David Hawley, Director General of Ecolint in Geneva, to become new headteacher of Lycée Français de New York

The Lycée Français de New York is preparing to welcome a new headteacher. Evelyne Estey is indeed completing her last weeks at the head of the Upper East Side institution, eager to ” pursue other projects » and will be replaced in July by David Hawley, the current Director General of Ecolint, the International School of Geneva, in Switzerland.

It’s a return to basics for this native of Boston, who studied in Massachusetts – a bachelor’s degree in biology and earth sciences at the University of Framingham, a master’s and a doctorate in education at Harvard. David Hawley then headed the Atlanta International School. ” But I know Canada a little better for having crossed it twice by bike “says, all smiles, this enthusiast of the little queen, who mainly grew up in New Brunswick where his family is from – he therefore has dual nationality, Canadian and American.

New York joins the long list of international schools David Hawley has run, from the Frankfurt International School in Germany to the Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific in Canada. And Ecolint, his last post. During his visit to New York at the beginning of May, who came to discuss with the staff of the Lycée and the students – when we met him -, David Hawley said he was happy to arrive at a pivotal period: the entry into force of the new French international baccalaureate, the BFI. “ I will be with the first cohort of students who will pass this baccalaureate next year, also alongside those who will take the “standard” French baccalaureate (about 10% of the establishment’s high school students).

David Hawley is familiar with the challenges posed by the BFI, merging the Baccalaureate International Option (OIB – bilingual baccalaureate) and the Franco-American Baccalaureate (BFA – which integrates APs, American exams recognized by National Education within the French baccalaureate), for having worked and reflected on this diploma for years. A tray ” much more relevant to the world high school students live in, not just today but also in the future he underlines, with a module that is dear to him, that of “knowledge of the world”. He took care to write down in a small notebook the different research topics proposed by the high school students he met. David Hawley also worked extensively on the IB, the International Baccalaureate, during his two and a half years (2014-2017) spent as Director of Studies at the International Baccalaureate Organization in The Hague. ” The IB is a very established tray in the world but its structure is very rigid “, he believes.

A new position in the United States that will allow this father of three children to ” closer to her two children seniors, as he wrote in Ecolint’s magazine last September, and ” to undertake another wonderful educational challenge “. David Hawley is expected to keep his predecessor’s track record, including ” push » on research, the next big project of the Lycée with the generalization of artificial intelligence to the general public; continue in the field diversity, equity and inclusion with a new hire, Dr. Angela Gittens, who will start in July as well.

Without forgetting ” the importance of emotional intelligence, emphasizes Evelyne Estey. For the outgoing director, “ learning can only take place if students feel good “. His successor says he is fully convinced of this.