10 - Sunday, September 19, 1988 - North Shore News

French exposure
program expande

THE NORTH Vancouver School District 44 French Ex-
posure program has been extended to Grade 3 this year.

At Tuesday night’s meeting, the
school board received an evalua-
tion of the program, which was
initiated in 1985 in response to
parents who wanted an alternative
to French Immersion within their
own neighborhoud schools.

Starting with kindergarten in its
first year, the program has been
extended every year since.

Kindergartener and Grade 1
students now receive 45 minutes of
French instruction per week, while
Grade 2 and 3 students receive 60
and 80 minutes per week respec-
tively.

Trustee Roy Dungey requested a
summary of recommendations
from the evaluation, which was
conducted by associate dean of the
SFU Faculty of Education Dr.
Stan Shapson with help from
Pauline Johnson principal
Florence Wilton.

“It’s a formative evaluation -
not a final one - because this pro-
gram is too new,’’ Shapson told
the board.

A number of major points came
out of his study, Shapson said,
starting with the “high level of
support for the program from
parents (86 per cent) and teachers
(75 per cent).”

The program, which Shapson
called ‘‘amazing’’, was locally
developed because the district
wanted French to be integrated in-
to classroom studies rather than

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have them stand alone.

But Shapson also noted program
problems, including teacher
preparedness. Regular classroom
teachers are being used to imple-
ment the program, and they are
also picking up the mechanical
aspects of teaching French as well
as their own proficiency.

“In the Jater grades there may
be a need for more French
specialists," Shapson said.

Although there is as yet no
means of testing the proficiency of
the students participating in the
French Exposure program, Shap-
son said parents have been very
pleased with the results and want
the instruction to continue.

School Trustee Anne Macdonald

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asked whether the program’s suc-
cess would Jower demands for
French Immersion in the district.

Although assistant superintend-
ent Robin Brayne said it would be
difficult 10 determine, he pointed
out that all 200 spots for
kindergarten) French Immersion
had yet to be filled this year, and
had not all been filled in the past
four years.

There were about 300 students
originally signed up for the pro-
gram, but only about 171 actually
entered kindergarten French Im-
mersion.

“It's my guess that it's (French
Exposure) had an effect,"" Brayne
said.

Trustee Richard * Walton  ex-
pressed concern that using regular
teaching staff to implement the
French Exposure program would
have an cffect on the kinds of
teachers hired in the future.

“We could be missing out on
teachers who have other special
gifts,’’ Walton said.

OF

eae}

Students to vote

HILLSIDE MIDDLE School will
be the new name Of Hillside Sce-
ondary School if Hillside students
cancur with the decision made
Monday evening by West Van-
couver School Board.

Principal John Williams told the
board that the new name reflects
the transitics, from elementary to
secondary school Hillside now
serves by offering Grades 7 to 9.

Students will get a chance to
vole on the proposed new school
name during a school assembly
later this year.

Williams said he attended a con-
ference on the middle school con-

on name change

cept in Virginia this summer and
1

has returned with “evangelical
fervor’ on the philosephy of
focusing on the needs of the early
adolescent.

Assistant superintendent Bob
Overgaard supported Williams,
pointing out that the designation
‘secondary’? can only be carried
by a school graduating Grade 12
students, which Hillside no longer
does.

Williams praised the board for
its leadership among = school
districts in recognizing the growing
trend in middle education.

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