School abandons subsidies to start bilingual program
Emmanuel Christian School in Dollard-des-Ormeaux is stepping away from government subsidies and opening a bilingual high school, beginning this September.
“What we are hearing from parents is that they want their children to thrive in both languages,” principal Jean-Daniel Lussier said.
A private school that doesn’t receive government subsidies is free to function as a bilingual institution as long as it continues to teach the government-sanctioned curriculum.
Entrance evaluations for the 2017-18 academic year for kindergarten through Grade 11 are set for April 1 at 9 a.m.
Lussier said a major shift in enrolment occurred around eight years ago after a loophole was closed in Bill 101 which, up to that point, had allowed children to obtain a certificate of eligibility for an English education after attending an English elementary school for three years.
“Our school always had a lot of allophone students and English students who came from the United States or Britain,” Lussier said. “But with the change (to Bill 101) fewer students were eligible.”
Enrolment began to slip, so seven years ago a French high school and an English high school were established. The increase in the number of French students offset the loss of English students, but government subsidies are based on student enrolment, so the money allotted the English stream was eventually reduced to a trickle.
There are 150 students enrolled in the ECS elementary school and 150 in the two high school programs — 100 in the French school and 50 in the English school.
The board of directors spent the last three years studying options.
“We needed long-term viability,” Lussier said. “We didn’t want our English sector to die.”
It was decided that after more than 20 years of government subsidies, the school would inform the government it would no longer be applying for financial help. Lussier said the school received around $250,000 in annual subsidies.
“Some of our allophone students who had been obliged to enrol in the French high school were struggling,” Lussier said. “They were learning French, but it was much harder for them to excel overall. Now we can cater to families who wanted to, but couldn’t, receive a bilingual education.”
Lussier said the parents he’s talked to are very excited.
“They don’t want their children to miss out on either language,” he said. “Some classes will be taught entirely in French and others entirely in English. Our goal is for the student to be biliterate” — able to read and write in two languages — “at graduation.”
The school already has tuition of $7,000 a year, which will increase by $500 this fall. Lussier said there is a bursary program for families who can’t afford the full tuition.
As is evident in the school’s name, the curriculum is taught through a Christian lens, but students of all faiths are welcome and a comparative-religion course is part of the curriculum.
“We are respectful of others’ religions but we teach from a Christian point of view — how we view the world through God’s eyes,” Lussier said.
The kindergarten and elementary school programs are also bilingual.