families and children who aren’t ‘intergrated’ (cannot think of a better word! Humour me) sounds more fitting than a school where children are established locals.

@MissKittyKitty we live in a country where the legal system states my ex has complete rights over DD and me, everything he is doing is legal. Essentially he has turned on me and doesn’t want DD to live with me incase she turns out to be - -insert derogatory misogynistic term- - like me! So I’m not allowed to raise my DD, perfectly normal
in this country. However, ex is luckily modern enough to want DD to receive the best education so will pay for her to be schooled elsewhere. If I don’t accept this arrangement then I will lose my DD completely. Ex is also very very very wealthy and will use this.
Thank you! Feeling a lot more optimistic that DD will enjoy her school career and make friends of similar backgrounds at the ISP, also nice and close to our property!

So I am not able to move to Paris as ex will then remove DD from Paris and return her to his country where I know he would extremely limit access to her without any legal consequences

This is madness !!

Sorry to be blunt
I really feel for you

Is this KSA?

Could you seek legal advice overseas when you go to see her?

Oh my goodness Desperate I fully understand now and realise why you have to be stoical and practical about this arrangement to ensure a positive outcome for you and dd.

Sorry I have no information about Parisian preps but I wish you all the best and hope one day you and dd can escape his iron-clad grip.

Is there anything else we could do to help?

Would there be a way to get help in France when you go to see her ??

I say this because he sounds like my ex
After he tried to kill me he told me he would be able to keep my child as this was the norm in his country (despite UK law saying otherwise )

I am pleased that you think the schools may be a good fit for her, but indeed @DesperateInTheGulf it sounds like a nightmare. I am based in Paris, not a lawyer, but let me know if there is anything I could do to help.

Marymount in Neuilly? I worked there many moons ago. It was a lovely, caring school. I would avoid l’Hermitage like the plague.
I had to read this several times to make sure I really understood. I’m so sorry. This sounds so hard.

I also had to re read a few times but totally get what you mean
There is help available

No amount of power or money can control you in this way

Collectively on here can we help somehow ???❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

❤️❤️❤️❤️

Hi everyone, first time am posting on this website so apologies if I don't post in the right place. I hope you can help me.
we re moving to Paris this summer and are looking for a school for our son 4 years in Moyenne Section and at some point our daughter (now only 2). I am French, my husband English, we have been living in London for 10 years and our children speak mostly English but understand French. I see some suggestions on Jeanine Manuelle above, and I hear amazing stuff but seems impossible to get a place + it is very far away from where I will work which will make mornings stressful. We had in mind EIB Monceau that is well located and we heard good things, but looking online I see very mixed feedback. Any view? Any recommendation?
Our criteria

1. Want a school that keeps a supportive/Anglo-Saxon/confident building approach (and not fall into a full on French approach)
2. We are fine with it being mainly French and 6-10 hours/week of English as we speak English at home + all extra activities will be in English
3. Strong academic level (I read a lot about EIB Monceau being about money mainly "pay more, get less", is it true or is it good level and have just been unlucky on the comments I read)?

thanks a lot everyone.