In Loir-et-Cher, the Catholic boarding school sponsored by Pierre-Édouard Stérin will be able to open at the start of the school year

The project for a Saint-Louis Academy in Sologne, the first establishment in a project of private, non-mixed Catholic boarding schools supported by the conservative billionaire Pierre-Édouard Stérin , has been authorized by the authorities.

After a thorough study of the file submitted on April 18, "no reason mentioned in Article L. 441-1 of the Education Code, for which the rector, the mayor, the prefect or the public prosecutor can oppose the opening of a private establishment outside the contract, has been identified," announced the rectorate of the Orléans-Tours Academy, in a message sent to AFP.

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This first project for a non-mixed Saint-Louis Academy at the Chalès estate, located in the commune of Nouan-le-Fuzelier (Loir-et-Cher), will therefore be able to open at the start of the 2025 school year. In a brochure, it was stated that this educational project “finds its source in “integral education” (…) which considers the whole human person: body, mind and soul” .

Several supporters of the Saint-Louis Academy in Chalès, including RN MP Roger Chudeau and the town's mayor, responded this Wednesday in a letter published in Le Figaro to "certain amalgams and attacks" targeting "a credible alternative proposal" put forward by the school, which "will not benefit from any public subsidy." "Freedom of education is a fundamental principle of our Republic. Until proven otherwise, this right still exists in France. This freedom is an opportunity: it allows us to innovate, to offer different educational models, to respond to the diversity of educational needs and the expectations of families."

Last week, 160 left-wing politicians, trade unionists and academics, including former Minister of National Education Benoît Hamon and CGT Secretary General Sophie Binet, opposed the project, particularly because of the "risk of indoctrination." The project "pretends to be integrated into republican principles," criticized the signatories of the letter signed on July 8.

"The concerns raised by this project have been heard. From the first months of the 2025-2026 school year, the establishment will be subject to an inspection, as required by law," the rectorate added. An inspection in the "administrative and educational" fields, which "will ensure that the establishment respects public order, health and social prevention and the protection of children and young people, and that the lessons provided allow students to acquire the knowledge of the common core," it is assured.

"We are learning this good news for the many families who have chosen to enroll their children at the Saint-Louis Academy in Chalès," the establishment reacted, assuring that it was looking "toward the start of the school year, with the constant concern of serving the young people and the region that welcomes us as best as possible."

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According to the statutes of the real estate company of the Chalès estate, two entities created by Pierre-Edouard Stérin, Otium Impact France and Foncière du Bien Commun, manage it.