Open House

We are pleased to inform you that the Open House will happen on Thursday December 4 at 7:00. It will take place in the library at Luxton School, 111 Polson Ave. Representatives from Winnipeg School Division will join us to answer any questions that parents may have.

We are thrilled that the location has been named and with sufficient enrolment, the Spanish Bilingual program will start in Fall of 2015.

School location selected

Winnipeg School Division has decided that Luxton School, 111 Polson Ave. will host the Spanish Bilingual Program in Fall 2015. Open house / Information Night for interested parents coming in the next few weeks.

Great News!

Update on Programming

We have had several meetings and conversations with various school divisions the Winnipeg School Division has expressed the most desire and continues to be very interested in partnering with us on making this bilingual program a reality for this coming school year (2014/2015). This is great news.

Though they are still unable to pinpoint an exact school location, they have indicated that if the program were to start this coming school year (2014/2015) that it would definitely NOT be in an inner city school.  This is more great news as many of you know, that having the program in an inner city school was the demise of the efforts a few years back.

However this is a prediction that is only viable if the program were to start in this upcoming coming school year. 

The target age group is to start with a Kindergarten program this coming year with children born in 2009 residing within WSD catchment. However the WSD is open to also accepting children from outside of WSD catchment, if space is available. We currently are needing to continue seeking those children that may be interested in being a part of this brand new Spanish bilingual program, we especially need families with children born in 2009 and residing within the Winnipeg School Division catchment area but also welcome those not in that school year and not within WSD catchment. 

This is an interest list and by no means is it a fixed or non-retractable commitment. We are just wanting to show that the interest, need and demand for a Spanish bilingual program in the City of Winnipeg is definitely there. 

Please spread the word, share this post and/or continue to send us your information to add to our database. To be added to our database or for more information please email at winnipegspanishimmersion@gmail.com, phone at 204-887-4572, or via our Facebook page Winnipeg Spanish Immersion.  

Thank you for your interest and support thus far. 
-Eugenia Lehmann & Kathy Heppner

Deadline for Submission

We have until the 25th of February to present the names of interested families to the school division. If you have already submitted your information, thank you! but you also have to consent to us passing on the information to the school division.

Just drop us an email at winnipegspanishimmersion@gmail.com stating, "Yes, I give consent". That's it.

You have until the 25th to make this a reality. Please show your support!

Update

We are continuing to collect names even though the proposals have been presented and we have been waiting patiently for word from all the divisions. Pembina Trails congratulated us on a well put together presentation, but are concerned they don't have enough students in the school division to make it a possibility. They are however committed to working with other divisions to making this a reality in the city.

 

We have had more conversation with Winnipeg School Dvision this week and they seem quite positive about starting a kindergarten class for 2014. They have asked us to present the names of the children in their school division that are born in 2009 in addition to all the names we have for that age group from other school divisions.

 

What we understand from that is if we can get more names of students in the Winnipeg School Division they will confirm the start up of a Spanish Bilingual program and welcome students from outside the school division. This is great news!!!

We are working on setting up another meeting with them in the coming week to discuss how the division can help us promote theprogram as well as if they can answer our questions regarding location. Our hope is that they would advertise it in all their schools. This would be so important as we move forward.

What we need from you as parents: Promote the program, especially to families with children entering kindergarten and especially those that reside in Winnipeg School division.

Our desire is to still work towards getting a late immersion program started, either for grade 4 or grade 7. Our numbers are a bit lower for those age categories, but if you are wanting to see it happen for the 2014 or even the 2015 school year, we need to gather more names. I plan to call a number of parents in my son's class asking them if they would consider putting their children in late Spanish Bilingual if it was offered. It's worth asking if it means making this a reality.

Preliminary Report of Parental Motivation

Here is the preliminary report written by Verónica Loureiro-Rodríguez who is from the University of Manitoba and is in the Department of Linguistics.

Spanish immersion in Winnipeg? ¿Por qué no?

1. Introduction
In the last six years, Canada has experienced a dramatic increase of 32% in its
Spanish-speaking population. The 2011 Canadian census registered more than 439,110
people with Spanish as their mother tongue, 8,825 of whom reside in the province of
Manitoba, making Spanish the third largest non-official language in the country
(Statistics Canada, 2012). As a result of this remarkable growth, a new interest in the
Spanish language has emerged, and with it, a local initiative to create Winnipeg’s first
Spanish immersion program.

Recent research shows that immersion programs are a successful educational
approach for both majority and minority language students (Barnett, Yarosz, Thomas,
Jung, & Blanco, 2007; Howard, Christian, & Genesee, 2004; Howard & Sugarman, 2007;
Lindholm-Leary, 2001, 2005; Shannon & Milian, 2002; Thomas & Collier, 2002). It has
also been shown that minority language students enrolled in immersion programs reach
academic and linguistic goals at higher rates than those in non-immersion programs
(Howard & Sugarman, 2007; Lindholm-Leary, 2001; Lindholm-Leary & Block, 2010;
Shannon & Milian, 2002; Thomas & Collier, 2002).

2. Parental motivation: Why does it matter?
But, why are parents choosing immersion programs? Do all parents share the
same priorities? Or do parents differ in their reasons based, for example, on the language
they primarily speak at home, their own linguistic abilities, their educational level or their
income? The growing popularity of dual language education makes it necessary to
examine the reasons that parents articulate for choosing these programs. Finding out
Preliminary report on parental motivation parents’ expectations and motivations will help us better understand to whom immersion programs are really serving and what matters to parents who choose them (de Jong & Howard, 2009; Parkes, 2008). Furthermore, this information will be valuable for student
recruitment purposes, as well as for delineating language program goals (Parkes, 2008;
Whiting & Feinauer, 2011).

Research carried out in the United States suggests that there are many factors that
influence parents’ decision to enroll their children in dual language programs, such as the
cognitive and academic benefits of bilingualism, the promotion of children’s self-esteem
and self-worth, and the maintenance of the heritage culture (Craig, 1996; Kemppainen,
Ferrin, Ward, & Hite, 2004; Lao, 2004; Lindholm-Leary, 2001; Monzó, 2005; Shannon
& Milian, 2002). In Canada, research on immersion programs has traditionally focused
on French language proficiency (Genesee, 1987; Lambert & Tucker, 1972; Shannon &
Milian, 2002; Swain, 1981; Wright, 1996), not on parental motivations. However, results
from research carried out by the Canadian Council of Learning indicate that the majority
of parents choose to enroll their children in French immersion programs for instrumental
reasons, that is, because they believe that being proficient in French will open up career
opportunities for their children.

3. The Spanish Immersion Program initiative: A look at parents’ motivations
One of the tools the proponents of the Spanish Immersion Program have been using to
promote their initative is a Facebook group called Winnipeg Spanish Immersion. More
than 200 parents have joined this group. In September, I distributed an online survey
among these parents. The survey consisted of a sociolinguistic and demographic
questionnaire and an open-ended question about motivations for enrolling their children
in the Spanish Immersion program. At the end of the survey, I solicited volunteers for a
follow-up interview. As of October 29th, 2013, 35 parents have completed the survey,
and I have interviewed 15 of them.

3.1. Preliminary results.
3.1.1. Demographics

In the great majority of these families, one parent is originally from a Spanish-speaking
country and the other is from Canada, with the latter one being an English speaker. Not
surprisingly, English is the primary language in 97% of these households. About 35% of
the Spanish-speaking parents speak or try to speak only Spanish to their children.
Most of these families have two children of school age. Forty percent of the
mothers and 92% of the fathers are employed full-time. Half of the parents hold a
professional or graduate degree, and 25% of them have a college degree only.

3.1.2. Main reasons for enrolling their children in a Spanish immersion program
The main reason why parents would like their children to attend a Spanish
Immersion program is to give them the opportunity to remain connected with their
heritage, and to ensure that their children are able to communicate with their monolingual
Spanish-speaking relatives. The second reason parents mentioned was for children to
acquire academic skills in Spanish. These parents want their children to grow up not only
speaking Spanish, but also reading and writing it. It is their hope that, after graduating
from high school, their children are proficient enough to attend university in a Spanish speaking
country. Parents also value the global importance of Spanish and the job
opportunities that knowing such a widely spoken language would bring to their children.

3.1.2. Other topics and issues
During the interviews, the following topics and issues were addressed.
1. The majority of parents are open to the possibility of cohort classrooms
2. They would like for the school to offer as many hours in Spanish as possible, and
hope their children to learn about the linguistic and cultural diversity of the
Spanish-speaking world
3. Parents are excited about contributing to the program with their cultural and
linguistic knowledge.
4. A few parents suggested to conduct follow-up interviews or hold frequent
meetings once the Spanish program is running to answer questions and address
any issues or concerns that may arise.

References
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monolingual English immersion in preschool education: An experimental
comparison. Early Childhood Research Quaterly, 22, 277-293.
Craig, B. A. (1996). Parental attitudes toward bilingualism in a local two-way immersion
program. Bilingual Research Journal, 20(3&4), 383-410.
de Jong, E., & Howard, E. R. (2009). Integration in two-way immersion model:
Equalizing linguistic benefits for all students. International Journal of Bilingual
Education and Bilingualism, 12(1), 81-99.
Genesee, F. (1987). Learning through two languages: studies of immersion and bilingual
education. Cambridge, MA: Newbury House.
Howard, E. R., Christian, D., & Genesee, F. (2004). The development of bilingualism and
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Kemppainen, R., Ferrin, S. E., Ward, C. J., & Hite, J. M. (2004). ‘One should not forget
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Lambert, W., & Tucker, G. (1972). The bilingual education of children: the St. Lambert
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Lao, C. (2004). Parents' attitudes toward Chinese-English bilingual education and
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Lindholm-Leary, K. J. (2001). Dual language education. Toronto, ON: Multilingual
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of dual language education programs.
http://www.cal.org/twi/guidingprinciples.htm (accessed October 1, 2013).
Lindholm-Leary, K. J., & Block, N. (2010). Achievement in predominatly low
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Monzó, L. D. (2005). Latino parents’ ‘choice’ for bilingual education in an urban
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