Grande Prairie Public School District will begin offering a Late Entry French Immersion program for students as of this fall.
Students that missed out on the original French Immersion entry point at Kindergarten will have the chance to enter it at Grade 5.
Superintendent Carol Anne McDonald says a series of four meetings held recently to explore interest in the Late Entry option showed positive results.
“Each of the meetings we’ve had many people interested in the program, so we now have 14 confirmed students. Our board had said initially if we got 12 to 15 confirmed, we would go with the program.”
All core subjects will be taught in French, with subjects like music and Phys. Ed taught in English.
It works out to a 75-25 split between French and English subjects.
The Late Entry program will be run out of École Montrose.
Families can sign up their children for the program through either the school or the public school board office.
McDonald says they will begin the process soon of hiring a teacher for the Late Entry program.
She says they want to make sure that they have a qualified teacher with lots of experience, adding they want the right fit in front of the students.