Daily Inspiration: Meet Rachele DeMeo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachele DeMeo and to her French school: FLAM San Diego. This is her and her team’s story below:

How did we start FLAM San Diego? Here is our story!

Rachele DeMéo, educator and mother of two children, possesses two Masters (including an M.Ed., specifically in teaching and learning) and has always been passionate about bilingual/multilingual education. Having herself grown up in a bilingual and multicultural environment, she has since a young age been captivated by different languages and cultures.

A former successful college professor, she taught French and additionally accompanied students who came from French-speaking families but who found themselves in university courses in FLE (French as a Foreign Language). There, she realized that these students were not following a French course adapted to their needs, that is to say, made for students who already understood and spoke the language.

In parallel, for 3 years, she homeschooled her two boys in addition to her part-time teaching jobs at two different colleges. Later, she placed her children in a public American school and at home taught her own children her native French language. Together, they worked on French curriculum and different programs including the CNED (National Center for Distance Education). However, teaching her children French was her sole responsibility and required a very large investment.

She anticipated to work with the Vista Unified School District to open a bilingual immersion school. This project didn’t end up working out as she had hoped so she continued her research to find solutions for the numerous families in the region who wanted their children to learn, improve and maintain a good level of French.

At that time, she had the opportunity to meet a woman living near Los Angeles who contacted her to ask her advice to help her start a bilingual immersion school. During their conversation, the name FLAM was mentioned. Rachele then inquired and learned that non-profit associations and French schools called FLAM (French as a Mother Tongue) existed all over the United States and around the world, to help French-speaking students (and non-French speaking students) learn the French language and cultures.

However, there was no FLAM school in the San Diego area. This is what inspired her to found FLAM San Diego in October 2019.

FLAM San Diego currently offers French classes and extracurricular activities in our own school, as well as in other schools within Oceanside and Vista, as after-school programs.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There have been many struggles in opening up the FLAM San Diego, French school. First of all, we opened our doors during the pandemic, in August 2020. We were supposed to have classes in two locations: Oceanside and Encinitas but had to immediately switch to online classes. We had to intensively train our teachers in online teaching and learning. Fortunately, the director, Rachèle DeMeo, is certified in online instruction and was able to help her teachers adapt their teaching methods. The classes were a huge success to our then 30 students enrolled.

Another struggle was not having the resources financially.

Our team worked really hard to provide high-quality French classes at an affordable level. We tried to keep our high-quality programs (at the FLAM label) at a very affordable cost.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As a former college professor, I would focus on finding out my students:

– learning styles

– personality types

– intelligence types

It’s important to best find out HOW a student learns by identifying these factors.

In the first 5 years I taught at a local college, I increased the French department by 32%. My theory is simple: I taught what was the most used in French and provided students opportunities to use and practice French in and out of the classroom.

Now, at FLAM San Diego, we focus our curriculum (directly from the National French Education) on what’s the most useful for students to learn in French. And actually, from our first year to our second year, we grew 40%. I believe it’s due to several factors. First, our teachers are diligently trained outside of their education and experience. Second, the quality of our classes is outstanding. Then, we work with each student individually to best help him/her learn. Lastly, just like I did as a college professor, we provide our students with resources to continue learning outside of class.

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Opening a French school in the middle of a pandemic was a huge risk to take. Leaving a successful teaching career to found FLAM San Diego was a step of faith. I knew with the 20K French people living in San Diego and the quantity of parents that had asked me over many years to open up a French school, that we had a need. But it was a risk I was scared to take not knowing the outcome. Now, I appreciate the challenge of not knowing how fast we will grow and what one year from another may look like. It’s part of the journey and part of the story we are creating.

Pricing:

• Group French classes (for the school year) $1150
• Private Lessons: $60/hour
• After-school French classes for YOUR school: $450 for 1 semester
• After-school French classes for YOUR school: inquire ([email protected]) for additional options and pricing
• Extracurricular activities (monthly): $15 (members) | $20 (non-members)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.flamsandiego.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flamsandiego/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FLAMSanDiego
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfPphdKi30kYeHMTLhN3GRg
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/profdemeo

Image Credits
Lina Messaoudi
Rachele DeMeo