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For Halifax parent Jonathan Langdon, history is repeating itself.
Three years ago, his daughter was in Grade 9 at École Mer et Monde, a French school in south-end Halifax. To continue being taught in French for high school, she’d have a lengthy school bus ride each day across Halifax harbour to École secondaire Mosaïque in Burnside, N.S.
Ultimately, the decision was made for her to do French immersion at Citadel High in Halifax, meaning some of the education would be delivered in French, but not all of it.
Today, Langdon’s son is in Grade 9 and is facing the same question.
“The idea of going across the bridge, being stuck in that kind of traffic on a school bus, both to Mosaïque and back, is a significant aspect of the consideration,” said Langdon.
Last week, the head of Nova Scotia’s francophone school board, Michel Collette, said that geography is keeping some students from getting a French education. In some instances, students would have to make a round trip of hundreds of kilometres each day to attend their nearest French school, he said.
But it’s also true that time-consuming commutes that don’t cover a lot of kilometres in the Halifax area are keeping some students from getting a French high school education. That’s because there’s no French high school in peninsular Halifax and there are no definitive plans to establish one.
French high schools in the Halifax area
At present, the closest French high schools to Halifax are Mosaïque and École secondaire du Sommet on Larry Uteck Drive in Bedford, N.S., with 362 high school students at Mosaïque and 310 at Sommet, according to the Education Department’s latest enrolment figures.
There’s a French school being constructed at the corner of Oxford Street and Bayers Road in Halifax, but that will only go up to Grade 9. It is expected to open in 2026 and will replace École Mer et Monde.
Krista Higdon, a spokesperson with the Education Department, said that no decision has been made on a Conseil scolaire acadien provincial high school on the peninsula, but she did say that a renovation to Mer et Monde “to deliver a high school program is on CSAP’s priority list.”
Angela Day lives in Herring Cove, N.S., and has two children in grades 2 and 4 at Mer et Monde. She said her husband is French and it’s important their children are educated in French, especially to speak to some family members.
Day said that while her children won’t be attending high school for several years, she’s already thinking about the decision they will make.
She said that driving to Mosaïque would take 35 minutes at a non-peak traffic time, but a school bus ride during morning and afternoon commutes could take 90 minutes each way.
“The sticking point for me is I want them to have that option to continue their whole trajectory through the French system,” she said. “And it doesn’t feel like that’s a good option when the school is so far away.”
Day said renovating the Mer et Monde space for use as a high school would be a good option because it’s on public transit routes and is close to the universities.
With a growing population and increasing enrolment in the CSAP system, Day said there should be a French high school in peninsular Halifax.
“I think we need to prioritize this space and infrastructure for livable communities for everyone — and that includes the school system,” said Day.
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