Growing demand for French Immersion (FI) programming has led Halton’s Catholic school board trustees to add new classes for the coming school year, as well as launch a process to plan for long-term growth.
With 70 Grade 1 students in Oakville and nearly 200 across the region on a waiting list for FI next year, trustees recently voted to add up to two extra classes in each municipality.
The decision means that Tamara Adamo’s youngest daughter – 44th on the wait list – will now join her two older sisters in the immersion program. But likely not at the same school.
“Obviously I would have loved her to be in the same school with her sisters, but nevertheless, this is a giant leap in the right direction,” said Adamo.
Her two older girls attend St. Mary, until now the only Catholic elementary school in Oakville with a FI program.
But that school is nearing capacity, so Adamo’s youngest may start FI elsewhere while the board undertakes a boundary review to develop a long-term plan for the program.
While details are still unknown, Adamo is hopeful the board will find a way to make a two-school solution work for the largest number of families
Boundary review committee to be appointed
A variety of options for expansion will be on the table for discussion with the school community, superintendent Ryan Merrick told trustees at a Dec. 15 meeting.
The program could be divided between two schools, with students attending one school for early grades, then shifting to another school to finish elementary school.
A dedicated French Immersion school would be a “more complex and likely more contested” option, he added.
Members of a boundary review committee are expected to be recruited in January, with work beginning in February.
A boundary review will also be held in Milton, while Burlington and Halton Hills are able to accommodate demand within existing schools.
While the board is grappling with a shortage of FI teachers and limited space in many elementary schools, Director of Education Pat Daly says discussing those issues should not be construed as a lack of support for expansion of FI.
“We’ve worked really hard to establish a program over the last eight years,” he told trustees on Dec. 15.
“We look forward to continuing that and we want to provide as much information in a way that makes sense to trustees and parents, so that we can have a good plan going forward that’s measured, sustainable and meets the needs of our students.”
Oakville trustee Helena Karabela, who championed the expansion of the program, described the growing demand as “a happy challenge.”
“Success is written all over the program,” she told her fellow trustees.
The board’s first cohort of FI students, who started the program eight years ago, will move into secondary school in September.
In Oakville, St. Ignatius of Loyola will offer high school courses in French, leading students to a FI certificate upon graduation.
The program will also be available at secondary schools in Burlington, Milton and Georgetown.