French immersion added at St. Gregory, St. Joseph Catholic schools

French immersion will be added to a pair of Catholic schools in Essex County come September.

The Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board approved approved re-opening St. Gregory School in Tecumseh as a French immersion program. The option will also be added to the existing English instruction at St. Joseph School in River Canard.

The board made the decision Monday at a board meeting.

Paul Picard, the director of education, says this will address gaps in where the board offered immersion.

"Those two particular areas, any students that want access to our form of French immersion would have to be transported great distances. That's unfair to parents. So it's a question of equity in that context," he said.

This September, both schools will offer French immersion for kindergarten and Grade 1, with new grades being added each year after that.

Tecumseh Mayor Gary McNamara is pleased to know St. Gregory school will re-open, after being closed last year.

"Any foundation of any community, it's schools, and how can you grow if you don't have facilities?" he said. "But I think what's happening here now is [about] the diversity."

St. Gregory was an English elementary school operating at 80 per cent capacity with just more than 300 students when the board decided to close its doors last year.

At that time, affected parents found 60 families in the area that were interested in converting St. Gregory into a French immersion school.

Shannon Porcellini is a parent who was lobbying for expansion.

"Parents will now have choice, quality programs where they can send their children, and you can't beat that," Porcellini said. "We've been working for the expansion of French immersion in this area at this board for 12 years now, so it's really exciting to see."