Janice Hickey and Candace Elliott were the first to arrive at École Mt Prevost, settling into their chairs and blankets by the front door at 11:30 p.m. Saturday night, Jan. 24.
They were the vanguard of a group of parents eager to be at the front of the line to get their children into the Cowichan Valley school district’s popular French immersion program.
A startled security guard, who arrived at 3 a.m. on Sunday on his rounds, tried to shoo them away, claiming they were on private property, they said.
“Nobody told him that people might be here,” Hickey said. “He tried to get us to move to our cars and off the property but we stayed right here.”
Then the pair were alone again, until other folks began arriving at 5 a.m. to camp as they all waited for the doors to open for kindergarten registration early on Monday.
Both women were willing to brave the cold and discomfort because they see a great advantage in their children learning French from childhood.
As the program’s value becomes more and more known, they said, they knew they’d have to take advantage of an opportunity, thankful that the Cowichan Valley district doesn’t use a lottery system to choose entrants, like some other districts.
“We don’t like the lottery idea. At least this way we know, if we make the effort, our kids will get in,” Hickey said.
Elliott has only one child of kindergarten age, but she has another at home and wants to see that one enrolled eventually at Mt. Prevost as well, as the sibling of a current student.
Both Hickey and Elliott live in Duncan, but not all the parents were from nearby. Some were from as far away as Lake Cowichan.
They were chilly overnight but by noon Sunday some of the early campers had brought mobile heaters to stave off the cold for the crowd of about 20 parents already assembled along the walls by the school. Everyone was glad the recent torrential rains had stopped.
Some people had brought tents, some were sitting in sleeping bags and warm blankets on chairs.
French immersion only makes sense, Elliott said.
“After all this is Canada and French is really good to have. But this is a great school anyway.”
Both Elliott and Hickey have had their children in the preschool at Mt. Prevost but that does not give them an entrée into the school itself.
“I love this school,” Hickey said. “Everything I’ve seen here is great. It has a great reputation.”
Asked if they’d been hassled by later arrivals, Hickey laughed.
“No, everyone knows who was here first.”
Elliott added, “We’re all being very Canadian about this. If we have to leave our place, no one tries to move our stuff.”
For some of the others in line, Mt. Prevost is actually their neighbourhood school so they were eager to get their children enrolled close to home.
This lineup began much earlier than last year, according to one parent.
“I think they were getting here about 12:30 the night before it opened last year but apparently it’s been getting worse every year,” he said.
The parents calculated that although there are supposed to be 44 spots open for registration, only about 20 will be available because siblings will get priority.
“A lot of us here are in line to get our family in,” another man said. “And this is close. The next French immersion is in Cobble Hill or Nanaimo.”