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Elementary Immersion Centres | Elementary Extended French Centres | Secondary Extended French Centres | Secondary Immersion Centres | Registration Information
Teaching Canada's other official language to more than 92,000 students is an important challenge for the Toronto Catholic District School Board. The Board has several programs for teaching French as a Second Language in its 200 schools.
The Core French program is offered from Grades 1 to 8. Classes are 30 minutes long. By the end of Grade 8, students will have received a minimum of 600 hours of French instruction. Options vary in the secondary schools, but a student must earn at least one credit in French to obtain an Ontario Secondary School Diploma.
French Immersion was established in 1982 for Senior Kindergarten and has been extended by one grade each year. Instruction is entirely in French until the end of Grade 2; English-language arts are added in Grade 3. From Grade 5 to Grade 8, instruction is given 50 per cent in French and 50 per cent in English.
As of September 2015, French Immersion will be offered starting in Junior Kindergarten.
Extended French, often called the 50/50 bilingual program in the past, was launched in 1977 at nine TCDSB centres. There are more than 2,000 students are enrolled in centres across Toronto. Students from Grades 5 to 8 are taught in French for half the day and in English for the other half. As well as French-language arts, the following subjects are also taught in French: social studies/history/geography, physical education/health and visual arts.
The Secondary Extended French program, a continuation of the Elementary Extended French program, is offered at several Toronto Catholic secondary schools: Bishop Allen Academy, Blessed Cardinal Newman, Brebeuf College, Loretto Abbey, Marshall McLuhan, Mary Ward, Michael Power/St. Joseph, Msgr. Percy Johnson, Senator O'Connor, St. Joseph's College and St. Michael's Choir.
It should be noted that upon graduation, students who have completed a minimum of seven Extended French courses are eligible for the Extended French Certificate of the Toronto Catholic District School Board.
The Secondary French Immersion program, a continuation of the Elementary French Immersion program, (Senior Kindergarten to Grade 8) is being offered at Bishop Allen Academy and Senator O'Connor since September 1995.
Beginning in 1996, the Immersion French credit is being granted to students who have studied French, and other subjects taught in French, for an accumulated total of at least 5,000 hours of instruction, and have completed the requirements for the Immersion French.
It should be noted that upon graduation, students who have completed a minimum of 10 French Immersion courses, according to Ministry criteria, are eligible for the Immersion French Certificate of the Toronto Catholic District School Board.
For further information about TCDSB French as a Second Language programs, contact your child's French-language teacher, the nearest French Immersion or Extended French Centre, the French as a Second Language department at 416-222-8282, extension 2540, or by email
French.Department@tcdsb.org
If you would like to register your child in the French Immersion or Extended French program, please contact the school nearest you, which offers the program.
For further information, please contact the French Immersion School or Extended French Program nearest you or
the French as a Second Language Department at (416) 222-8282 ext. 2540