French Immersion in Hamilton Public Schools
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As real estate agents who know a whole lot about schools, our clients ask us about French Immersion programs in Hamilton quite frequently. Our clients feel that French Immersion schools provide “better education”, and this is based on EQAO stats through recent years. This is not without merit. In the Halton and York Regions, where you can directly regionally-compare the EQAO pass-rates of French Immersion students vs. English-track students, we found a 17% difference in performance in 2014. Does that mean that FI students perform 17% better than English-track students? Not necessarily, as the program does indeed attract students from (generally) more-concerned parents. But the numbers are certainly intriguing.
Should you put your own child into French Immersion? Perhaps this article and this article and also this article can help you with your decision.
Here is information about the French Immersion programs at Public schools in Hamilton…
- In Hamilton, French Immersion for Public schools starts in Grade One, where the learning is a “68%-85%” in French until Grade 7, when the learning in French is reduced to 50%-60%. The program is continued at select Public secondary schools in Hamilton.
- Getting into the French Immersion program at the Grade One level in Hamilton is a little difficult. All children are accepted who apply by the deadline (usually mid-January), but if school is at capacity, then they may have to attend another school until spots free up. Late applicants are reviewed as they come in; placement is determined by the availability of openings.
- For a fuller breakdown of the Public French Immersion program, please visit the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board’s FI web-page HERE.
- A list of the Public schools in Hamilton that offer French Immersion programs that offer French Immersion programs is at the bottom of this page.
RELATED: The Catholic French Immersion program in Hamilton
Why such a demand for French Immersion? Perhaps a comment from “Willy999” on the cbc.ca forums puts it best… He wrote:
“Some of the demand for French Immersion comes from parents who view the program as a better learning environment for their children as opposed to a program that stresses French. The program is viewed as a “private school” within the public system. The demand for French Immersion could be reduced by offering these parents an alternative English based program.”
It is true that schools with French Immersion programs generally do better in the EQAO tests than schools without. Is this indicative of the level of education given, or is it just that they attract a “smarter” student? We believe it is more of the latter. However, we still recommend these French Immersion schools to our clients as most parents would prefer to have their children be influenced by peers who do well in school.
THERE IS SO MUCH TO KNOW about French Immersion in Hamilton, including the crazy boundaries that may change from year to year! Be very careful when moving to Hamilton that you know exactly where your child is going to be attending.
Here is the list of the 12 Public elementary schools in Hamilton that currently offer the French Immersion program:
PUBLIC FRENCH IMMERSION SCHOOLS in HAMILTON
School | Grades | ||
1-5 | |||
1-8 | |||
1-5 | |||
1-5 | |||
1-5 | |||
1-5 | |||
1-6 | |||
1-8 | |||
1-8 | |||
1-8 | |||
1-8 | |||
1-5 | |||
Here is the list of the Public high schools in Hamilton that currently offer the French Immersion program:
Westdale SS
Sherwood SS