Welcome to Cousteau School!
Dear parents, students, alumni, members of the Cousteau School community and visitors, welcome to Cousteau School website. I hope you’ll find all the information you need to understand what makes our school so unique.
Since I took office in August 2020, I’ve had the privilege of discovering and becoming involved in a dynamic, passionate and committed educational community. Cousteau School embodies the fundamental values of French education abroad, while integrating the best of both French and Canadian education systems. Thanks to our dual curriculum – from France and British Columbia – we place academic excellence, multilingualism, respect for diversity and openness to the world at the heart of our mission, while integrating First Nations learning principles.
Our ambition, as set out in our school project, is to offer every student an excellent education that prepares them to become fulfilled, informed and responsible citizens. To achieve this, we emphasize social and emotional education and constantly innovate through a variety of pedagogical initiatives. The development of bilingualism fosters bridges between French and English languages, while a robotics program accompanies students from Pre-K to Grade 9. Our Cousteau Athletics program, designed for all our students, aims to enable Middle-school students to take part in competitions with other schools in the province, as part of BC School Sports. This program enriches our offering, as do the many projects rooted in our local environment and open to cultural diversity. Last but not least, the recent certification of our Grade 9 by the French National Ministry of Education is a major step forward, confirming our commitment to expanding our secondary school offer.
The well-being of our students is also one of our top priorities. The creation of a well-being pole, the development of “orthopédagogie” (learning support) and the involvement of teacher-researchers, all testify to our commitment to making Cousteau School a place of learning based on excellence, inclusion, innovation and caring.
I’m immensely proud to see our alumni grow in self-confidence, empowered by the freedom they have to choose between studying in French or English at high school and university, and equipped with solid social skills and unquestionable work methods.
I would like to extend my warmest thanks to our wonderful educational team and to the entire school community for their commitment and trust. Together, we will continue to make Cousteau School a place of learning, sharing and fulfillment for our students, in order to contribute, as our mission states, to “making a better world”.
I invite you to explore our website to discover our projects, our events and the values that drive us.
Cécile Dione
Head of School – École Cousteau
About Cécile Dione
Cécile Dione is originally from Lyon, France. Passionate about education, she began her career teaching for three years in France before moving into international education. She spent eleven years at the Lycée Rochambeau in Washington DC, followed by two years at the Colegio Franco Peruano in Lima, Peru. She then spent five years in Manila, Philippines, as Head of primary school at the Lycée Français de Manille. Building on this experience, she continued her career at the Lycée Alexandre Yersin in Hanoi, Vietnam, where she worked for two years on language projects (French, English, Vietnamese) and co-organized the Ambassadeurs en herbe competition for the Asian zone.
In 2019, Cécile joined Cousteau School as Assistant Head before becoming Head of School in 2020. Her commitment to education and expertise in bilingual and multicultural contexts have shaped her pedagogical vision, combining academic excellence and international openness.
As the mother of two children who grew up in French lycées around the world, she values an education that fosters curiosity, adaptability and global citizenship.
In recognition of her commitment and contribution to the influence of French education abroad, Cécile Dione was named Chevalière dans l’Ordre des Palmes académiques by French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on July 1, 2024.
