French Immersion Application and Selection Process – Background
NOTE: The following information was for the 2017-18 school year. For information on the current school year, including application details and school-level FI caps, please click here.
Background
Following the Board’s 2015-16 French Review, trustees passed a number of motions regarding French as a Second Language. At the May 24, 2016, Board meeting, the following motion was approved: That Staff be directed to develop a selection process for registration in the French Immersion program and report back with details of the process prior to November 2016 in order to create a fair and transparent method for student entry into the French Immersion program.
On Oct. 25, 2016, trustees were presented with the report, JK Registration and Selection Process for the UGDSB French Immersion Program, which presented the details of a new Junior Kindergarten (JK) registration process to be utilized in the 2017-18 school year, and a selection process required to implement the differentially applied school level JK French Immersion (FI) enrolment caps.
The Junior Kindergarten registration process for the 2017-18 school year changed.
Important changes to the registration and selection process
The changes to the JK registration process were as follows:
- Parents need to indicate on the registration form whether their child is registering for ‘Regular English Track’ or ‘French Immersion’
- Junior Kindergarten is the only access point to French Immersion as of September 2017. For the 2017-18 school year, those are children born in 2013
- JK FI registration at one school is not transferable to another school within the UGDSB
- A JK FI enrolment cap is in place for each of our French Immersion sites.
JK students not placed in FI must register at their home Regular Track school.
Important details about the JK FI registration and selection process
- Registration for French Immersion Junior Kindergarten IS NOT prioritized on a first-come, first-served basis
- JK registration is an in-person process, and does not take place online
2017-18 JK FI registration process details
A deadline of Jan. 26, 2017, was created to determine on-time JK French Immersion registrations. Registration forms completed after the deadline were considered ‘late’ and were only processed after all on-time registrations have been processed.
If the number of on-time JK FI registrants exceeded the school’s enrolment cap, a school-based random selection process was initiated on or before Friday Feb. 10, 2017. The random selection process will take place in the presence of a 3rd party scrutineer to maintain process integrity. A list of schools that require the initiation of a random selection process was posted online.
Parents were informed of their child’s registration status as either registered at the home FI school or on a waitlist on Feb. 28, 2017, by email.
Following analysis of the waitlist data, it was determined that a regional holding site was feasible in Guelph and Dufferin County. Parents and guardians whose child were offered placement at a FI regional holding site for the 2017-18 year had to confirm their placement by the March 21st deadline.
Refusal or lack of response removed their child from the FI home school’s waitlist.
What is a regional holding site?
- A regional holding site is a one-year only JK placement with French language instruction in anticipation of a possible JK FI placement
- It was available, where feasible, to on-time JK FI registrants on a school-based JK FI waitlist
- Holding sites for the 2017-18 were located at Willow Road P.S. for waitlisted students in the City of Guelph and at Parkinson Centennial P.S. for waitlisted students in the County of Dufferin
- If no JK FI placement occurred for a student by the end of the 2017-18 school year, a student was returned to their English track home school for Senior Kindergarten
- Busing to the regional holding site was provided for students eligible to receive transportation
Documents
- 2018-2019 New French Immersion Program Location, Grade Structure and JK Enrolment Cap Report (May 2, 2017)
- 2016-2017 French Review Report (Feb. 7, 2017)
- Annual French Review Process and the JK Waitlist Placement Process for the UGDSB French Immersion Program Report (Jan. 10, 2017)
- JK Registration and Selection Process for the UGDSB French Immersion Program Report (Oct. 25, 2016)
- JK FI Frequently Asked Questions (part 1) and JK FI Frequently Asked Questions (part 2)
- Student Admission Form (PDF)
More information
For general UGDSB registration and admissions information, please visit the board website.
For information on French as a Second Language at UGDSB, visit www.ugdsb.ca/fsl. For information on French Immersion, please visit www.ugdsb.ca/fi for updates.
To determine which school your child is eligible to attend, visit the UGDSB’s School Locator.