Canadian parents: French Immersion vs. a great local community school?
This is very Canadian/Ontario-specific, so apologies if it’s not relevant to most people here! We’re starting to think about kindergarten and are torn between two options.
Our local English-language school is a really great community school. It’s close to us, seems to have a wonderful community vibe, and is generally very well regarded. The downside is that it only goes up to Grade 6, so our child would eventually have to switch schools.
Our other option is French Immersion. The FI school is slightly farther away, isn’t nearly as well “rated,” and from what we can tell doesn’t have quite the same strong community/neighbourhood feel as our local school.
The thing making this such a hard decision is that my husband and I both did French Immersion and are completely bilingual as adults, and we really value having that skill. French has helped both of us professionally, and I also feel like learning a second language so young made it much easier for me to pick up other languages later (Italian, in my case). I also think there are broader benefits in terms of how you think, learn, etc.
Our child is still young, but is extremely language-inclined, so French Immersion feels like something he would probably thrive in rather than struggle with.
I guess I’m wondering how other parents would weigh this: a genuinely great neighbourhood/community school vs. French community Immersion at a school that seems less impressive overall? For those who chose FI, do you feel the benefits of bilingualism were worth prioritizing over the “better” school environment? And for anyone who chose a great local school instead, did you ever regret giving up the opportunity for immersion?
I’m especially interested in hearing from Ontario/Canadian parents who have had to make a similar choice!