Louisiana’s newest French immersion school in Pointe-aux-Chenes enrolling elementary students for August

POINTE-AUX-CHENES, La. (WVUE) - Louisiana’s newest French immersion school is beginning the process of enrolling kindergarten and first-grade students for their inaugural school year, which will begin in August, according to Tele-Louisiane, a multi-lingual media platform.

The school, Ecole Pointe-au-Chien, is located in Pointe-aux-Chenes in Terrebonne Parish. The school’s board is currently working with the Council For Development of French in Louisiana and the Louisiana Department of Education to recruit two French teachers.

“Not only is this going to bring a school back to our community, but it will be a beginning for bringing the language back to the community,” said Christine Verdin, council member of the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe. “We will begin with elementary but will also eventually offer adult classes so interested parents can learn French too. Our goal is to hear more French in and throughout our community.”

State law allows the families of students living in Pointe-aux-Chênes and Isle de Jean Charles to have priority in the enrollment process. Residents that were displaced from the area due to Hurricane Ida, or by state order for other environmental reasons, also will have priority under the law.

To start the 2023-24 school year, the school will hold classes in the Knights of Columbus building in town, but plans are to eventually move the school into the former campus of Pointe-Aux-Chenes Elementary after the renovations beginning at the end of the year are complete. The elementary school was closed in 2021 by a decision from the Terrebonne Parish School Board and it was later damaged by Hurricane Ida.

In 2022, the state legislature voted to pass a bill that grants the school initial funding of $3 million to create the school and establish an independent governing board.

Anyone interested in enrolling their children at Ecole Pointe-au-Chien can click here or email ecolepointeauchien@gmail.com.

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