Early French Immersion Registration

Any student entering Kindergarten or Grade One can enroll in French Immersion in the Greater Victoria School District. French Immersion is offered at nine elementary schools. No prior knowledge of French is expected or required. Transportation is the responsibility of parents. Our Early French Immersion page provides more information about the program.

Registration for Kindergarten French Immersion, as well as Grade One French Immersion, takes place from January 15 –19, 2024 . Registration will occur online. Families who register during registration week will have priority for placement.

Earl French Immersion – Program Overview

For an overview of the program review this video.

Determining your French Immersion Catchment School

To determine your French Immersion catchment school, first identify your elementary English catchment school through the School Locator Tool. Use the drop down menu below to select your elementary English catchment school; this will identify your French Immersion catchment schools.

Each home address is associated with an elementary, middle and secondary school. To determine which schools are associated with a home address, visit the School Locator Tool. Type in the address and it will indicate which school students living at the address should attend.

Please note that your English and French Immersion catchments may vary because not all schools offer dual-track programs.


What is needed to register for Early French Immersion?

To register a student in Early French Immersion, a parent or legal guardian must provide school-age eligibility, proof of citizenship and proof of residential address.

Any applications missing the required documentation as of 3 p.m. on Friday, January 19, 2024, will not be considered for priority placement. Schools will verify the applicant’s residential address to ensure students are registered at their French Immersion catchment school.

Call your school if you require any assistance.

Early French Immersion Alternate Choices

French Immersion is a District program and offered at 5 of our 10 middle schools. In the event an in-catchment student is unable to attend their catchment dual track school and French Immersion is a family priority, parents are encouraged to select alternate dual track school choices. More than one choice can be selected. The purpose of offering alternate school choices is to provide SD 61 families the greatest accessibility possible to our French Immersion program at schools where the catchment capacity has not been reached.

Alternate choices must be made during Early French Immersion registration week to be considered.

Student names will be entered into an out of catchment draw for each alternate school chosen.

By selecting an alternate choice, you are committing to registering your child at anyone of the alternates selected should a space become available. Please do not select an alternate choice unless you are willing to send your child to that school.

Students will always remain on their catchment dual track school’s waitlist. Should a placement become available, the catchment seat will be offered to you irrespective of having accepted an alternate school placement.

Alternate selections are NOT considered transfer requests.

Student Placement

Program placements will be offered according to the following priorities:

French Immersion placements will take place in accordance with Student Enrolment Priorities. Program placements will be offered according to the following priorities:

  1. Re-enrolling students
  2. A catchment area sibling
  3. A new catchment area child
    3.5 A non-catchment sibling impacted by a change to a catchment boundary
  4. A non-catchment sibling
  5. A non-catchment area child
  6. A non-school District child

Placement Procedures

All French Immersion placements are based on the availability of space and facilities. Placement of students will take place in accordance with the student enrolment priorities.

Registration is not based on a first come first served basis. For schools where there are fewer spaces than the number of applicants, a lottery will take place in accordance with the Student Enrolment Priorities. Students will be placed based on the order they are drawn from the lottery.

Waitlists will also be established according to the draw order of the lottery.

Notification of Placement

Families will be notified of the results via email with the email address they provide upon online registration. Notification will occur in advance of regular Kindergarten registration.

Students who are not accepted, or do not accept, a French Immersion placement for Kindergarten must register at their English catchment school during Kindergarten Registration Week.

School Lottery

In the event a school receives more applications for either Kindergarten or Grade 1 French Immersion than the number of seats it can accommodate, the priority order of registrants will be determined by a random school lottery. Due to strong demand, the lottery process is introduced on a school-by-school basis to ensure equitable access to each catchment family wishing to pursue immersion as a District program of choice.

Draw Scenarios

1. Catchment Sibling
  • If the number of catchment sibling registrants exceeds the number of available spaces the school can accommodate, priority order will be determined by catchment sibling school lottery.
  • All other in-catchment registrants will then be waitlisted in accordance to an in-catchment school draw.
  • Students will have the opportunity to be considered for placement at another dual track elementary school provided the Early French Immersion Alternate School Choice form is completed during Early French Immersion Registration week. See # 3 below.

Note: non-catchment siblings are to apply at their catchment school, then apply for transfer should they wish to attend the same non-catchment school as their older sibling.

2. In-catchment
  • Once in-catchment siblings have been placed, in-catchment students will be placed.
  • If the number of in-catchment registrants exceeds the number of available spaces the school can accommodate, priority order will be determined by an in-catchment school lottery.
  • Students not placed will be waitlisted according to draw order.
  • Students will have the opportunity to be considered for placement at another dual track elementary school provided the Alternate Early French Immersion School Choice form is completed during Early French Immersion Registration week. See # 3 below.
3. Out of catchment but unable to access catchment school
  • In the event an in-catchment student is unable to attend their catchment dual track school, parents are encouraged to select an alternate dual track school choice on the Early French Immersion Alternate School Choice form. More than one choice can be selected.
  • Alternate choices to a catchment school must be made during registration week to be considered.
  • Student names will be entered into an out of catchment draw for the alternate schools indicated on the Early French Immersion Alternate Choice form.
4. Out of catchment (transfer requests)

Twins

In the event of a draw, one ballot will be entered into the draw for families with twins. If drawn, both twins will be offered placement in the program at the same school.

Waitlists

Should an opening occur once all available seats have been allocated, it will be offered to parents on the waitlist in accordance with student enrolment priorities.

If a parent accepts a spot for their child at a school, which is not their catchment school, they will be offered the next available space at the original catchment school according to draw order.

Note: Students who were previously on a waitlist for Kindergarten French Immersion and are still interested in French Immersion the following year must reapply for Grade 1 entry into the program.

Registration Deadline

Registration for Early French Immersion takes place during the week of January 15-19, 2024 and must be submitted via online registration by 3 p.m. on Friday, January 19, 2024.

Late Applications

All late applications received after the communicated registration deadline will be added to the end of an established waitlist.

Late sibling and late in-catchment registrations will have priority consideration over out of catchment waitlisted students, provided space is available.

Disclaimer

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