Les Lilas provides French immersion education and follows the structure administered by the French Ministry of Education. In France, preschool and elementary school are divided into 3-year cycles, with clearly defined goals for each cycle:

• Cycle 1 – Early Learning is preschool through kindergarten (ages 3–5)

• Cycle 2 – Fundamental Learning is grades 1 through 3 (ages 6–8)

• Cycle 3 – Consolidation is grades 4 through 6 (ages 9–11)

At Les Lilas we modeled our multi-age classrooms on the French cycles, where La Maternelle is Cycle1, L’Élémentaire is Cycle 2, and La Grande Élémentaire is Cycle 3 (without the 6th grade). As in France, to enroll at Les Lilas, children have to be 3 years old by December 31 of the year they are attending.