European educators support Ukrainian students with flexibility – and empathy

It’s a hot and sticky day in Épernay, France. Amine jumps rope in a shady spot of the Chaude Ruelle elementary school building, laughing with his friends. With his carefree innocence, this 8-year-old appears no different from his classmates. But Amine barely escaped the bombs in March that crisscrossed his family’s hometown of Kharkiv, one of the hardest hit cities in Russia’s war in Ukraine. 

Now, Amine is a typical second grader, learning math, science, and French, in an effort to make his temporary exile in France more bearable. He’s already starting to say a few words in his new language and has invited classmates home to play.   

“He likes his teachers and his school. He’s very, very happy,” says Amine’s father, Adam, who was allowed to leave Ukraine as the father of five, soon to be six,