Global Family

The Signori family has been at Saint Paul’s for the past two years. Dad, Cedric was born in Léon, France.  Mom, Alice was born in Hamburg, Germany. Alice moved to France when she was 19 years old to learn to speak fluent French. It was there she met her husband Cedric.

In 2009, while living in France, they had a daughter, Louise. Less than two years later, Alice was transferred to Hong Kong by her company where she works as a Logistics Manager.  From the age of one and a half years old, Louise was raised in Hong Kong where she spoke English and fluent Chinese. There, the Signori’s had their second child, a son, Ayden. Although Ayden was born in Hong Kong, the family relocated to the Clearwater area of Florida in 2015.  Ayden however, still tells his parents that because he was born in Hong Kong, he feels ties to China.

Louise attended a Montessori school in Hong Kong, so the Signori family chose a school that was similar when they arrived in Florida. After three years, and with Ayden ready to start Pre-Kindergarten, Alice felt that Louise had outgrown the Montessori method of teaching and they were in search of a more structured school. The family was seeking a more challenging curriculum and a grading system. One of Louise’s best friends, Sadie, was already attending Saint Paul’s, this along with a referral from another Saint Paul’s family, led the Signori family to join Saint Paul’s for the 2019 school year. Ayden started Pre-Kindergarten in the Firehouse at Doyle Towne and Louise began fourth grade with her friend Sadie.

After completing his first year here, Ayden skipped Kindergarten to go to first grade where he had Mr. Barsema. Alice felt Mr. Barsema was a perfect fit for Ayden, as he needed a teacher to really work with him from day one to integrate into the class, and make sure he did not feel like the youngest student among the group. Thanks to our amazing faculty, he had a very successful year.

Louise has thrived in our Summit program for fourth and fifth grade, she worked very hard to catch up to her peers and improve her grades and learn in a more structured environment. She loves to come to school everyday, works hard and is so proud of her work here. Mom said, “Louise always feels very supported by her teachers.”

Mom and Dad love the Saint Paul’s community, the supportive teachers, and are very pleased with how the teachers understand the kids and are able to adjust to their needs. They also enjoy all the extracurricular activities, like kayaking, sports, and the after care program. Alice said, “Some people think when you go to a private school, families may get treated differently, but here everyone is the same. Saint Paul’s has high standards, it is apparent that our children are receiving a higher level of education than at other schools.”

When they visited Saint Paul’s they discovered that we had several international families. During their initial 'meet the teacher day', they spoke with another student who was from France and they were able to converse in French. They loved the welcoming community and the beautiful campus.

For the coming 2021-2022 school year, Louise is truly looking forward to starting our middle school and Ayden is excited to start second grade.

At home, the family speaks French, and some German. Every year the family travels back to Germany and France to keep close ties to their family heritage. They are so pleased they chose Saint Paul’s and we could not be happier to have them here.