By Felicia Ho ’19
Madame Anne Changeux joins the Middle and Upper School foreign language department to teach French 1, 2, and 4 Honors in the Upper School and French 2 in the Middle School. She is also the French coordinator for the French-American global programs.
Madame Changeux has twenty-two years of experience in teaching French. She started by teaching the “language of love” to adult foreigners in France. Most recently, she taught nine years at The Peck School and nine years at Millburn High School. Her love for French has expanded beyond teaching her students basic grammar and vocabulary in a classroom. At The Peck School, she established the Lower School’s French curriculum, and at Millburn High School, Madame Changeux was the advisor for the French magazine and a chaperone for the French exchange program.
Born and raised in France, Madame Changeux naturally fell in love with her native language. Not only has she always been interested in French, but she has also wanted to become a teacher for as long as she can remember. Pursuing these two passions, Madame Changeux graduated from the University of Nanterre near Paris, France, with a Master’s in French Literature with distinction and a Master’s in Teaching of French as a Foreign Language. The University of Nanterre, or simply known as Nanterre, has a distinguished list of alumni, boasting Emmanuel Macron, the current President of France, and Nicolas Sarkozy, a former president of France.
After moving to the United States twenty years ago, Madame Changeux has enjoyed teaching French to high school students of all levels, from beginner to advanced. After teaching at The Peck School, she began to truly value the close relationships she has the opportunity to build with students in a small class size environment. This aspect is a uniquely private school experience, offering a lower teacher-to-student ratio compared to most public schools. Now at Pingry, another private institution, she is excited to embrace these connections again as she is able to spend more time with individual students helping them with everything from their French homework to how to prepare for a study abroad program in France.
In addition to teaching French, Madame Changeux loves to read French and English books every night. An avid dancer, she takes both jazz and flamenco classes every week. Looking to the year ahead, she is “very excited to join the Pingry team!”