A letter from Sonia
This is not just
a school.
It is a promise.
S
Sonia Gautier
Founder & Director · French for Little Ones
Originally from France · Based in Brooklyn
"I wanted to build the kind of place I wished every child could experience — warm, unhurried, and full of real language and real life."
10+
Years of joy in Brooklyn
Sonia Gautier
Founder & Director · FFLO · Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Dear families,
I grew up in a small town in France, where early childhood was simple and unhurried. School felt warm. Teachers knew your name, not just your face. Learning happened through stories, through songs, through the rhythm of daily life together.
When I came to Brooklyn, I fell in love with this city, its energy, its diversity, its families. And I saw something missing. Not a big program. Not a factory. Something small, on purpose.
FFLO was originally founded by Magda Lahliti. I joined in its early days and have been here since watching children arrive shy and uncertain, and leave confident, joyful, and speaking French with a naturalness that still moves me.
French immersion asks something of families. It asks for trust in the process, in the teachers, in the environment. The families who lean into that trust watch something extraordinary unfold.
Our staff are native French speakers. They bring warmth, patience, and a genuine love for this age. Children read warmth. They read joy. We offer both, every single day.
If you are considering FFLO, come and meet us. Not to be sold to but to simply sit in the space, feel the energy, and ask every question you have. If it feels right, you will know.
With warmth,
Sonia Gautier
Founder & Director · French for Little Ones
"Keeping our classroom small is not a limitation. It is the most important decision we make every single year."
"Every child here is known. Not as a number, not as a group, as a person, with their own rhythm, their own way of arriving at things."
FROM SONIA
ON SMALL SIZE CLASS
"When a teacher knows each child deeply, everything changes."
— Sonia
🇫🇷
CURRICULUM
Éducation Nationale