The Times Advocate, 2005-03-02, Page 3Wednesday, March 2, 2005
Exeter Times—Advocate
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Beauty and the Beast is being presented at South Huron District High School from March 3-5. Tickets are $10 each for all three performances beginning at 7:30 p.m.
The cast and crew invite you to be their guest and put their magic to the test! (photo/Stephanie Mandziuk)
French Immersion won't expand
By Stew Slater
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES -ADVOCATE
The Avon Maitland District School Boards French
Immersion program will not expand beyond Stratford's
Bedford Public School, due to lukewarm expressions of
interest from smaller communities across Huron and
Perth Counties.
Following a public delegation from a group called
Canadian Parents for French late last year, trustees
requested a survey be carried out in the catchment
areas of all non -Stratford secondary schools.
Information meetings were also held in all potential
new French Immersion host towns: Wingham, Listowel,
Exeter, Mitchell, Clinton, Goderich and St. Marys.
A report about the survey was presented at a regular
board meeting Feb. 22.
Considering a previously -suggested threshold of 60
students spread across a proposed Grade 1 and Grade
2 start-up program, and response numbers from the
various towns ranging from just five in Mitchell to 26 in
Wingham and Listowel, there was no surprise in the
report's statement that "staff is not confident that a
sustainable program can be created in any of these
regions."
"The number of responses indicating interest was
lower than anticipated," explained education superin-
tendent Pat Stanley, who delivered the report.
In the other communities, the number of interested
Grade 1 and 2 students for September, 2005 were as
follows: 25 in St. Marys, 22 in Exeter, 20 in Clinton, and
19 in Goderich.
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Interest levels were also sought for entry only at Grade
1 in 2006 and 2007, with parents in Clinton, Listowel
and St. Marys expressing the most enthusi-
astic long-term support.
Stanley cautioned, however, that the
threshold of 60 is important because, at
Bedford, there is a level of "attrition" in the
years following Grade 1 entry into French
Immersion.
"Of the 45 students that entered Grade 1
at Bedford in September, 2000, 26 are left
in the program, and of the 21 that began
Grade 2 in 2000, 12 are still in the program," her
report states.
Two trustees expressed disappointment about the sur-
vey results.
"I'm trying to find a way (to expand French
Immersion), and hoping, but it's just not there," said
vice chair Randy Wagler of South
Huron.
His North Huron counterpart, Colleen
Schenk, added, "I'm disappointed, I
guess, that the numbers weren't high-
er."
In an interview following the meeting,
Stanley argued the results were not dis-
torted by the fact the survey was only
sent out directly to parents of students
already within the Avon Maitland system.
She said the board took that into account when it
decided on a target level of interest it hoped to achieve
from the survey, and that target was not reached.
"The number of
responses indicating
interest was lower than
anticipated,"
PAT STANLEY
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