Concerns rise with talks to move French Immersion program between Waterloo elementary schools

Parents at a Waterloo Catholic are raising concerns about a plan to move the French Immersion program to another school. CTV's Krista Simpson reports.

Parents at a Waterloo Catholic elementary school are raising concerns about a plan to move the French Immersion program to another school about ten minutes away.

The decision made by staff was laid out for trustees at a Waterloo Catholic District School board informational meeting Monday night.

Currently, there area 141 students enrolled in the French Immersion program at Holy Rosary Catholic Elementary School on Thorndale Dr. in Waterloo.

The plan is to move them to St. Nicholas Catholic Elementary School on Laurelwood Dr. in September 2026.

“The sense of community and belonging is going to be basically ripped out from underneath them and it’s very sad,” says Lisa Russell, whose children attend French Immersion at Holy Rosary.

Russell was among the many members of impacted families that attended the board meeting Monday, where trustees said they have already received a number of messages with concerns and questions.

Trustee Conrad Stanley told staff that he understands the job they have to do is almost impossible.

“All of our sites are over capacity and no matter what we do here, it’s going to create issues, There’s no easy solution here,” he said.

School board staff say Holy Rosary is at 136% capacity and has eight portables on site. Parking is also a challenge.

WCDSB spokesperson Lema Salaymeh says a review of the portable situation in the spring led the facilities team to raise concerns about adding any more at Holy Rosary.

“If we were to max out the portables by adding four more, it would take up essentially all of the play space that children enjoy during recess,” Salaymeh said.

St. Nicholas Catholic Elementary school is about a ten minute drive away from Holy Rosary. It too is currently over capacity at 106% utilization but there are only three portables right now and the property can accommodate more.

The school board says a number of options were explored but this one keeps the French Immersion students together.

“The hope was to make sure that students stay as a collective. So, moving them as a group felt like a natural transition,” says Salaymeh.

But Russell warns that may not end up happening, as some families who live within the Holy Rosary boundary may opt to stay there and leave French immersion.

“Ultimately, this is our home school and we don’t know if we’ll actually be moving, which won’t address the overcapacity issue.”

Russell says switching to St. Nicholas would be complicated. She would have to enroll her children in morning care and they could no longer walk to school. She’s also concerned about them losing the teachers that currently are part of the program.

“I know that they said that this was for the well-being of the students but this does not serve our children, does not serve our families and our communities. We need to be in the schools that are in close proximity to our homes,” Russell says.

Another meeting attendee called out a plea to trustees to “please listen to us!” as he left the board room.

Ultimately, though, trustees were only given the details of the change as information, as the decision is made by staff. Because French Immersion is an optional program, moving it does not require a boundary review.

The board’s interim Director of Education said they will be listening to concerns raised by those impacted and their thoughts on navigating the change.

“We are in a tough, difficult spot because we know the program is not going to sustain itself in that building; however, we are open to the feedback around the implementation of that change,” Annalisa Varano said.

Families still hope that the plan itself will be altered or paused.

“I really think that things need to be slowed down. I think this is a very knee jerk reaction,” Russell said.