North District French Immersion Information Meeting
January 9, 2025 Announcement, Meeting
Winnipeg School Division is hosting a family information meeting to share updates regarding new student enrolment, programming, and catchment area boundaries specific to the North District French Immersions programs.
All families in the École Stanley Knowles, École Lansdowne, École Waterford Springs, École Garden Grove and École Luxton catchment areas who are considering registering their child in a French Immersion program are invited to attend the meeting.
January 14, 2025
7:00 to 8:00 p.m.
École Lansdowne School – Library
715 Wiginton Street
Please contact Board and Community Liaison Office Board@wsd1.org to confirm attendance.
North District French Immersion Catchment FAQ
Q: Why is Winnipeg School Division making minor boundary changes in the North District French Immersion catchment area?
École Lansdowne School is currently over capacity with students, and there are other French Immersion schools in the district with space. As such, we are adjusting catchment areas for new registrants only. If your child is already registered in a school, there will be no change.
At the Family Information Meeting on January 14, WSD will update families to changes to French Immersion catchment areas for new students. This will affect new registrations to École Lansdowne School, École Stanley Knowles School, École Waterford Springs School, École Garden Grove School, and École Luxton School.
Managing catchment areas is important for all students because it ensures:
- All schools have robust programming and a wide range of activities.
- Proper classroom sizes are maintained.
- Students can walk or bike to school and can learn with neighbourhood peers at school.
Q: If my child already attends a French Immersion program based on former catchment boundaries, will they have to change school according to new boundaries next year?
No, these boundary changes will only affect NEW students registering for French Immersions programs in 2025/26 and future academic years.
Q: I already have a child at a French Immersion school. Will new children registering in WSD have to attend a different school due to boundary changes?
WSD will prioritize needs for families to attend the same school. If you already have a child enrolled according to former French Immersion catchment boundaries, we will allow exceptions to keep siblings together.
Q: My child attends the English program at one of the schools outlined. Do these catchment boundaries changes affect students enrolled in English programs?
No, catchment boundaries remain the same for students enrolled in English programs.
Q: How do French Immersion catchment boundary changes affect transportation for my child?
WSD transportation policy remains the same. Students in Nursery through Grade 6, who attend their catchment-area school and live over 1.6 km away, are eligible for transportation. Requests for transportation must be made at the school the child is registered at. Students must be registered first prior to requesting transportation.
Q: Why are catchment boundaries important?
Schools in WSD are funded based on catchment area and population. As a result, WSD needs school populations to be as equally distributed as possible. By not implementing catchment area boundaries we risk draining Winnipeg School Division resources and eroding education in certain neighbourhoods.