French immersion programming in Midland will look a little different this school year
The French immersion program at Mundy’s Bay Public School is going to look a little different come September, as some students will be transitioning over to Huron Park Public School.
The Simcoe County District School Board has decided to operate the French immersion program between the two schools, as neither building has the capacity to handle the ever-growing program. Grades 1 through 4 will stay at Mundy’s Bay, while grades 5 through 8 will be offered at Huron Park.
“At the end of the day what we decided to do was minimize the number of students impacted and minimize the number of transitions for the students,” said Chris Samis, superintendent of programs and special education at SCDSB.
With the French program just advancing into Grade 6, the students in grades 4 and 5 at Mundy’s Bay will transition over to Huron Park for grades 5 and 6. French immersion classes in Grade 7 and 8 will be added as those students advance.
“It is really only a total of about 45 students that will be impacted,” said Samis. “All of them are transitioning together. It is not like we are moving part of a class. The entire class is moving.”
Interest in the local French immersion programming has grown significantly over the past five years. This success forced the school into finding a creative solution.
Last year Mundy’s Bay was bursting at the seams, operating at 124 per cent capacity with 576 students enrolled in a building built for 464. Of those, 139 were in the French immersion and 97 were in extended French.
In October, board officials knew the program wasn’t going to be able to continue to grow in its current location and began searching for options.
“We knew status quo wasn’t an option,” said Samis. “We were already over capacity.”
Huron Park, located just down the road from Mundy’s Bay, operated at 86 per cent capacity last year with two empty classrooms. A total of 354 students were enrolled in a building with room for 404.
After the decision was made, principals from the two schools participated in a number of activities to ensure a smooth transition.