By MARC BUSSANICH Teaching French words to students. Teaching French words to students. Credits: Getty Images January 15, 2021 at 1:17 PM New York, NY—Parents on the Upper East Side were thrilled when, after their hard work and support from elected officials, the Department of Education opened a pre-K French dual language program last October. The parents, however, had also worked with the DOE to identify a public school on the Upper East Side that would host a K-5 French dual language program so that the pre-K students could continue their second language studies. But on Monday afternoon, the DOE informed the parents that it would not be opening a K-5 program for the new school year in September.