The French Academy of Minnesota - French School, Preschool and Elementary

Véronique Liebmann - Founder and Director
director@famn.org

The school founder and Director, Véronique Liebmann, is a native of Annecy, France. She holds a Bachelor Degree in Business and Administration (1983, Lyon, France). Véronique moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1993. Véronique was certified as an Early Childhood Montessori Teacher by the American Montessori Society in June 1995. In 1996, she visited several Francophone Schools in Canada and an immersion preschool program in the Chicago area. She was at this time convinced that she could benefit the community best by teaching in her native language. In September 1996 she introduced a French immersion program for pre-schoolers in St. Paul, MN. In September 1998 she founded formerly “La Maison des Enfants”, French Pre-school & Kindergarten program in Eden Prairie, MN. Since 1998, the program has grown to 5th grade. Véronique was awarded “Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year” by the Small Business Administration (SBA) in May 2004.

From Véronique: "At a young age, children do not learn a language. They just absorb it when they are offered the right environment. After ten years teaching in the immersion setting, I am still amazed observing the children's abilities in learning another language. They do not worry about mistakes, they are excellent mimics, and just want their message to get across: Isn't that what languages are all about?

Annie Tellier
Administrative Assistant

Annie Tellier was born in North of France. She moved to the US in 1988 living in Iowa. After a stay in France for a few years, she returned to the US, in Allentown Pennsylvania. She has been living in Minnesota since 1996 and joined the French Academy in 2006. She has 2 children, both working in the Twin Cities. In March 2008, Annie and her children became American Citizen.

Karla Bradley
Nutrition Coordinator

Karla was born in Germany and grew up in northern Minnesota. She went to school for Radiologic technologist and worked for 10 years as specialized in mammography. She has married and has 4 children. She has been home with her children for the last 15 years and joined the FAM staff 2 years ago as Nutrition Coordinator. She sees the great value in healthy food and nutrition for the children and exposure to new and interesting food

Emmanuelle Hardy
Marketing and Communication Coordinator

Emmanuelle comes from loire-atlantique, near Nantes. She has earned a bachelor in International Business, from Minnesota State University in Saint Paul, in 1998. She has worked in sales and marketing for the past 12 years, and has recently moved back from France where she resided for 5 years, while participating in the development of an American franchise business over there. She joined the administrative team this year as a Marketing and Communication Coordinator.

Adrien Massy
Computer Specialist

Adrien comes from Angers, in the Loire Valley. He originally graduated with a technical degree in electronics. In 2001 he came for a year in Minnesota as a teaching assistant in a French immersion school. It was such a great experience that he decided to take on studies in teaching and graduated with a BA in English. He was back in 2008 as an intern at the French Academy, bringing with him all his will and devotion and his taste for languages, inter-cultural richness, and of course French itself! This year Adrien is devoted in developing the IT at school as well as giving computer classes.