An Appeal to MLF from DIS Families
The Issue
Dear Mr. Masset, Mr. Merriaux, and Ms. Carlotti,
We write to you as a community of families who have entrusted our children's education to the values MLF was founded to protect - the diffusion of French language and culture through an open, intercultural, and secular education. We hope you will receive this letter in that same spirit.
Who we are: The families of Dallas International School's Churchill campus reflect the diversity that has always been at the heart of this community - French families who have chosen DIS to keep their children connected to their heritage and language, alongside families from non-French backgrounds who came to DIS specifically to give their children that same connection to French language and culture. Many of us have been part of this community for years, building our lives and friendships around this school and its mission. Together, we believe this reflects exactly the mission MLF was created over a century ago to carry forward, and we count ourselves grateful, longstanding participants in that mission, however far from Paris we may be.
Our situation: We recently learned that the previously discussed sale of the Churchill campus to Dallas International School will not move forward, and that our lease will end on October 31. We understand MLF must weigh many considerations across a global network of over 100 schools, and we do not presume to know the financial or strategic picture behind this decision. We simply want to share, honestly and respectfully, what this means for our children and families.
The human impact: A change of campus in the middle of the school year, with only a matter of weeks' notice, leaves many of us with very few good options. There is no equivalent French-language, MLF-affiliated alternative nearby - the realistic alternative is withdrawing our children from French-language education entirely and enrolling them elsewhere. That would mean the end of the very thing that brought our families to this school in the first place: a genuine, sustained relationship with the French language and culture that MLF has spent over a century cultivating around the world.
Our request: We are not asking MLF to reverse its broader strategic decisions about the property. We are asking for something much smaller and, we hope, much more achievable: a brief extension of the current lease - through the end of this school year - so that our children can complete this semester without disruption, and so that families have a fair window to plan a thoughtful transition rather than a rushed one in the middle of the fall term.
We recognize this is a modest ask relative to the complexity of MLF's global operations, but for our children, it would make an enormous difference. We would also welcome the opportunity for a small delegation of parents and school leadership to speak with you directly, so that any decision going forward can be made with full awareness of what this community means to us, and what MLF's mission has meant to our children.
With respect and gratitude for the education our children have received,
Families of Dallas International School, Churchill Campus
229
The Issue
Dear Mr. Masset, Mr. Merriaux, and Ms. Carlotti,
We write to you as a community of families who have entrusted our children's education to the values MLF was founded to protect - the diffusion of French language and culture through an open, intercultural, and secular education. We hope you will receive this letter in that same spirit.
Who we are: The families of Dallas International School's Churchill campus reflect the diversity that has always been at the heart of this community - French families who have chosen DIS to keep their children connected to their heritage and language, alongside families from non-French backgrounds who came to DIS specifically to give their children that same connection to French language and culture. Many of us have been part of this community for years, building our lives and friendships around this school and its mission. Together, we believe this reflects exactly the mission MLF was created over a century ago to carry forward, and we count ourselves grateful, longstanding participants in that mission, however far from Paris we may be.
Our situation: We recently learned that the previously discussed sale of the Churchill campus to Dallas International School will not move forward, and that our lease will end on October 31. We understand MLF must weigh many considerations across a global network of over 100 schools, and we do not presume to know the financial or strategic picture behind this decision. We simply want to share, honestly and respectfully, what this means for our children and families.
The human impact: A change of campus in the middle of the school year, with only a matter of weeks' notice, leaves many of us with very few good options. There is no equivalent French-language, MLF-affiliated alternative nearby - the realistic alternative is withdrawing our children from French-language education entirely and enrolling them elsewhere. That would mean the end of the very thing that brought our families to this school in the first place: a genuine, sustained relationship with the French language and culture that MLF has spent over a century cultivating around the world.
Our request: We are not asking MLF to reverse its broader strategic decisions about the property. We are asking for something much smaller and, we hope, much more achievable: a brief extension of the current lease - through the end of this school year - so that our children can complete this semester without disruption, and so that families have a fair window to plan a thoughtful transition rather than a rushed one in the middle of the fall term.
We recognize this is a modest ask relative to the complexity of MLF's global operations, but for our children, it would make an enormous difference. We would also welcome the opportunity for a small delegation of parents and school leadership to speak with you directly, so that any decision going forward can be made with full awareness of what this community means to us, and what MLF's mission has meant to our children.
With respect and gratitude for the education our children have received,
Families of Dallas International School, Churchill Campus
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Petition created on August 15, 2026