École Jeannine Manuel

Jeannine Manuel

Jeannine Manuel joined the French Resistance and became a member of the Free French in London in 1940. She returned to France in August 1944.^[7] In 1954, Jeannine Manuel founded the Ecole Active Bilingue in a former townhouse on Avenue de La Bourdonnais in Paris. For Jeannine Manuel, the aim of education was to help shape "whole" people, by which she meant, "individuals aware of their presence in this world, engaged in its history, and ready to play a part in world affairs".

Expansion

The school opened its doors in September 1954 with 9 students enrolled, a number that grew to 100 by January 1955. The school continued growing at such a rate that, by 1960, there was a lack of available space to accommodate its growing student body.

Jeannine Manuel consequently created special bilingual classes for her secondary students and teachers at the Lycée de Sèvres in collaboration with her friend, Edmée Hatinguais, who was Inspector General, former head of the École Normale Supérieure de jeunes filles de Sèvres, and the first director of the International Center for Pedagogical Studies (Centre international d’études pédagogiques). The bilingual curriculum and pedagogical approach offered at the Lycée de Sèvres closely mirrored that developed by Jeannine Manuel.

A few years later, Jeannine Manuel opened a new school near Parc Monceau with the help of a new investor. However, in 1979, a conflict between a need for return on investment and Jeannine Manuel's pedagogical principles led to an official split between the two schools. Jeannine Manuel consequently left the school on the Parisian right bank but kept the two small schools on Avenue de la Bourdonnais and Avenue de Suffren. Jeannine Manuel opened another school on 70 Rue du Théâtre in the 15th arrondissement of Paris.

In 1999, at Jeannine Manuel's behest, her eldest son Bernard Manuel regrouped the recently opened school in Marcq-en-Baroeul (Lille) and the new Dupleix site in Paris into a single non-profit association together with the other pre-existing schools. Bernard Manuel remains president of the association.

Creation of the Fondation Jeannine Manuel

In 2004, one year after Jeannine Manuel's death, the Fondation Jeannine Manuel was established under the patronage of the Fondation de France. The Fondation's mission is to support École Jeannine Manuel and to encourage the development of other schools with a similar mission and pedagogical approach. They host a gala every year.

School renamed in honor of Jeannine Manuel

In 2014, on the occasion of its sixtieth birthday, the school was officially renamed École Jeannine Manuel.

École Jeannine Manuel opens its doors in London

In 2015, with the financial support of the Foundation and in honour of Jeannine Manuel's formative years in London, the school opened its first site in Bedford Square, London.^[8] The Russell Square premises for the Upper School opened in 2019,^[9] and a new Primary School building opened on the south side of the square in 2022.^{[citation needed]}

1901 association & American International section

The school is a 1901 non-profit association and is under contract with the French state since 1959.

Both the Paris and Lille schools are official international sections. Students consequently have the opportunity of sitting the international (US) option of the French Baccalaureate (the OIB), a demanding bilingual and bicultural exam taken by only 1% of students sitting the Baccalaureate.

In 2010, Elisabeth Zéboulon, Director of École Jeannine Manuel, and Sean Lynch, Head of the American Section at the Lycée International of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, founded the Association of American International Sections (AAMIS) to help develop the OIB exam in schools. With Bernard Manuel as its president since 2012, AAMIS now includes more than 40 member high-schools that offer the OIB in Shanghai, San Francisco, Beirut, Johannesburg and other cities across the world.^[10]

IB World School with CIS and NEASC accreditations

With regards to international accreditations, École Jeannine Manuel was one of the first associated UNESCO schools, and has been an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School since 1980.^[11] The school is also accredited by the Council of International Schools (CIS) and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.^[12]