Back to School in SD43: Fewer kids are in French Immersion

This article is part of the Tri-City News' Back to School series this month.

Enrolment numbers may be rising in School District 43 (SD43).

But fewer students are signing up for French Immersion, an educational stream that started more than 50 years ago in the Tri-Cities.

That’s the word from the Canadian Parents for French (CPF), a volunteer organization that promotes bilingual learning across the country that, last week, released its data for school districts in B.C.

For the last academic year, 2023–24, SD43 — the third largest school district in the province — had a 3.51 per cent dip in French Immersion students compared with the previous year (3,631 versus 3,763).

It also reported a 6.32 per cent decrease from five years earlier (3,631 versus 3,876).

By contrast, the overall student enrolment in SD43 went up by 4.03 per cent over 2022–23 and 3.41 per cent more from five years earlier.

Still, the SD43 numbers follow a similar pattern for school districts in the Lower Mainland.

Last year, it reports, 1.54 per cent fewer students were in the French Immersion program over the previous year, with a 5.39 per cent drop from 2018–19.

Compared with 2019–20, there were 1,902 fewer students in French Immersion in B.C. schools than in 2023–24.

“There has been a small, but consistent, decline in the number of students enroled in French Immersion in public schools in the province over the last four years,” said Alex Hughes, CPF BC and Yukon president, in a news release.

“It’s not a trend we would expect considering the continued popularity of French Immersion and the annual wait lists in a number of school districts.”

He cited three B.C. regions where French Immersion numbers have shot up recently:

• Vancouver Island
• the Kootenays
• Skeena North Coast

Here’s where SD43 offers Early French Immersion in the Tri-Cities:

Kindergarten to Grade 5

• École Coquitlam River
• École Glenayre
• École Irvine
• École Kilmer
• École Mary Hill
• École Nestor
• École Panorama Heights 
• École Porter Street
• École Rochester
• École Westwood

Grade 6 to Grade 8

• École Banting
• École Kwayhquitlum
• École Maillard
• École Maple Creek
• École Pitt River

Grade 9 to 12

• École Dr. Charles Best
• École Riverside

And here’s where Late French Immersion is offered in SD43:

• École Citadel
• École Moody
• École Montgomery

Tomorrow, the Tri-City News will highlight Coquitlam RCMP traffic enforcement around SD43 schools and its warning about online posting.