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speakup

Calling the decision to eliminate early French immersion "a step backwards", members of John Caldwell School Parent School Support Committee are requesting an "intimate sit-down" with Premier Shawn Graham and Kelly Lamrock, the education minister.

"We believe there is a window of opportunity for compromise; we feel that in a community such as Grand Falls we should keep our Early French Immersion program because of its proven effectiveness. Every year our French immersion students score intermediate plus or higher. Whereas in other predominantly English communities your proposed plan for late immersion only suits other community's needs. Our community is unique," stated Autumn Guyan-Lebel, a spokesperson for the John Caldwell PSSC. "This compromise, in our view, will blend well with the Liberal political tradition of compromise."

Members of the PSSC for John Caldwell School and representatives of Citizens for Early French Immersion in Grand Falls met with Ron Ouellette, MLA for Grand Falls Drummond and St. Andre to discuss concerns regarding the abolishment of Early French Immersion in New Brunswick. The provincial has made the controversial decision to chop early French immersion in favour of all students taking intensive French in grade five and later immersion.

"The main concern discussed was the implication of Anglophone students living in a predominantly Francophone community. In addition, the group tried to enlighten the minister on the negative impact this decision will have on the Francophone schools in our area as well, and on our special culture.

"Over the years this community has grown into an area where both linguistic groups have meshed into a unique culture. As a group, we feel that this is a step backwards. This will endanger the unique and special culture that the we as a community has so successfully developed over the years," Guyan-Lebel said.

The concerned parents stated John Caldwell, as a minority English community school for the North-West region of New Brunswick, has 38 students pre-registered for kindergarten in September 2008 and 32 of these 38 children wish to enroll in early French Immersion.

"Unlike the remainder of the province, this is an 85 per cent entry rate.... Our children need to be immersed in French early or they will not be able to function properly within our community environment. For example, Parks and Leisure activities in Grand Falls such as minor baseball, hockey, minor soccer are driven by volunteers and most meetings and instructions are given in French. Our children would not feel included in these activities if not for Early French Immersion." The parents said by having students learn French in school and then actively participate in community activities they learn immediately how to apply their new language skills outside the artificial school environment.

"This creates a natural reinforcement of their second language skills," Guyan-Lebel said."Because of our rich cultural mix, our school has never experienced the difficulty expressed by other jurisdictions in the province of being able to hire competent French teachers as well as bilingual teacher assistants. Much to the contrary, immersion teachers love the dedication and support shown by the administration and the PSSC at JCS for the immersion program."

The parents pointed out that special needs children attend the John Caldwell French immersion classroom, unlike the educational streaming associated with early French immersion in other schools. John Caldwell currently offers the intensive French program to Grade 5 students. Grand Falls French immersion students score at the provincial and district levels on various provincial assessments.

"Companies such as McCains have always been able to depend on our EFI program as a strong point in convincing English employees to work in Grand Falls. They have become accustomed to settling here so their children can learn a second language to a high degree of proficiency. Already with the announcement of its elimination, some of these young employees are speaking of leaving the area. To preserve our economic base we need to attract more of these people, not force them to leave. How can our area promote self-sufficiency if policies are put in place making it less attractive for Anglophones to live in our community?" the PSSC spokesperson concluded.