Today, we are honored to profile Elimane Mbengue, the extraordinary Superintendent at Académie Lafayette Public Charter Schools in Kansas City, Missouri.
No water. No electricity. Just more than 50 curious first-graders in a mud-hut classroom and a young teacher fulfilling his childhood dream. This is how Elimane Mbengue started his teaching career in a rural village in Senegal, West Africa, a far cry from his current home in Kansas City, Missouri. Today, almost four decades later, he serves as the Superintendent at Académie Lafayette.
A Dream Achieved in the Classroom
Though he initially pursued law, one of Senegal’s most selective fields, Elimane couldn’t help but feel the call of education.
“In my hometown, every house has a teacher, or educator,” he said. “Watching our elders being teachers was a dream.”
Pivoting, Elimane enrolled in teacher training and began his career in a rural village, teaching middle and high school. From those humble beginnings, he progressed through Senegal’s rigorous, exam-based education system to become a school district administrator— an achievement reserved for only a handful of candidates nationwide.
His passion took him around the world, teaching in Senegal, England, and the United States in Oregon and Missouri.
Building the Largest French Immersion Program in the U.S.
In August 1999, Académie Lafayette opened as the first charter school in Missouri with just 17 teachers and 250 students. The school was established by a group of local parents and families who recognized the transformative impact of multilingual education. Now more than 25 years later, Elimane has grown the school to nearly 1,500 students from kindergarten through 12th grade, making it the largest French immersion program in the U.S.
“My vision is to educate each kid with the world in mind, opening the world to them,” he said.
Starting in kindergarten, students learn math, science, social studies, and the arts entirely in French, with just 50 minutes of English daily. Students start Mandarin or Spanish in sixth grade and can pursue International Baccalaureate courses, career and technical education, and global studies programs with travel to Costa Rica, Peru, Senegal, and China.
“Immersion gives some advantage, cognitive flexibility, open-mindedness, and also interconnectivity,” said Elimane. “It helps kids better understand the world and connect with other people.”
As a multilingual educator fluent in French, English, Spanish, and Wolof, he sees language learning as both natural and transformative.
Language Carries Culture
“The cultural aspect is important. Understanding if you’re learning Spanish, the Spanish culture is also part of learning the language, because each language carries the culture, too,” he said.
Elimane’s global experience shapes how he builds his team. Elimane strongly believes in employing native or near-native speakers, not only for language authenticity but also for cultural connection.
According to him, when students learn from teachers from Senegal, Lebanon, France, China, or Latin America, culture becomes real. And that exposure is priceless.
To bring this belief to life, Académie Lafayette recruits international educators authorized to teach in the U.S., many of whom require H-1B visa sponsorship. Hiring international educators is not a cost-saving measure, but a mission-driven one. In fact, sponsoring visas often costs schools more, reinforcing the goal of expertise and cultural authenticity rather than replacing American jobs.
“There’s a misperception around visas,” he explained. “It might be true for the tech sector, but for education, it is not true.”
Académie Lafayette does it because it aligns with its mission. According to Elimane, a multilingual approach from native speakers helps kids better understand the world and connect with other people.
“Whether you’re in the U.S. or abroad, we want teachers who are competent in the language who have a level of native speaker or near-native speaker,” said Elimane. “But the native speakers also bring the cultural aspect of the language.”
A School Built on Community
At Académie Lafayette, administrators, teachers, parents, and board members work together as partners, creating a shared sense of responsibility for student success. Collaboration, high expectations, and innovation shape the school’s culture.
Elimane believes that leading a community like Académie Lafayette requires leadership from the middle rather than from the top. He encourages charter leaders to invite participation, listen carefully, and have the courage to involve others in meaningful decision-making with a shared responsibility and collaboration.
This approach is reinforced by intentionally investing in educators. Each teacher receives a personal innovation budget, empowering them to pursue new ideas, experiment with instructional practices, and directly contribute to the school’s growth. The model’s strength is further proven by alumni who return as educators and choose to invest their careers in the community that shaped them.
Académie Lafayette’s success has been recognized internationally. The school has received the LabelFrancEducation from the French government, a distinction that recognizes the quality and rigor of its Francophone bilingual education.
Educating for an Unknown Future
Elimane believes the purpose of education today is to prepare students to face the future. He serves on the Advisory Board for Avila University’s Strategic Artificial Intelligence program, helping shape how education responds to emerging technologies.
“This world is unpredictable, with AI and so on. Education is becoming extremely challenging, and kids don’t know what’s happening next because nobody knows what is going to happen,” said Elimane. “Our role as educators is to prepare kids for the unknown by giving them the mastery they need, the base they need academically and career-wise, but also adaptability to embrace change.”
Elimane’s work has earned national and international recognition. In 2024, he was named an Icon of Education by Ingram’s Magazine and honored as a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques, one of France’s highest distinctions for contributions to education and culture.
Even after decades of achievement, Elimane’s perspective remains as open as it was when he first stood in that mud-hut classroom.
“I learn every day,” Elimane said. “This work, this community, this experience, it’s more than I ever expected.”