Lafayette to expand student French classes

LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) - The Lafayette Parish school system plans to expand its French language immersion option to older students.

Enrollment would be opened to incoming fifth-graders who excel at their first language, district language specialist Nicole Boudreaux told The Advocate https://bit.ly/KMO9lA).

More than 1,000 students now participate in the district’s French immersion option, in which students begin at an early age - either preschool or kindergarten - learning all subjects except classes in English in the foreign language.

The district is fielding interest in the opportunity now and its start is dependent on the number of students who qualify and enroll, says Mario Charest, the district’s world language immersion content instructional coach.

If it launches, Lafayette Parish could have the first late-entry program in the state.

No other districts now offer a late-entry immersion option, state Department of Education spokesman Barry Landry said.

The immersion option is part of the district’s schools-of-choice program that enables students to attend a school out of their zone to pursue their interests in language or another field, such as the performing arts, health sciences or technology.

Students apply and are selected by lottery.

The late-entry option offers a second chance to those students not selected for an immersion spot at an early age, Charest said.

“If a parent wishes their student to go beyond what they’ve learned in fourth grade, we’re offering the opportunity to immerse in that language they’ve just discovered,” Charest said.

Many elementary schools in the district offer a French language class to fourth-graders, Boudreaux said.

“Several hundred students take French in the fourth grade,” she said.

Boudreaux said students will be admitted to the expanded format class through an interview process and examination of the previous classroom performance.

Selected students must be motivated to excel in French studies, Boudreaux said.

“What we see in other countries with late-entry is that by the ninth grade, they’ve caught up,” she said.

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Information from: The Advocate, https://theadvocate.com