One in every twelve students in my French class at CSS de Montréal

One in every twelve students attends the Reception and Excellence class at the Montreal School Services Center (CSSDM), the organization's service director, Matthew Desjardins, said Thursday.

“We started the year with 4,600 students in the reception class,” Mr. Desjardins said in an interview on LCN. “We are at 6,400. We are probably planning to end the year with 7,500 students in reception classes.”

“Currently at the Montreal School Services Centre, we have one out of every twelve students in the French class,” he adds.

TVA Nouvelles had access to the Louis-Dupire Elementary School in the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district of Montreal to get an overview of the reception and privilege class.

Teacher José Dufour, who agreed to show her daily life on LCN, has worked in the reception class for years.

The semester presents a very diverse picture of the Quebec of tomorrow.

“Colombia, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Algeria, Tunisia, Haiti, I think I said it all,” Ms. Dufour says.

Then she said, “Oh Jordan, I apologize.”

Some of the students in his class have only been in Quebec for a few months.

“Before, I didn't speak. I could only say 'Hello', but with Ms. José, I speak French well now,” explains one of the students in the class.

Some of them say they came to Quebec with their families because it is safer than their country of origin.

“My father told me: ‘I want you, when you grow up, to have a better life [avenir] Says a student from Mexico.

The goal is for these students to learn French at their own pace and eventually be able to join regular classes in the coming years.

“It has changed a lot in the last five or six years, because we are receiving a lot of children who have not been to school and who have significant learning difficulties,” Ms. Dufour confirms.

The school's director, Pascal Dasti, explains that the institution includes 12 of these classes.

“Every Thursday morning, we welcome new students,” he confirms.

Ms. Dasti explains that children of immigrants represent about 27% of the school's students.

CSSDM has 38 primary schools and 11 secondary schools that have these reception classes.

In total, there are 428 reception classrooms open on the territory of the School Service Centre.

***See Andy St. Andre's report in the video above***