French Immersion FAQs

West Vancouver School District offers both early and late French Immersion.

Early French Immersion (EFI) programs are available at both École Cedardale and École Pauline Johnson. Enrolment in EFI generally occurs at the Kindergarten level, although students may enter the program at the Grade 1 level until the end of Term One, space permitting.

École Cedardale is an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School, offering the French
Immersion IB Primary Years Program (IB PYP). There is an associated fee with the IB PYP program.

Applicants who wish to enrol in EFI are free to choose either one or both of the French
Immersion schools. However, it is important to understand that if only one of the French
Immersion schools is selected, the application will be considered for spaces at that school only. If you wish to be considered for placement at BOTH French Immersion schools, you must select both schools as two of your three prioritized school choices.

Applications for admission to EFI and EFI IB PYP are subject to a lottery process. There will be two separate lotteries held in early December to determine placement offers. A student may be included in both lotteries, provided both schools are selected as choices on the online application and provided all required documentation is submitted to the first choice school before the close of the lottery period.

Late French Immersion (LFI) begins in Grade 6 and is offered at École Pauline Johnson only. Students are eligible to enter LFI until the end of Term One, space permitting. There is no Late French Immersion at Ecole Cedardale.

Early French Immersion

Children enter Kindergarten in September of the calendar year in which they turn five years old. Applications for children born in the year 2016 who will enter Kindergarten in September 2021 will be available online BEGINNING AT 8:00 a.m. on OCTOBER 15th, 2020 and CONTINUING UNTIL 3:00 p.m. on NOVEMBER 30th, 2020.

All applications must be submitted using the online registration form at
http://westvancouverschools.ca/admissions/apply-now

Due to the strong demand for these programs of choice, the West Vancouver School District will conduct two separate lotteries to identify those children who will be registered for French Immersion Kindergarten for the 2021/22 school year: one for EFI IB PYP at École Cedardale and one for EFI at École Pauline Johnson. The registration will follow Ministry guidelines and Board policy.

Only those online applications where all supporting documentation has been received by the lottery deadline will be included in the lottery.

For students to be included in both lotteries, both schools must be selected as prioritized choices on the online registration form.

The application process for any Grade 1 spaces that may be available begins at the same time as the Kindergarten application process. Placement at the Grade 1 level is handled according to the Student Registration Guidelines, space permitting.

Late French Immersion

For students wishing to enter Grade 6 Late Immersion classes in September 2021, in-district applications will be accepted from October 15, 2020 to March 1, 2021. Out-of-District applications will be accepted from January 15 to February 1, 2021.

Please note: Late French Immersion is offered at École Pauline Johnson only.

All application for admission must be submitted electronically, using the online registration form at http://westvancouverschools.ca/admissions/apply-now

To comply with health and safety guidelines, all required admissions documents are being accepted electronically. Please submit good-quality electronic copies (ideally pdf files) of citizenship and residential documentation etc. to your first choice school.

Documentation for Early French Immersion must be submitted to your FIRST CHOICE school. 
For a list of school email address, click here.

Late French Immersion documentation for out-of-district applications must be submitted to:

École Pauline Johnson
paulinejohnson@wvschools.ca

Students who are currently attending Grade 5 in the West Vancouver School District must complete only the on-line registration form and are NOT required to supply the additional documentation, unless residence information, parental responsibility, or citizenship status has changed. 

All Applications require:

Completion of the West Vancouver School District online registration form, indicating at least two prioritized choices of school

All Early French Immersion Applications and Out-of-district Late French Immersion Applications require that GOOD-QUALITY ELECTRONIC COPIES (ideally PDF files) of the following documents be provided to your first choice school by a parent or documented legal guardian, not another family member, caregiver or friend. Relocation and/or real estate agents are not permitted to act independently for parents.

Poor-quality scans and photos will not be accepted. All documents must be complete.

A. PROOF OF STUDENT BIRTHDATE

• Child’s original birth certificate (long form birth certificate if available)

B. PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP (required for both student and parents)

• Child’s original birth certificate; Canadian passport, or Canadian Immigration or Citizenship documents
• Canadian Immigration or Citizenship documents for at least one birth parent or legal guardian (not custodian)
•  Please bring passports if available

C. PROOF OF RESIDENCE

In order to support an address in British Columbia, we require both specific proof of residence and additional support documents. These documents must contain one of the parent/guardians’ names, at the residential address shown on the application and must be current.  Utility bills must show the residential (service) address. Some schools may require two primary residential support documents.

Please note: purchase agreements are considered valid as of the closing date noted, and tenancy agreements are considered valid as of the start date specified in the length of tenancy section. As well, they must be valid at the date when the student intends to start school. Business addresses are not acceptable for admissions purposes.

Proof of Residence

A minimum of one of the following showing parent/guardian names at address cited

• Completed Purchase Agreement
• Completed Residential Tenancy Agreement (all pages)
• Most recent BC Property Assessment notice
• Most recent Property Tax Notice

AND

Primary Support Document(s) for Proof of Residence

A minimum of two of the following:

• A current residential utility bill addressed to one of the parents/guardians at the address cited. This may include:
  • Municipal metered utility statement
  • BC Hydro bill
  • Fortis BC bill
  • Cable TV or Internet provider bill
  • Landline telephone bill (cell phone bills will not be accepted as primary proof)
• Homeowner or tenant’s insurance documents for the address cited, with at least one of the parents/guardians as the named insured

** Our IB and French Immersion elementary schools require a minimum of TWO residential support documents in addition to proof of residence. If you cannot produce at least one primary support, you will be required to produce a minimum of THREE secondary support documents.

Please note: If your primary support documents for proof of residence are incomplete, you are required to provide secondary support documents.

Secondary Support Documents for Proof of Residence

If all utilities are included in the tenancy agreement, you will be required to provide secondary support documents to confirm your address. All documents must be current and show the name of at least one parent/guardian at the residential address cited on the application.

A minimum of three of the following:

• Cell phone bill
• ICBC car registration/insurance
• Credit card bill (ideally from a different bank than the account statement)
• Bank account statement
• Government identification showing address cited (BC driver’s licence, BC Identification, or BC Services Card only)
• *BC Driver’s licence with an address sticker will be accepted as a fourth piece of supplementary documentation ONLY*

 

Families Living with Friends or Relatives:

If you are living with friends or family and you do not have a tenancy agreement, you are required to provide the following:

• A notarized letter, signed by the homeowner and student’s parent (s), confirming the owner’s name and full address of the residence, and the names of the family members living with them, along with an estimated duration of the arrangement
• ONE of the following in the homeowner’s name in order to support ownership:
  • Most recent property tax bill
  • Most recent property assessment
  • Municipal metered utility bill in the homeowner’s name
• THREE pieces of supporting documentation that show the student’s parent’s name(s) and the address cited.
  • These must be current and can include:
    • Tenant’s insurance or insurance document with parents listed as additionally insured
    • Cell phone bill
    • ICBC car registration/insurance
    • Credit card bill (ideally from a different bank than the statement),
    • Government identification showing address cited (BC driver’s licence, BC Identification, or BC Services Card only)
    • Bank statement
    • ** BC Driver’s licence with an address sticker will be accepted as a fourth piece of supplementary documentation ONLY **

D. PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY

•  An original and complete Order from the BC Supreme Court or BC Provincial Court must be presented to the school to confirm any particular guardianship, parental responsibilities, parenting time, or custody agreement pertaining to the child. *Please ensure that all pages for the Order are included. We are not able to accept partial or incomplete Orders.*
• If there is a court order issued outside of the province of British Columbia, please provide an original and complete document from the issuing jurisdiction. This will be reviewed by the school administration.
• If one parent is deceased, please provide a death certificate if possible

E. CHILD’S PREVIOUS REPORT CARDS (if applicable)

• Original report card from previous school year

F. CHILD’S IMMUNIZATION RECORDS (if available)

• Child’s Immunization Record as well as any other important health documents

Students who are currently attending Grade 5 in the West Vancouver School District must complete only the on-line registration form and are NOT required to supply the additional documentation, unless residence information, parental responsibility, or citizenship status has changed.

Due to the strong demand for these programs of choice, West Vancouver School District will hold two separate lotteries to identify those students who will be registered for French Immersion Kindergarten for the 2021-2022 school year: one for EFI IB PYP at École Cedardale and one for EFI at École Pauline Johnson. The registration will follow Ministry guidelines and Board policy.

When completing your online registration form, you will be asked to indicate your school
choices in order of priority. Students may be included in both lotteries, provided both schools are listed as prioritized choices.
Lotteries will be held in early December and will include only those students with complete applications (ie. an online application completed and all required documentation submitted to the first choice school before the end of the lottery period.)

Assignment will be based on the following:

1. Lottery priority for the Kindergarten spaces at either school will be given to in-district
   applicants who have older siblings in the higher grades at the same school, provided they have applied during the lottery period and have submitted complete documentation.
2. Any remaining spaces will be assigned on a lottery basis to those in-district applicants who have submitted complete applications during the lottery application period. At the time of application, parents are asked to indicate at least two prioritized schools, where they may indicate a preference for either École Cedardale or École Pauline Johnson. If both schools are selected, the student will be included in both lotteries.
3. Students whose families are not residents of West Vancouver are categorized as Out-of-District (siblings and non-siblings) with priority given to siblings.

Late French Immersion students enter Grade 6 at École Pauline Johnson only. LFI is not offered at École Cedardale.

The lotteries will be held in early December and e-mails will be sent to each family as quickly as possible thereafter. As outlined in Board Administrative Procedure 300 4.1, parents will be given 24 hours to make the decision to accept a position offered.

You may still submit an online registration form after November 30. Once you have submitted all required documentation, your application will be placed on a waitlist and will be processed on a first-come first-served basis, according to the usual priority system after all applicants included in the lottery process have been offered spaces. You will be notified by email if a place for your child becomes available. Waitlists are not carried over from year to year.

Unlike the English language schools which serve specific neighbourhoods, the French Immersion program is a District-wide program. Consequently, the catchment area is defined as the District of West Vancouver.

Entry into the Early French Immersion program may occur at the Grade 1 level, space permitting. However, the popularity of the French Immersion program in recent years has resulted in very few openings at the Grade 1 level.

Grade 1 students not currently in EFI may apply, but due to the nature of the EFI environment and the cognitive academic language demands of the programs, students are only eligible to be placed before the end of Term One of their grade 1 year.

Applications for Grade 1 are accepted according to district timelines. Only those applications where all supporting documentation has been submitted are regarded as complete. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

The French immersion curriculum is identical to the curriculum for English Kindergarten. Only the language of instruction differs. Information about the Kindergarten curriculum can be found at the Ministry of Education web-site: https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/

The French Immersion program is designed to continue through to the end of secondary school. Students can continue their French Immersion education at the secondary level at École Sentinel Secondary and receive the bilingual Dogwood certificate upon graduation.

The majority of parents of French Immersion students do not speak French. Teachers advise parents on effective ways to support their child at home, whether they speak French or not. The Canadian Parents for French organization provides information about how to support your child in the French Immersion program. Please refer to their website for more information: https://bc-yk.cpf.ca/

Learning support is available to students who need help with any subject area. Learning support is offered in French and also in English to English Language Learners (ELL) who require extra help. French and English Learning Support are offered by district specialists.

Ministry of Education Foundation Skills Assessment test results consistently show that French Immersion students in West Vancouver perform extremely well in the standardized tests (which are conducted in English at Grades 4 and 7).

At École Pauline Johnson, all instruction up until the end of Grade 3 occurs in the French language. Beginning in Grade 4, English Language Arts are introduced as a subject area.

At École Cedardale, as part of the IB PYP program, English language instruction will begin in Grade 2.

At the high school level, a portion of the instruction occurs in English to allow the students to achieve a bilingual graduation certificate.

The Canadian Parents for French organization has an excellent website (www.bc-yk.cpf.ca/) that provides a great deal of information about French Immersion (including a list of French preschools and locations for parents to take French language courses). If you still have questions regarding Early French Immersion (EFI), please contact École Cedardale at 604-981-1390 or École Pauline Johnson at 604-981-1225. For Late French Immersion (LFI) starting at Grade 6, please call École Pauline Johnson at 604-981-1225.

École Cedardale is an authorized IB World School offering the Primary Years Programme in a French Immersion format. For more information about this program, please contact École Cedardale at 604-981-1390 or visit http://www.ibo.org/fr/pyp/ (French) or http://www.ibo.org/pyp/ (English)