Secondary - Clubs and Activities

From nurturing artistic talents to leadership to social service and responsibility for others, our co-curricular and after-school programs and clubs offer Lycée Français de New York Secondary students many opportunities to further develop their interests and talents, and build a stronger community, together.

Performing Arts

The Lycée Français de New York is the image of culture and innovation in the city where it resides. In the Secondary, students can take advantage of a wide variety of clubs in music, dance, theater, visual arts and culinary arts. Tapping the talents of our teaching staff and bringing into the school an array of professionals in music, art and theater, Lycée students nurture their passion and learn to play an instrument, to sing, to act, or to combine all of these for the school musical.

Now in its 24th year, Lycée's Première Scène French Theater Festival brings together 400 students of all ages from public and private schools around the world, including many from the AEFE network, a network of international French schools, take part in an annual weekend-long competition of one-act short plays in French before a jury of theater professionals.
Created by the Lycée, Rough Cut Film Festival is a competition open to students from across the city to write, narrate, direct, animate, and produce their own short films in English or in French.
The annual school musical is a highlight for Lycée students at all grade levels, with performances of works from the classics of the American songbook and of French theater. Recent productions include:
- Les Demoiselles de Rochefort
- A Chorus Line
- Damn Yankees
- Annie

Digital Media, Making and Robotics

Our students deepen their knowledge and develop their innovative spirit and digital know-how through our 3D printing clubs in our Makerspace, award-winning middle- and high-school Robotics Clubs, as well as classes in digital art, coding, virtual-reality creation and more. The Lycée Minecraft Capture-the-Flag team has also seen international success in competitions against students from schools around the world.

Student-Led Clubs and Student Government

Clubs led by students and guided by a faculty advisor include Le Lynx, the Lycée's bilingual student newspaper; literary magazine, yearbook, finance club, student-to-student tutoring club, Environmental Task Force, as well as city-wide and national programs such as Harvard Model Congress, Debate and Model UN. From sixth grade onwards, students participate in school-wide decision making through student government, which takes the form of three bodies:

The Student Council, or Conseil des Élèves (CDE), the student council
Student delegates, with two student representatives from every advisory class (homeroom)
The Conseil Pédagogique d’Établissement (CPET), from the French educational system, the CPET is an advisory committee of students, parents, teachers and staff that meets regularly to discuss and make recommendations on essential aspects of student and community life at the Lycée.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging

Outside of the classroom, Secondary students also lead active clubs that focus on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. Student activities are organized in an umbrella organization--the Coalition--which meets regularly to steer the work of individual clubs and affinity groups, including the American Sign Language Club, Black Students Union, Jewish Community and Culture, Middle Eastern Society, Queers and Allies Club, Students for Human Rights, and Young Progressive Leaders.