If they come, it might be built.
Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB) officials seem to agree the development of a French immersion program in Rockwood is a good idea – as long as there are enough students to support it.
The decision has to be ratified by the board at its meeting next week, but the business operations committee on June 12 passed a resolution stating it would launch a Rockwood French immersion program for the 2014-15 school year if enough students register the previous fall.
“It depends on the number of kids that enrol, in conjunction with staffing requirements,” board spokesman Maggie McFadzen told the Advertiser.
The resolution passed by the committee last week indicates the board is interested in first implementing a program for kindergarten students and possibly the first grade.
The program would then expand by one grade each year until 2019 or 2020, when it will include all grades from kindergarten to grade 6.
At that time the program would be reviewed, with the possibility of expanding further to a “K to 8” program.
If approved, the program would also require a boundary review, budget changes and extensive work between board French immersion officials and the principal in charge of the host school, which was not identified in the June 12 committee report.
At a previous meeting hosted by the committee, which includes parents, principal and board representatives, officials said any new French immersion program would be offered either at Rockwood Centennial Public School or at a new early learning centre proposed in the area as part of the province’s full-day kindergarten program.
The committee has pledged to identify the boundary and school location for the program by December 2013.
Survey results
This winter interested parents were invited to complete a survey about a possible French immersion program in Rockwood. Results of the survey include:
– 66 parents responded;
– the junior Kindergarten to grade 6 startup was most favoured, with JK to primary second, followed by a JK/SK startup program;
– 13 children were identified as “pre-JK” and will start school in 2015; and
– the counts for possible enrollment in 2014 included 15 for JK, 11 for SK, six for grade 1, three each for grades 2 and 3, four in grade 4 and six each in grades 5 and 6.
McFadzen said French immersion classes can accommodate up to 26 students, each with one teacher and one early childhood education assistant.
Background
The possibility of a Rockwood French immersion program surfaced as a result of a controversial board decision to alter the boundary for Edward Johnson Public School in Guelph.
The decision effectively forced French immersion students living in Rockwood, Everton, Eden Mills and the surrounding rural areas to transfer from the Guelph school to Erin schools.
Reacting to the outrage of many affected parents, the board agreed to grandfather students and their younger siblings for two years at King George Public School in Guelph and also to look into a French immersion program in Rockwood.
