Media Release

Premier Klein joins students to say “Oui! Yes! Sí!”
The Calgary French School breaks ground for $12 million progressive new language Immersion school in Cougar Ridge.

Calgary, Alberta – June 10, 2002 – Premier Ralph Klein spoke to students, staff, alumni, parents and community members today as they turned the first shovel of earth signifying the start of construction for The Calgary French School’s (CFS) new building.

CFS, after three years of extensive volunteer planning and fundraising, is poised to take the lead as the centre of educational excellence in Language Immersion education with a $12 million project to build a new, larger school. A need to move from the current location in Lakeview, waiting lists for most grade levels and strong support for the design and implementation of expanded Language Immersion education has led to this ambitious project.

“Calgary is becoming a more cosmopolitan city,” said Donna Finley, volunteer President and CEO of the School. “It embraces different cultures. It’s doing more business with countries around the world. The kind of education students receive at CFS will provide the next generation of global entrepreneurs and make them better citizens of the world and strengthen the Alberta Advantage.”

Premier Klein was joined at the ground-breaking ceremony on the site of the new school (7660 Old Banff Coach Road S.W.) by MLA Karen Kryczka and community association executives.

Over the next six years, the CFS will grow to offer Grades 7 through 12. The focus of the programs will support the CFS’s core strengths – language development, fine arts, technology, science and math. The school will offer pre-school through Grade 12, the implementation of the Middle Years International Baccalaureate Programme and continuing French Immersion. It will also offer Late Immersion Programs in French and Spanish to students in Junior and Senior High who have never been exposed to Immersion learning. Other language options such as Chinese will also be available. Students will graduate with a minimum of three languages – English, their Immersion language (French or Spanish) and an extensive foundation in at least one other language.

The CFS, created in 1969, was the city’s first French Immersion School. It established its French Language Program prior to the Royal Commission that led to the federal policy of official bilingualism. Currently, CFS offers affordable French Immersion education from pre-school to Grade 6 for approximately 400 students.

“Our students excel in being fully bilingual in Canada’s two official languages,” said Gertrude Villeneuve, CFS Principal. “By adding Spanish, and working on our plans to add more languages such as Chinese, we are preparing our students for success in a global economy,” she added.

A key component of this new vision is CFS’s partnership with SAIT and collaboration with the University of Calgary, which will provide unique learning opportunities for students and teachers.

“The nature of and need for Applied Academics and access to academic research and specialists in Junior and Senior High has radically changed,” said Villeneuve. “However, smaller organizations simply do not have the resources to offer a lot of expensive options. The ideal solution was to collaborate with forward-thinking organizations that already have these facilities.”

The resulting partnership with SAIT allows use of SAIT’s facilities for options that are expensive to duplicate. Students will be introduced to a wide variety of post-secondary options at a younger age. Initially, these will include electronics and robotics, multimedia technology, culinary arts and avionics. These one-week, 25-hour Immersion applied technology courses, offered on campus at SAIT, taught by SAIT instructors, will provide a remarkable opportunity for CFS students to access facilities, resources and options unparalleled in Junior High schooling.

The CFS is collaborating with the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Humanities’ new Language Research Centre and the Faculty of Fine Arts to enhance its cultural focus and strengthen second and multi-language learning and research programs. This collaboration will help equip language teachers with the knowledge and training they need to provide best practices instruction in Language Immersion teaching.

The expansion to Grade 7 and the addition of other languages will begin in September 2002 at the existing School. The School’s new home in the community of Cougar Ridge will open in September 2003.

The School consistently achieves overall rankings in the 99th percentile in national standardized tests written in English. Among French Immersion schools, both Grade 3 and Grade 6 classes have consistently ranked in the top 10 in Alberta’s achievement tests.

Media inquiries may be directed to:

Ed Romanowski
Volunteer Vice-President, Facilities, The Calgary French School Foundation
Phone: (403) 313-6375
Cell: (403) 819-3055