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Parents worry about English - Knowlton Academy ups French to 50% |
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An increase in French-language instruction at Knowlton Academy has some parents concerned about the future of the community’s long-standing English institution.
At a meeting of the elementary school’s governing board last week, the board voted unanimously in favour of a change that will see French instruction offered on par with English instruction throughout the school.
Parent Matthew Croghan is concerned his three children who attend Knowlton Academy are going to be overwhelmed by the new curriculum that he feels demands students become bilingual too fast and too soon.
“I don’t see how this is going to help students,” Croghan said. “I don’t think it’s historically correct to tamper with something that been there since 1948 (when the elementary school opened).”
Come next September, Knowlton Academy will begin to increase French instruction by 16 per cent for cycles 1, 2 and 3, balancing out French and English learning at 50 per cent.
Secondary 1 students will see the biggest change, going from 72 to 50 per cent English instruction. Those students will have the additional option of applying for an intensive French language program, if enrollment numbers are sufficient.
Currently at Knowlton Academy, kindergarten students are already in a 50/50 language split, while other students do 510 minutes a week of French instruction (approximately 34 per cent.)
As the head of a school that has seen its population decrease from 350 students five years ago to 270 today, Knowlton Academy principal Peggy McCourt said the governing board had to look at what Knowlton needed to do maintain its student population.
While McCourt doesn’t have numbers on hand, she’s aware that the local French school is seeing higher kindergarten enrollments, while the academy’s vastly anglophone population has fared poorly in French as a second language in recent years.
“I don’t think one (language) has to be at the expense of the other,” she said in response to criticism of the program change. “Different schools have different needs and (this decision) is intended to be in the best interests of our students.”
There have been discussions for the last several years about how Knowlton Academy can improve its French language program for the school’s largely anglophone population, McCourt said.
“For a few years now, there have been requests from the governing board and parents to increase French instruction,” McCourt said. “Quite honestly, our children have been struggling in French, and we want to be putting our children in a position where they have the skills to be successful.”
Quebec ministry of education spokeswoman Stephanie Tremblay said as far as English schools in the province are concerned, Knowlton is in accordance with ministry standards in bumping up its French instruction to 50 per cent — that being up to the discretion of the school.
In fact, while there are minimum levels of French required, Tremblay isn’t aware of any set maximum for French instructional hours in English schools, admitting that the issue hasn’t been pressed.
Time allotment is one piece of the puzzle, principal McCourt said, recognizing there cannot be a one-size fits all solution to Knowlton’s French curriculum woes. The school also plans to focus on professional development to reinforce the quality of instruction at the school, she added.
But Croghan says all of his children are well on their way to being bilingual, and that the school should focus on improving its quality of education overall if administrators are concerned about shrinking enrollment.
Croghan’s sister, Joanne Marier, shares her brother’s concerns, although she is based in Granby where her children attend another English school. Marier sees the curriculum change as failing to safeguard the integrity of language in Knowlton, potentially setting a precedent for other schools and communities.
“This sweeping reform changes the nature of the school, which is sort of at the heart of the English community there and always has been,” Marier said. “And I think the tax-paying public should have a say in it.”
“(Knowlton Academy) went from A to C without passing by B first,” she continued. “I want my children to have access to a good quality French as a Second Language program, but second language is the key word.”
Marier’s children attend Parkview Elementary, where the majority of students are francophone and French instruction makes up a definite minority of the overall curriculum.
At the Eastern Townships School Board, home to both Knowlton and Parkview schools, spokeswoman Sharon Priest was unaware of any other significant time allotment changes at other schools, although planning for September 2008 is only now underway.
Most of the board’s 20 elementary schools offer bilingual kindergarten programs with 450 minutes per week of French instruction for other cycles, making up 30 per cent of the second language time allotment.
In the ETSB’s 2006-’07 annual report, the board noted that 79 per cent of students performed at or above the expected level for spoken French as a second language, while that number dipped to 43 per cent for written French.
Meanwhile, both Marier and Croghan fear Knowlton Academy will become a predominantly French school in the coming years.
McCourt disagrees. She said, at best, the school hopes to commit to graduating fluently bilingual students eventually, something they cannot do now. For now, though, the principal feels she has the support of the majority of the school community as they venture into the new programming.
“Of course it has to be re-evaluated and reviewed along the way,” McCourt said. “But I have a talented and creative team that’s ready to commit.”
In April, parents were sent home a survey to fill out, offering families the chance to check off their preferred model.
McCourt said about 39 per cent of parents responded, and while results were varied, there was a strong majority in favour of 50/50 French and English instruction. There was also “strong interest” in an intensive language program for Secondary 1, which places students in a fully French program for half the school year.
By Sarah Rogers
May 14, 2008
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Montreal Canadiens
