Staff / Faculty

about us

Staff / Faculty Contact List

Please check and print the 2022-2023 classroom map

Administrative Staff

Executive Director: Marc Mallet

[email protected]

About Marc

Marc is a veteran teacher from Bordeaux, France. He studied at Ecole Normale in Bordeaux and earned an M.A.T. at Georgia State University. He recently received the distinction of "chevalier dans l'ordre des Palmes Académiques" from the French Ministry of Education. Marc has varied experiences including heading the Foreign Language department at The Lovett School, teaching course at the Alliance Française and coordinating exchange programs with school children in France. Marc brings us his experience from the French-American bilingual school in Berkeley, CA where he acted as curriculum coordinator for the French program.

CPR training and certification.

Business Manager: Michel Lopez

[email protected]

About Michel

Michel J. Lopez graduated from the University of Montpellier with a “Diplôme Universitaire de Technologie” (specialization in international trade). Michel also studied at the University of Sorbonne Paris IV where he earned a Bachelor’s in Languages and International Business in English and Spanish. More recently he completed a Master degree in French at Georgia State University where he also earned a teaching certificate. From 2009-2012, he taught French as a Visiting Instructor at Georgia State.

In addition to his academic credentials, Michel has a wide experience in the business world. He worked as an export assistant for Vilaro (Viticulteurs du Languedoc-Roussillon) in Brussels, and also acted as customer liaison and coordinator of bank account operations with CBC Bank (third largest bank in Belgium). In 2012, Michel joined the French American Chamber of Commerce in Atlanta as marketing assistant and served in that role until late 2013. After leaving the FACC, he taught French at Alliance Française, and joined Ecole du Samedi in 2014.

CPR training and certification.

Assistant to the Executive Director :
Myriam Chedouteau

[email protected]

About Myriam

Myriam Chedouteau completed her undergraduate studies with a focus on foreign literature in Montpellier, southern France before entering the French National Education system for a period of 10 years. She taught English and German in several middle schools in France (grades 6-8). During that time Myriam completed several workshops focusing on differentiated instruction and the use of games to learn languages. Myriam is married and has 2 children (a 20-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl). After her marriage she left the public schools to become a relocator and a realtor for over 10 years in Toulouse. She became regional director for relocation and was in charge of the Midi Pyrenees region.
In 2012, she started her own company in Toulouse, and worked with a variety of corporate customers including banks (BNP Paribas, Crédit Lyonnais, Société Générale), EDF (France Electricity), Air France, Casino (food chain), and SNCF (National Train Company).
In 2014 she moved to Atlanta with her family and she currently teaches French or German in Lawrenceville and she also works as a substitute teacher at the Atlanta International school.

CPR training and certification.

Dean of Education: Samuel Vernhes

[email protected]

About Samuel

Samuel Vernhes is a French-American educator originally from Seattle, Washington. He earned his Bachelor’s in Biblical Studies at George Fox University (GFU) and his MDiv at Emory University. During that time, he developed his pedagogy working first as a teaching assistant in GFU’s language department (teaching French labs for all levels and mentoring students), then as a preacher for McMinnville Church of Christ, and finally as a French teacher of all ages at Alliance Française d’Atlanta (where he would later become Director of Education).
For the last several years, Samuel has been teaching French 1 through AP French at Greater Atlanta Christian School, where he also serves as an assistant varsity boys soccer coach. He also currently teaches Hebrew online for Ethos Virtual School.
Samuel is married with two small children who attend École du Samedi. He enjoys spending time with his family, listening to music, and playing soccer in his free time.

CPR training and certification.

Bébé & Moi

Bébé & Moi
Alexia Lunda

[email protected]org

About Alexia

I'm Alexia, I am native French speaker from Congo. I obtained a Certificate in Computer Engineering in 2010 from South Africa and a Bachelor degree in Computer Science and Programming in 2013. I worked as an IT technician in Africa. I am a skilled Autodesk Revit drafter and I enjoy using my free time to design homes.

My newfound passion is children. I love being around them because I learn a lot from them. My philosophy is that "everyday is a wonderful opportunity to teach them new things and guide them." In summary I would say that very young children have a unique ability to absorb new sounds and songs. It enables them to easily speak different languages and to adapt to various cultures.

CPR training and certification

Bout'chous

Bout'chous
Zina Hadjaz

[email protected]frenchschoolatlanta.org

About Zina

Non-Native Section

Kindergarten 1

Fanny Fontaine

Tori Byrd

[email protected]frenchschoolatlanta.org

profkinder1 @frenchschoolatlanta.org

About Fanny

About Tori

Tori began teaching at Ecole du Samedi in 2003. She also teaches French full-time at Mount Paran Christian School in Kennesaw, where she has been since the fall of 2019. Prior to her current position as the Middle School French teacher, Tori taught at Sarah Smith Elementary in Atlanta for 14 years.

She is from North Carolina and studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Tori began learning French in high school and has been blessed to have had many opportunities to travel to France.

She lived in Valence in the Rhône-Alpes region for a school year and taught English to elementary-aged school children. Since then, she has co-led trips to France for students, tutored high school students in French, served on a mission trip to Haiti, and participated in numerous professional workshops to perfect her language skills, learn new research-based strategies for teaching French and immerse herself in cultural events around the city.

Kindergarten 2
Gisèle Djaha

[email protected]frenchschoolatlanta.org

About Gisèle

Gisèle is a native of Ivory Coast and she holds a Bachelor degree in Human Resources and Administrative Management.

Since she arrived in the United States Gisèle has worked with young children; first at St Jude Catholic Church at the Nursery where appropriate care for pre-school children and more recently at the Quadrilingual Academy where she is the lead French teacher for two years and three years old preschool classes.

Gisèle is excited to be on the Ecole du Samedi team and to be a part of your children learning experience.

CPR training and certification

Beginners
Deme Amadou Samba

[email protected]

About Deme

Beginners for Teens
Int/Adv for Teens
Thomas Hampe

[email protected]

About Thomas

Thomas is the father of Anne-Charlotte (13 yo), a student at the Ecole du Samedi since 2014. He is a native from Monaco, lived in Asia where he taught at the Alliance Francaise in Bangkok, Thailand and in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He returned to the United State in 2004.
Thomas graduated from the Solvay Business School in Brussels, Belgium and from Emporia State University in Kansas. He taught French at the University as a Graduate Teaching assistant for 2 years and has been tutoring French for the past 6 years all ages and all level ( from 5 years to 60 years) .
Thomas has 15 years experiences has a trainer, developer and operation in Project Management, Health care and in the Chemical industry.
He speaks French and English.

CPR training and certification

Intermediate 1
Andrée Janis

[email protected]

About Andrée

Mother of two girls, Gabriella and Olivia, Andrée is a native French speaker from Côte d’Ivoire. She has a bachelor’s degree in communications and advertising and a master’s in industrial engineering from École Supérieure des Ingénieurs Commerciaux/Afrique.
She has been in the U.S. since 2001, and in this period she worked for Inlingua as a French instructor. After beginning as tutor at the Lovett School in 2006, she has worked over the years as a substitute teacher for all 3 divisions: Lower School, Middle School, and Upper School. In 2019, she filled for a French teacher for a semester at the Trinity School. For many years Andrée served as Program Director of Manga African Dance, an African dance troupe, where she also has been a camp instructor in French and African arts for Metro Atlanta children since 2017.

CPR training and certification.

Intermediate 2
Advanced Levels
Nawal Aquachar

[email protected]

About Nawal

Nawal Aquachar is a French native speaker born in Casablanca, Morocco. She’s a French teacher, translator and interpreter with 15 years of professional experience. She’s lived in Africa, Europe, Middle East and in the US. Nawal got her Baccalaureate at Lycée Lyautey, Académie de Bordeaux, one of the most respected and recognized international French high schools. She then pursued her undergraduate and graduate degrees in France. She holds a bachelor’s in social science from University of Literature Paul Valery in Montpellier, and a Master’s Degree in Social Sciences and Economics from University of Economics Richter.

She started her career in finance in Paris. She then relocated to Cairo where she worked for French bank, BNP Paribas. She then moved to Nairobi, Kenya where she was involved with French NGOs that work with local public schools before becoming a French teacher in Dubai at Alliance Francaise. Since relocating to the US in 2007, Nawal worked for private and public Schools in Atlanta. She’s specialized in teaching advanced classes and has a gifted education certification program and a Translator certification from NYU.

Native Section

Maternelle 1
Sarah Bouguila

[email protected]

About Sarah

Sarah is 30 years old, she was born and raised in Paris. She moved to Atlanta a month ago.

She completed three years of law school and worked as a part-time teacher assistant in a preschool in France. She fell in love with teaching and decided to earn a master in Education at l’ESPEE of Nanterre Paris X.

Upon graduation she began teaching for l’Education Nationale Française until moving to the US. She worked in several schools in l’île de France and taught different classes (from age 3 to 11). She has one daughter, Léana, who is 22 months old.

Maternelle 2
Dorothée Mesta

[email protected]

About Dorothée

Mother of three girls (Lili-Rose 12, Madeline 10 and Roxanne 7) Dorothée is a native French speaker original from Grenoble in France.
She lived many years in East of France and the German-speaking part of Switzerland as well.
She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Nutrition and a Master’s degree in Quality management. She worked in several health institutions in France to helped develop the quality and process effectiveness.
She started to teach french for children in one-on-one classes while she lived in Switzerland and fell in love with this new way to share the french language and culture.
She continued to teach french for beginner kids in a private school when she moved to the USA in 2016. She joined l’École du Samedi in 2021 and is happy to share her experience with your children!

Cours Préparatoire 1
Djazia Ait

[email protected]

About Djazia

Djazia is a native of Algeria where she graduated from the University of Algiers. She lived many years in Paris and got her graduate certificate superior programs from the University of Paris - Diderot-Paris 7. She has been in the education system for 10 years as an instructor, and she is actually working in Cobb County School District in Marietta as a Special Ed assistant teacher in different classes (French, Spanish, Science and Math).

Cours Préparatoire 2
Daniel Deveault

[email protected]

About Daniel

Daniel was born and raised in Trois-Rivières (Québec) and is a native French speaker. He graduated from U.Q.T.R. (Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières) with an education degree (French language for native speakers, secondary level). During his Master’s Degree in Études Québécoises (Quebec Studies) Daniel moved to Louisiana and started teaching French in an elementary school in Plaquemines Parish.

He then moved to Georgia and taught French in the Lumpkin County and Coweta County Schools. He has taught French at The Lovett School in Atlanta from 2001 to 2013. He teaches now at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic High School.

CPR training and certification.

Cours Elémentaire 1 & 2
Christine Wimberly

[email protected]

About Christine

Christine is from Lyon, France. She has been teaching French for over 15 years, both adults and children, and truly enjoys every minute of it. She moved to America at the age of 18 to be an au pair. She always wanted to travel the world and visited many different countries and still have quite a few on her bucket list. Languages have always been part of her life and she speaks French, English, Ukrainian, Polish and some Spanish. She moved 7 years ago to the UK to be closer to her family in France and worked closely with children in a Catholic school. After her return in Atlanta she worked for Inlingua. She has two children: Malèna (14) and Zoriana (10).

CPR training and certification.

Cours Moyen 1 & 2
Chantal Edjang

[email protected]

About Chantal

Classes Collège
Not offered in 2022 - 2023

Adult Classes

Beginners
Elizabeth Locey

elizabethl @frenchschoolatlanta.org

About Elizabeth

Dr. Elizabeth Locey holds a Ph.D. and Master's with Distinction in French from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she was awarded an Excellence in Teaching award. After completing her studies, she went on to direct the program in French at Emporia State University for 13 years and then chair Modern Languages and Literatures there. She is one of the premier scholars of the twentieth-century French novelist Violette Leduc, though her publications and scholarly presentations (in North America, Europe, and West Africa) include her interests in French and Francophone cinema and drama as well.

Elizabeth is a US native but lived and went to school in Tours, France for some very formative years starting at age 2 with her parents, both of whom were French professors. After placing 6^th in the nation in the AATF National French Contest at age 15, she began her career as a professional translator, which included leading a translation team for National Electrostatic Corp's particle accelerator for the Chunnel's security system in 1993.

Elizabeth moved to Atlanta in 2011 with her husband Thomas and daughter Anne-Charlotte, both of whom also teach at the Ecole du Samedi. It has been a true pleasure to be back in an actual classroom after tutoring and teaching online for many years

Intermediate/Advanced

Marie-Noëlle Befferal

René Houngblamé

[email protected]

About Marie-Noëlle

Marie Noëlle is a native French speaker educated in Paris and dedicated to sparking a love of French in all her students. Here is her journey to become a French teacher

Ooh ! I would love to speak French !
“I heard this sentence so much that I ended up telling myself that I had to do something about it…”

Originally from Paris I spent most of my adult life unpacking my luggage in major European and American cities. Curious and open to the world, I experienced each new stage as an encounter, with new friends, with a new culture and a new tongue. And each time, as I tried to learn the basics of Danish, Italian and German there was always someone who would ask me “are you French?” You are so lucky, what a beautiful language French is.

So, one day I took the plunge and started to teach French to those who wanted it. Little by little I organized my personal teaching approach, getting inspired by methods developed by very well-known language schools that trusted me.

And that’s how the epicurean and art lover that I am became a French teacher

About René

René obtained a graduate degree in Economics at "Université du Benin" in Togo before coming to the United States. After moving to Georgia he received his French teaching K-12 certification in 2003 from Kennesaw State University. He taught for several years at "La Promotion Secondary School" Togo, Atlanta Public Schools and Fulton County Schools. He now teaches French at the Lovett School (Upper School). He received a Master of Sciences in Instructional Design and Technology from Georgia State University in May 2013.

CPR training and certification.

Advanced +
Maryse Aston

[email protected]

About Maryse

Born in Nancy and raised in Paris, Maryse has lived and worked in more than seven countries and traveled to more than 50. She has taught and tutored French for more than 30 years at levels ranging from adult diplomats to elementary school children of various nationalities. She is active in the Junior diplomat student exchange program and was the US envoy to the French Olympic team to the Atlanta Games. She is a gourmet chef and collector of fine jewelry.

announcements

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upcoming events

La Chandeleur – “Journée des crêpes”
February 4 @ 9:30 am - 12:00 pm

about us

resources

French School Atlanta

The French Language School for Children and Adults

French School Atlanta

The French Language School for Children and Adults

French School Atlanta

The French Language School for Children and Adults

Staff / Faculty

about us

Staff / Faculty Contact List

Please check and print the 2022-2023 classroom map

Administrative Staff

Bébé & Moi

Bout'chous

Non-Native Section

Native Section

Adult Classes

announcements

upcoming events

La Chandeleur – “Journée des crêpes”

about us

resources