French officials recognize 3 Utah schools for their dual-language French offerings

NORTH SALT LAKE — Three Utah schools have earned the seal of excellence from the French government for their French dual-language immersion programs.

Two Davis School District schools — Foxboro and Morgan elementary schools in North Salt Lake and Kaysville, respectively — and Jeremy Ranch Elementary in the Park City School District all recently received the LabelFrancÉducation designation.

Michaela Claus-Nix, the director of dual language immersion and world languages for the Utah State Board of Education, lauded the accomplishment.

"We are proud of these three schools and their commitment to USBE's vision of 'opening doors of opportunities to all Utah children' through comprehensive, rigorous dual-language immersion programs," she said in a message to KSL. "We also value our French guest teachers, who enrich students, schools and communities with both language learning and meaningful cultural experiences."

The French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs awards the LabelFrancÉducation designation to schools around the world "that offer French bilingual sections of the highest quality," according to promotional material for the award. Around 35 Utah schools offer French dual-language immersion programs. French Dual Language Schools USA, which maintains a list of U.S. schools with French programs, lists 20 with the LabelFrancÉducation designation.

Representatives from the French Consulate in San Francisco, California, traveled to Utah to present representatives from each of the three Utah schools with the recognition.

"The designation highlights schools that incorporate French language instruction across multiple subject areas," a statement from the Davis School District reads. "To qualify, schools must teach in French for at least 20% of the school day."

Numerous schools across Utah offer dual-language immersion programs in Chinese, Spanish, French, Portuguese, German and Russian, according to the Utah State Board of Education.

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