Twelfth Grade (Terminale)

American Curriculum (25% of school time)

Literature (ACL) (four hours per week): The Terminale year adheres to the guidelines for the Baccalaureat Français International (BFI). Terminale students study literary works at a very sophisticated level, as a culmination of their study of language and literature in the American Section. The two-year program of Première and Terminale prepares them to take the end of year year four-hour written examination and a half-hour oral examination on the literary texts studied over the past two years. Students may choose between writing two two-hour essays, or one two-hour essay and one prose or poetry commentary on a passage from an unknown literary work, testing how they apply skills of close reading and analysis to a piece of literature. The oral examination includes close analysis of a passage or poem chosen from texts that the students have studied in depth, followed by a question-and-answer session about the literary works studied during the two-year program.

According to BFI guidelines and in coordination with other BFI schools, by the end of Terminale, students will have studied the following texts: one play by Shakespeare, two nineteenth- or twentieth-century English-language novels, two English-language plays, a selection of works by English-language poets, one English-language nonfiction text or selections of nonfiction writing, and two non-English-language works of literature in translation. 

History/Geography (DNL) (two hours a week): Designed by the French Ministry of Education, the Terminale History curriculum offers students a sophisticated understanding of major events from the 1930s to the 1990s, such as the civilian experience in WWII and the Cold War's influence on decolonization. Students also explore social changes in US society after WWII, including the rise of feminism and the Civil Rights Movement. The Geography program centers on globalization, examining case studies of the US, the EU, France, and maritime spaces. 

The breadth of this program requires students to effectively synthesize and analyze information for their year-end oral and written BFI exams. The written exam comprises a two-hour essay and a two-hour document analysis exercise. The 20 minute oral exam includes a five to seven-minute presentation, followed by a question-and-answer session on themes covered in Terminale

Contemporary US Society (CdM) (two hours a week): Students will continue to develop their understanding of US society, linking their ACL and DNL curricula to current-day issues. They will finalize their individual projects and present them orally to a jury.

French Curriculum (75% of school time)

In Terminale, students continue following the French national curriculum with the additional eight hours of class in their international sections.

Terminale students must choose two out of their three spécialités. The Lycée International offers seven choices: 

  • Histoire-Géographie-Géopolitique et Sciences Politiques (HGGSP)
  • Humanités-Littérature-Philosophie (HLP) 
  • Maths 
  • Science Numérique et Science Informatiques (NSI)
  • Science de la Vie et de la Terre (SVT)
  • Physique/Chimie
  • Science Economiques et Sociales (SES)

For more on the content and skills developed in French during the year, please visit the website of the French Ministry of Education.