French International School of Philadelphia
school in United States of America
The French International School of Philadelphia (French: École française internationale de Philadelphie, EFIP) is a French international school in Bala Cynwyd, Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania within the Philadelphia metropolitan area. As of 1993 it is the only full French bilingual educational program in Pennsylvania. It serves grades PreK-8. The French International School of Philadelphia is accredited both by the French Ministry of Education and the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.
History
The school established its bylaws on January 22, 1991, and it opened in September of that year. At the time the school was established, the French expatriate population of Philadelphia was increasing. At the time, 47 French companies had operations in the Philadelphia area. The Philadelphia honorary consul for France, Stanhope S. Browne, and the general consul of France, Jean-Yves Defay, stated that they estimated that between 5,000 and 6,000 French people lived in the Philadelphia area. In addition some American families had concerns about education in American schools. The French expats worked with locals for five months to have the school established.
The public source identifies “French International School of Philadelphia” as school in United States of America. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around French, International and School.
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The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q16874724. Authority coordinates are 40.002, -75.239. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1993 and 1991.
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This entry incorporates text from “French International School of Philadelphia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.