Single Track French Immersion School

We strongly feel that a single track French immersion school would be in the best interest of the students so that they are immersed, not only in the class room but on the playground, in the hallways, for assemblies and when dealing with all staff in a French environment.

Quality programming in single track French Immersion leads to academic excellence. The expected enrolment for French Immersion Programming is 510 students, more then sufficient numbers to support a Single Track School.

Several independent studies have been done which determined that:

• Single Track students achieve superior academic results in French / English language skills than students in dual track schools.
• Single track centres draw children from larger areas. The higher number of children in the program significantly reduces the need for split grade classes.
• Increased exposure to French outside the classroom (French announcements, French assemblies, French signage / corridor displays
• Students use French outside the classroom more frequently with their peer group.
• Students benefit from opportunities to participate in French cultural events/activities organized within the school ie. Carnival, French Performers, French Book Fairs.
• Recent studies indicate that students with learning challenges achieve better results in a single track French Immersion environment than in dual track

STAFFING
Single Track:
• Studies show that School Administrators can focus on managing a single program - providing the advantage of devoting staff, programs and resources to French Immersion - making planning / budgeting more manageable.
• Staff has more access to team collaboration when there are larger staff numbers on teaching teams – larger student numbers result in larger numbers of staff.
• Teachers are more satisfied with resource access and their teaching experience in single track centres.

RESOURCES
Single Track:
• French Immersion resources are shared among larger groups of students (ie. classroom resources, library books, computer software, French authors, performers, activities & events, etc.)
• Larger student numbers at one facility results in better resource allocation, stronger/larger teaching teams.

WALK TO ABILITY
Single Track:
French Immersion schools have larger boundaries, so children often require bussing. Consequently, students may have less ability to walk to school.
• Bussing is the ultimate carpool. Bussing allows children to interact with students from their broader community; not from just their neighbourhood streets. Encourages exposure to increased diversity.

Dual Track:
• Some students are able to walk to school if they live within 1.6 km while the rest still require bussing.
• “Walk to” students are often driven to and from school made evident by very busy school parking lots and “kiss and ride” areas.

The following links to independent French Immersion studies provide a great deal of information on French Immersion in Canada - and discuss FI Single Track and FI Dual Track.

• What We Have Learned from 30 Years of Research on Second Language Immersion
Jim Cummins - Ontario Institute for Studies in Education - University of Toronto

http://www.iteachilearn.com/cummins/immersion2000.html

• Differences in Setting - Compiled Research of the Comparison in Academic Achievement
between Dual-Track and Single-Track French Immersion Programs
Lesley Doell, French Language Consultant, French Language Resource Centre, Grand Prairie, Alberta

http://www.frenchlrc.ca/documents/differencessetting.pdf

• French Immersion in Manitoba
Manitoba Education, Training and Youth - Bureau de l'éducation française Division

http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/docs/french_imm/fr-imm-mb.pdf

• Lessons in Learning / French-Immersion
Education in Canada

http://www.ccl-cca.ca/CCL/Reports/LessonsInLearning/LinL20070517_French_Immersion_programs.htm