Moving to Calgary soon
 

Good evening,

I am new on here and need the help of people living in Calgary, Canada. My husband has been offered a job there (South East of Calgary) and he needs to say at the end of the week whether he takes it or not!
We live in Paris at the moment and have done so for 6 years. Our children are bilingual English and French (I am French my husband is English) and I would really love for my children to continue Learning both languages. Are there any public schools that offer both languages in their curriculum. If so are there any you could recommend? The first year I would probably be a stay at home mum to help the family and especially the children settle in, so we could not afford the private school. I would not mind paying a small fee for the privilege of bilingual schooling but could not afford thousands of dollars a year.
Also I have seen that kindergarten starts at 5 in Calgary, are there any schools that take younger children? My son will be 4 and a half next September and is already at school in France.

Sorry for all those questions but I do not know how to ask. I would really love to move to Calgary as I do not like living in Paris (I am French so I can criticise my country :p). I feel it would be great for our family but i need to know all the facts before I take the big leap.

I thank you in advance for your feedback :)

Re: Moving to Calgary soon
 

In NS there are many French Immersion schools / classes... most lessons are taught in French... Not sure how young they start but there is early and late immersion...
I think they are everywhere but can't speak for anywhere else from experience ;)

Re: Moving to Calgary soon
 

Thank you for your answer. I am a bit ignorant but what is NS please?

Re: Moving to Calgary soon
 

NS = Nova Scotia.

This link http://arts.ucalgary.ca/lrc/home/par...chools-calgary might be useful.

Bienvenue.

Re: Moving to Calgary soon
 

Hi, we are living here in Calgary and our daughter attends a Catholic French immersion school called Ecole St Pius X in the inner north-west. We have been very happy at this school and several of the teachers are from Quebec and French is their first language. French is spoken most of the time now that my daughter is in grade 3. But I think for kindergarten it's about half and half English and French. A 4 year old should be fine to start kindergarten there. One nice thing about Ecole St Pius is that they have a before and after school care program. There are several other French immersion schools in the city, both public and Catholic which are almost free. ( Maybe $100-200 in fees per year for us). I find in Calgary there isn't a big emphasis on private schooling so there is not much pressure to be in the "right" school.
There are other French immersion schools here, such as St Gerard(elementary)Madeleine d'Houet (junior high). If you check the websites for the Calgary Catholic School board and Public School board there will be a complete list.
I have lived in Calgary on and off for a long time so would be happy to answer any other questions about neighborhoods etc.

Re: Moving to Calgary soon
 

Thank you so much for your answer :)
The only thing is i do not want the the teaching all in french, half and half would be great! In a catholic School is there a lot of emphasis on religion?
Do you know if schools offer extra activities like sports and music?
I am so sorry to ask so many questions i just want to be well informed before making such a big decision and thanks again for all your answers :)

Re: Moving to Calgary soon
 

I am sure Adriane will know, but here in New Brunswick the 'immersion' schools do half and half lessons through the day in English and French.

However, don't worry about the English element, your kids will get lots of English here of a very high standard. Our son came here last year from France, aged 11. His spoken English was good, but his written English very dodgy. He goes to a French school here, but he still gets lots and lots of English tuition, of a 'normal' level, and not of the level that he got at school in France. My son went to a private Catholic school in France, and my niece went to a private Catholic school in Calgary, and neither experienced a bucketful of religion.

Very best of luck in making your decision...Canada is not a country for everyone, and a big move is not without it's difficulties, I miss France lots...I miss my friends, the food, the wine and oh...the food! I am however starting to be more happy in my new life and am ultimately very glad I came. I have a number of acquaintances here in New Brunswick who moved from France, and they seem to be happy and successful too.

Re: Moving to Calgary soon
 

Hi there, glad I can help. I have been corrected by my daughter that her teacher only speaks French half the time. Plus most of the families are English-speaking, so the kids all speak English to each other. Our teacher showed me the English spelling tests they have been doing, and the library has both French and English books. I don't think you will find it lacking in terms of English instruction.
In terms of sports and the arts, I can only go on what our school has but they do gym several times a week. They do a sports day in May, and a week of swimming lessons for grade 3 and 4 students (bowling for grade 1 and 2) in October. For the arts and music, the school has a choir beginning grade 4 and some music concerts. They just had an advent concert last week and today they went to a play of some kind by bus to a local auditorium. Last year everyone in the school went to a Greg LeRock concert. He is a Francophone guitarist who plays for children. My daughter also went to the science centre with her class. In kindergarten they do a field trip to the zoo.
It's pretty good considering it's nearly free, although the school doesn't have a music band teacher, so I send my daughter to piano lessons and separate swimming lessons to progress quicker.
I am not at all religious, it was my husband who thought the Catholic school system was better, and I haven't felt it was too much. They do sometimes have a religious celebration in the gym, or talk about it in class, but I have never felt I couldn't cope with the amount. The thing is that, at least in Catholic schools they celebrate Christmas and Easter, do some crafts about it and have a Christmas tree. In the public schools, because there are so many people from non-Christian backgrounds, I think they don't even do anything for Christmas or Easter. (Maybe some one else reading this knows what the public schools in Calgary do). Even though I am not religious, I don't mind her getting to do something for Christmas!!!
Calgary has come a LONG way in terms of shopping and restaurants and over the last 15 years. We are getting high-end US retailers such as Nordstrom, and have gourmet restaurants, food markets, wine stores with international selections, so I think you will be able to track down things you miss. No problem finding French wine here!
Back to the schools, as long as you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident ( maybe someone can confirm about PR) there shouldn't be any extra costs to attend school here. We are citizens so not sure about different visa types.
Hope this helps. The weather is crazy in Calgary:blink:, but everything else is good!!