Proposal Dates

The time has come after months of hard work where we have dates to make our presentations to the school boards. Based on our numbers from the community and the receptivity of the school divisions, we have managed to book three presentations. 

Thursday, November 14th with Pembina Trails School Division

Tuesday, November 19th with River East School Division

Monday, November, 25th with Winnipeg School Division

Eugenia and I will be doing the 10 minute presentation/question and answer and we invite any community members of the particular divisions to come and be a presence at the meeting. It would communicate to the board that there is community support for a Spanish Bilingual program in the public schools.

We are not sure when we will find out the results of the meeting and the boards' decision on whether they will implement the proposal. We believe that we have a strong chance, but we have to leave it up to the school board to decide. Some school divisions may be weeks to decide, others months.We will communicate with you as soon as we know.

Once the proposal is adopted, the school division would then start promoting the program with location and start date and grades. From there each of you would then need to contact the division and register your child. It is important for us to realize that if registered children do not meet the numbers requirement, the division will not implement the program, even if they approved the proposal.

 

Thank you for showing your interest and remember that when the time comes to register for the Spanish Bilingual programming in the school division, please consider doing so if it is in the best interest of your family to make this proposal a reality.

 

 

Information Meeting - A Success

The information meeting that we held this weekend went very well. In attendance were many families that have just recently found out about the proposal and wanted more information. A representative from Alberta Education who oversees all the Bilingual programming in North America as well as a representative from the Spanish Embassy were in attendance. They had led a one-day seminar for Spanish teachers the day before which went very well.

Also, a professor from the University of Manitoba's linguistics department shared her results of her study on why parents chose Spanish Bilingual for their children. Very interesting. She gave us a list of resources that we are planning to share here for you all. Below is a video that describes the bilingual program in Edmonton. Stay tuned for more information, especially regarding our proposals to the divisions.

Update

We have more time than we originally thought. A few months ago, we were under the impression that we had to make our proposal at the beginning of September, or the latest by the beginning of October. After a few phone calls to a few divisions, we were informed that the earliest we would be making a proposal is at the end of November and still be considered for the 2014 school year. Some divisions say we can even present early in the year.

Whew!

That means we have more time to collect names, so please let all your contacts know about the proposal. People in the community without school aged children can still sign up as supporters. People who have children already in school can add their name to the list of interested families. People who have tiny little babies can sign up as well.

So continue to help us promote the proposal. Leave us a comment if you'd like us to send you additional information.

Parents Workshop

We just wanted to communicate to you that we are planning to have a workshop on Spanish Bilingual Programming by Melissa Valdés from the Department of Education in Alberta. She is the Spanish Language Advisor and is resourcing the Spanish Bilingual Program in Alberta. We are flying her in to give a workshop about what is happening in Alberta and how they resource the program, and we can have a Bilingual program here in Manitoba. She is also doing a full day workshop for Spanish teachers the day before.

The parents workshop will be held at the University of St. Boniface, 200 Avenue de la Cathedrale in Winnipeg on Saturday October 19. The time will be 10:00 a.m.  Rm 1214.

Please feel free to pass this on to any families that are still wondering about the program, how it works and are needing a place for their answers to be addressed.

Still Collecting Names

School is going to be starting soon and we want to let people know that we are still collecting names for the proposal.  Children who are infants and any school aged children.  We will collect names until the day our meeting is scheduled with the school board which may be late September or early October.  We will keep you posted.

As classes resume and students come back to school, take the opportunity to share with family and friends about Spanish Bilingual programs.  If you would like a pamphlet or an information sheet to pass out, please email us by filling out the form on the right side bar.

Questions About Who to Call

Many of you have asked what you can do to help spread the word about the proposal.  We have encouraged you to call your city councillor, your MLA, your school board trustee to let them know about this.  We want to thank you to those that have been able to make those contacts.

Interestingly enough we have received some positive feedback from government officials who want to support the proposal.  This is great!  Some however aren't as enthusiastic about being contacted.  They say that since they aren't the ones making the decisions, people should not be calling them.

We are well aware that the school board is the decision maker when it comes to implementing programs. The superintendent doesn't make that decision, nor city councillors or even the province.

Our goal isn't just to inform those that make the decisions, but to let all levels of government and citizens know.  Spreading the word so that people are talking about it at social events and meetings.

The more that know = the greater chance of this succeeding.

Meeting with Minister of Education's Office

Before the start of summer holidays, Eugenia and I had the opportunity to meet with the Minister of Education's office.  The meeting was a positive meeting and our ideas about the proposal were well received. They didn't answer our transportation or catchment questions. We were reminded once again that though people think this is a great idea and want to support us, many of those same people have little to do with the actual decision of implementing a Spanish bilingual program.

The decision comes down to the approval of the school board.  We know there are school board chairpersons that are aware of our proposal and think that this could be a positive program for our city, but arranging a meeting with them during the summer holidays is almost impossible.....

Anyways, the meeting went well and we were able to let a few more people know about the proposal.  Hopefully this networking and spreading the word will help move this along to a reality.