Discussions

Has anyone heard any updates about the French (DSFM) school that is supposed to be built here in Brandon? I have emailed DSFM in the past and either did not receive a response or received a generic, "it's on our list" response.  
 
I am a French speaking parent who lives outside of the city so I know I don't have a shot at getting my child into French Immersion. I'm hoping to avoid having to send my child to Shilo. I am a DSFM grad so really hoping to have my child go to a DSFM school. Fingers crossed.

Last I heard, like you said, it was on the list of promised schools by the provincial government. It will be years before it's even started, I'm sure.  
 
If you're in the BSD catchment, there are 3 schools that offer French Immersion - O'Kelly in Shilo, and Harrison and New Era in Brandon. I believe only Harrison has lottery for spaces, but I don't think it's quite a capacity the past couple of years (from the rumours I've heard). High school is at Neelin, which is dual track. New Era and O'Kelly are also dual track.  
 
So you probably have a few options if you can bring your child to town. Did you inquire about your options? You might find something.  
 
I have only heard excellent things about Ecole La Source in Shilo. It might be worth the drive/bus ride if you value French education.

Is going on the south side of Maryland between  
18th and 26th street. The property has already been purchased by the school division out of Winnipeg.  
The school will be K-12 is my understanding.

 
 
Edited by matt123, 2023-06-27 18:05:32

 
 
Edited by matt123, 2023-06-27 18:04:58

Even if you don’t live in the bsd catchment you can enroll your child in one of the bsd French immersion schools. You would just need to fill out an extra form for being an out of district student that then goes to the province so they can adjust funding from one district to the other due to lack of French options on your home district.

It took over 10 years to get Maryland Park built. It's at the mercy of the provincial government. So having the land already doesn't mean much.  
 
(Side note: my brother used to live across the street from a "school reserve" in a new neighborhood in Winnipeg. They eventually built a cul-de-sac in that land and the school his kids attend is literally overflowing with close to 30 kids in each class with no new space allocated for a school. There are still hundreds of units slated for building in the catchment.)

Thanks for clarifying that! I didn't know any of that.

What difference does that make ? The school is going on that property weather its 5 years or 10? Hopefully  
they do a better job of it than Maryland park!

It makes a big difference.  
 
5 or 10 years from now won't be helpful to the OP, who I am assuming will need school in the next year or two, if not the fall.  
 
I think it might have been longer than 10 years. Maybe closer to 12, but my memory is fuzzy and I can't find the original proposal date. The new housing around there started being built in 2003-2004ish, and Flemming was sold in I think 2005 or so, and the explosive growth in the BSD started shortly afterwards. So 2009ish makes sense. It opened to students in January 2021.  
 
That's a person's entire public school career, time wise. Kids entering kindergarten now will probably never get to attend it, assuming it has similar timelines.  
 
Also, just because land is set aside and/or acquired for this purpose doesn't mean it happens. Schools don't get built all the time, or on extraordinarily long timetables compared to what is proposed. Demographics change. Governments change. Unless it's actively being built, you can't rely on it ever getting built.  
 
But I agree the building of Maryland Park was a gong show!