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French Immersion now in all corners of Ward 4 By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Halton District School Board (HDSB) trustees added French Immersion (FI) programming to two northwest Oakville elementary schools at their Wednesday, March 21 meeting. It was done to alleviate the accommodation pressures at the two existing FI schools in Ward 4, an area that has an uptake rate of 32 per cent for the program. School board staff, who worked on a boundary review along with a committee comprising of members from neighbourhood schools, admitted the process was complex, and included eight schools and 5,400 students. "The entire community will not be in agreement with what we have recommended," said Superintendent of Education Stuart Miller at the start of the trustee debate. However, he said there were problems that needed to be addressed. Both Forest Trail (single-track FI) and Palermo (dual-track) public schools were overpopulated and the board needed to find space for its FI students. "This recommendation has long-term sustainable numbers," Miller said. "We now have French Immersion in all four corners of Ward 4. This also alleviates the problems at Forest Trail immediately." The decision also maintains the existing gifted program at Pilgrim Wood Public School, which is one of the schools that will roll out FI in the coming year. The other school to begin FI programing next year is Heritage Glen Public School. Both schools will be dualtrack with FI beginning in the primary grades. Miller also noted that because many of the students living in the area have already been forced to move in recent years, the board has taken this into consideration and is allowing grandfathering and 5 · Friday, March 23, 2012 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com "The entire community will not be in agreement with what we have recommended. This recommendation has long-term sustainable numbers. We now have French Immersion in all four corners of Ward 4. This also alleviates the problems at Forest Trail immediately." Stuart Miller, superintendent of education, Halton District School Board for siblings to stay together. Trustees did name several changes to the final vote before it was approved. Among the concerns raised by parents to trustees included the rollout of FI at Pilgrim Wood, which was initially recommended to begin as Grades 1 and 2. However, there would have only been 55 students in both grades and only 17 in the lead Grade 2 class. Burlington trustee Jennifer Hlusko noted that when a similar boundary review took place in her community, school staff did not support beginning a program with fewer than two classes per grade. However, this time around, they were recom- mending to begin with a grade of only 17 students. Director of Education David Euale countered that the scenarios were a bit different. "The Alton review was done primarily to occupy a brand new school. We looked at the students who might be attending the brand new school and found that all students in Alton -- French and English -- could not attend the new school. So we had to find a place for the French students who lived in Alton to go to school," he said. "(The current) boundary review is a bit different. It was as a result of overcrowding at two specific schools, Palermo and Forest Trail, with no opportunity to build a new school. This took on a totally different climate." He said the ideal situation would be to have two cohorts per grade at a school, but this was not possible in this area. Further, he noted staff looked at various scenarios, such as moving the Grade 2 class to the other schools or by adding a Grade 3 class. This posed several problems, Euale said. If the Grade 2 was removed from the school, that would only leave the Grade 1 class in the school and only one FI teacher with no possibility of collaboration. Adding See Capping page 10 WeDneSDAY, open House on vISIt our AprIl 25 HSC IS reInveStIng In our future. We are creating a studentcentred learning environment to unleash the academic potential of all students in the College and to maximize the accomplishments and potential of our graduates. - Marc Ayotte, Head of College promo sofa, loveseat, chair choice of fabric $ 1898 799 promo sofa only $ Hillfield Strathallan College is an independent day school for students from Montessori 3 and Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12. Call Scott Barton It's worth it! 905-389-1367 www.hsc.on.ca 1029 SPEERS RD, OAKVILLE (SPEERS & 4TH LINE) 905.842.3739 HOURS: MONDAY TO WEDNESDAY 10-6 · THURSDAY & FRIDAY 10-8 SATURDAY 10-6 · SUNDAY CLOSED www.joshuacreekfurniture.com We sell the most homes in Canada. Let us help you sell yours. www.remaxaboutowne.com Aboutowne Reality Corp., Brokerage 905-338-9000 (Downtown Office) 905-842-7000 (Uptown Office) Independently owned and operated.