The Renfrew Country District School Board (RCDSB) are building a French-as-a-Second-Language (FSL) program for their students. This will go alongside with their English program that includes Core French.
Jonathan Laderoute, Communications Manager for RCDSB, says that starting in the 2019-2020 school year, RCDSB will be starting the first phase of a five year plan. He adds that for the first year, the program will be offered at the Pembroke, Arnprior and Renfrew family of schools. He says that they want to have a public consultation with parents and guardians before incorporating it in the Madawaska Valley and Deep River family of schools. He states that they want to hear and assess the populations needs before giving it a go.
At the end of it all, he states that the goal is to give every student the choice to participate in a French-as-a-Second-Language-Program. He adds that having this kind of program is important because the County borders the single largest population of French speaking Canadians. He says that the program will also inspire and empower an under-represented segment of the RCDSB’s student population.