Since September 2021, a hybrid program has enabled these students from the École des Sentiers-alpins to study there three days a week, and the other two days in town, in nature or in a room at the English-speaking secondary school. LV Rogers.
For example, they can take a leadership and community engagement workshop at the Association des francophones des Kootenays Ouest (AFKO), learn how to cook in French in a restaurant or go hiking as a course. physical education.
The program came about as a result of the transition from so-called secondary schools heterogeneous
to schools homogeneous
, which the Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique (CSF) wanted to start in September 2021, after the Supreme Court judgment in its favor. However, he had come up against significant opposition from parents and students and had to revise his timetable.
At the same time, the English-language secondary school LV Rogerswhich welcomed French- and English-speaking students from grades nine to 12 on its premises, decided to no longer offer ninth grades due to lack of space.
Since grade 9 was integrated into an entirely English-speaking school, French-speaking parents lost the option of a heterogeneous program for this level.
What is a Homogeneous Secondary School?
Of the 14 secondary schools in the network of CSF in British Columbia, only 6 are homogeneous, ie they offer their entire school curriculum in French.
The other 8, called heterogeneous, are twinned with English-language secondary schools (LV Rogers in the case of Nelson) and offer French-speaking students two to four classes in French per year, with the rest of their classes having to be in English.
According to the president of the Association des parents de l’École des Sentiers-alpins, Émilie Leblanc Kromberg, it is important for Francophone students entering high school to be at the heart of the Nelson community.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Raluca Tomulescu
stay in the community
The hybrid program is a good thing
according to the president of the Parents’ Association of the École des Sentiers-alpins, Émilie Leblanc Kromberg.
She explains that young Francophones in the region are looking forward to reaching Grade 9 so that they can rub shoulders with their friends from Anglophone high school, to benefit from a better choice of complementary courses and extracurricular activities, but also to find themselves in the heart of the Nelson community, where the École Secondaire is located LV Rogers.
As for the École des Sentiers-alpins, it is located about twelve kilometers from downtown Nelson, and some students feel isolated there.
LV Rogers English Secondary School serves students in grades ten through twelfth in Nelson, British Columbia.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Raluca Tomulescu
She says that many parents, satisfied with the heterogeneous program, feared that ending it would cause an exodus of students to the 100% English system or French immersion.
” Many parents wondered why fix something that wasn’t broken. »
According to her, the ideal would be to develop more courses in French within the heterogeneous program rather than giving them up completely.
The director of the École des Sentiers-alpins, Sylvie Mazerolle, wants to listen to young people and the community.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Raluca Tomulescu
A successful bet
The director of the École des Sentiers-alpins, Sylvie Mazerolle, says that a whole team of teachers, parents and students were involved in the process of dreaming and imagining what a ninth year at Les Sentiers-alpins would be like, […] with a component truly rooted in nature
.
” We tried to find the best ideas and the wealth of what is available here. »
According to her, the young people are proud of the result of the teamwork and want the program to continue next year. As for the conversion of heterogeneous secondary schools into homogeneous schools, the CSF had given itself until the end of December 2021 to present a new plan to the communities. At the time of publication of this article, it had not been possible to interview the organization to obtain an update on its timeline. the CSF however, consented to an interview during the day on Wednesday.
Reference-ici.radio-canada.ca