Riverside loses Fr. immersion

May 16, 2008

Parents and students at Riverside elementary can say au revoir to their French immersion classes.

On Tuesday, Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows school board trustees voted in favour of a staff recommendation to consult with parents of the Riverside French immersion program on options for amalgamating it with other district schools by September 2009.

Once consulted, a decision will be made on where to place the students. Laity View, Pitt Meadows, and Eric Langdon elementary schools are options for placement, as they already have the early French immersion programs.

The recommendation follows a private study of the district French immersion program that questioned the viability the one at Riverside, one of three schools previously recommended for closure.

Riverside, built with capacity for 471 students, currently has 269, of which 120 children are enrolled in French immersion. To date, only 88 children are enrolled in immersion for next year, including six in Kindergarten.

“The reality of it is that it’s too small,” said Superintendent John Simpson at the meeting.

Small class sizes in French programming present an educational hurdle, said Joanne Rowan, district director of instruction for French immersion.

“You want to make sure children have a strong acquisition of the language,” she said.

Children learn languages best in their own grade because they are more able to work within their learning level, according to Rowan.

But with limited registration, schools are forced to split grades into one class. With so few students enrolled in French immersion Kindergarten at Riverside, that may mean a K-1-2 split.

“We don’t think that would be good ... When you’re doing it in a second language, it’s much more challenging,” added Rowan.

Originally, staff recommended to close the French immersion Kindergarten program at Riverside effective September 2008. But because the district gave parents such little notice, they will be given the option of staying at the school.

“Our concern is that it’s May 13. We want to give parents a choice,” Simpson said.

“At this time, closing the [French immersion Kindergarten program] in 2008 isn’t the most respectful thing to do.”

The parents of the six children will now meet with district staff to discuss the “educational program goals” of the children. If the parents choose to stay, staff have assured the board that a K–2 split will be created. Should they leave, the children will not have to enter back on a wait list.

Todd Hill, chair of the parent advisory council at Riverside and who has a child enrolled in French immersion Kindergarten at the school for fall, said he doesn’t think all six students will stay and that trustees seem to be set on not having a class should that happen.

“It looks like a forgone conclusion that there won’t be a Kindergarten class,” he said.

Kathy Froelich, chair of the district parent advisory council, said it will be difficult for Riverside parents to keep their kids in French immersion once amalgamation occurs because of they travel involved.

“It’s difficult for parents who will have to move their kids out of the catchment,” she said.

At the meeting trustees also passed a staff recommendation to schedule a public consultation on proposed catchment area realignments.

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Riverside loses Fr. immersion

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