MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Manchester Board of School Committee (BOSC) is set to discuss a recommendation exploring what would be the second dual-language immersion program in Manchester’s public school system.
This recommendation came from the BOSC Committee on Teaching and Learning from Tuesday, with Manchester School District Assistant Superintendent Nicole Doherty and Webster Elementary School Principal Meg Canning providing the committee with an overview of a dual-language immersion program in French at Webster.
The concept of dual-immersion education has students switching between a native language and a second language throughout a school day while learning all subjects, not just those languages. In theory, those students are expected to be fluent in the second language by the time they graduate from high school if the program can be started in kindergarten.
This new French program at Webster would have students learning in French over 80 percent of the school day and in English during the other 20 percent, a similar ratio to the Spanish dual-language immersion program at Bakersville Elementary School. However, while Bakersville has many students with Spanish as their first language, the number of students at Webster with French as their first language is limited.
Webster’s program would be funded through grants provided by the French Consulate in Boston, although total costs were not mentioned during Tuesday’s meeting. Doherty also mentioned that the district has three teachers fluent in French that would be willing participate in the program.
Members of the committee were not opposed to the concept of a French dual-immersion program, but questioned its feasibility to launch in the Fall 2025 per Doherty’s projections.
Several members of the committee felt that it was important to solidify and learn long-term best practices at the Bakersville program, now in its first year and the Webster program may distract from success at Bakersville.
“Part of my fear is that we still haven’t fully mastered it there, there are still kinks we’re working things out and I worry that one will impact the other,” said At-Large BOSC Member Peter Argeropoulos.
Ward 5 BOSC Member Jason Bonilla worried that Doherty would not have the bandwidth to oversee both programs, also sharing Argeropoulos’ concerns about resources.
“I understand that we want to provide access to all students to a second language, but we need to make sure this program is sustainable and make sure our program is supported,” said Bonilla.
Ward 1 BOSC Member Julie Turner voiced concern about current kindergarten class sizes at Webster and what impact the new program may have on that issue.
Ward 3 BOSC Member and Committee Chair Karen Soule felt that exploring the proposal was appropriate, and thus worthy of additional discussion, but it would likely be more prudent to wait beyond Fall 2025 to start the Webster program.
The committee supported the recommendation to explore the concept on a 4-1 vote, with Ward 6 BOSC Member Dan Bergeron joining Soule, Bonilla and Turner. Argeropoulos was the sole opposing vote, but said that he could be swayed to support the concept in the future.
The entire BOSC will discuss the recommendation at their meeting on Monday, Oct. 28.