École Bilingue Notre Dame de Sion
1775 boul. Decarie,
St-Laurent, (Quebec)
Canada, H4L 3N5
tel. : 514-747-3895

Directrice Mme. Véronique Lemieux

Attendees  International Sion Schools Meeting Jerusalem 2012:
Véronique Lemieux-Boyer, Sr. Jackie Chenard, Christine Nicolet, Jo-Ann Berg, Barbra Götz

Type, Size and Purpose of the School:
Elementary School, Ages five to twelve (Kindergarten to Grade Six), Mother Tongue French and English Instruction

Portrait of our School
Ecole Bilingue Notre Dame de Sion accepts Francophone, Anglophone and Allophone* students from Kindergarten to grade 6.  Our school is nondenominational.  We have around 330 students of 50 different nationalities, from 7 different religious groups.
Our school offers an enriched and accelerated academic program, in two languages (French and English).  From Kindergarten to grade 4 (ages 5-9), 60% of teaching takes place in French and 40% in English.  In grades 5 and 6 (ages 10-12) students are taught in French 80% of the time and in English 20%.  Our graduates will go on to attend various French High Schools, and various English High Schools depending on the legal eligibility in terms of Quebec’s Language Laws.
We are a private school.  Although E.B.N.D.S. must follow the rules and regulations set by the Educational Ministry of Quebec, it receives no financial aid from the Quebec provincial government.  By being financially independent, the school is free to expand its scholastic program and increase its sphere of social responsibilities.
*in Quebec, an allophone is a resident usually an immigrant, whose mother tongue or home language is neither French nor English.  The term is also sometimes used in other parts of Canada.  The term parallels Francophone and Anglophone, which designates people whose mother tongues are French and English, respectively.  Note that native speakers of aboriginal languages are generally not treated as allophone. (Taken from Wikipedia)

Our School’s Diverse Reality
The following pie-charts give an overall view of our school’s rich, diverse reality.  Their inclusion is intended to help your overall understanding of our daily reality.   There are variations as classes graduate and new ones begin.

Our Mission
As a Sion school, École Bilingue Notre Dame de Sion’s mission is to instill in their students a deep appreciation of their own faith and culture, as well as a heightened awareness of, respect for, and sensitivity to the beliefs and practices of others.  The school promotes the dignity and rights of each person across racial, religious, ethnic, and socio-economic differences.  These priorities permeate every aspect of the integral education of our students.
In the context of Quebec’s changing reality, this mission, and our educational vision, find expression especially in the commitment to provide an excellent bilingual education that prepares grade six students to excel in the French and English high schools of their choice **.  Our strong bilingual program also supports students to develop efficient work habits.
The atmosphere of inclusivity helps develop students who are open to the diverse reality of our society and world.
Complementing this specific focus, our school offers students a values-based education that cultivates their sense of responsibility to their community.  The values practiced and developed by the E.B.N.D.S. teachers, staff, and students are the following:

• Openness to and appreciation of diversity
• Respect
• Cooperation
• Responsibility
• Autonomy
• Perseverance

The school staff practices these values in order to become good role models for our students.  Our attitudes are used as reference.
**Students with English eligibility may attend either French or an English High School; however, students with no eligibility must attend French High Schools.  Student eligibility is determined by one of their parents, or grandparents, having been schooled in English, elementary, in Quebec

Cultivating the Sion charism at EBNDS
An important way that we have been developing the charism within the student population is through the use of yearly themes such as ‘In Sion Firmata Sum’, ‘Having Hearts Larger Than the World’, etc. chosen in accordance with the needs and realities of the year.  The Mission Director prepares and teaches  lessons in relation to this theme in each classroom about seven times a year.  The lessons help the students reflect on the values of the important people at the foundation of Sion, on the history of Sion, and Sion’s internationality, in relation to their daily lives at school and beyond. 
In order to help students learn to appreciate their own faith and culture, as well as help develop a sensitivity toward and appreciation for the beliefs and practices of others, parents of the various religions in the school are invited to do a presentation to the students on one of their particular celebrations, e.g. Passover, Easter, Ramadan, Diwali, etc.  
Literature is another means by which we attempt to cultivate the charism in our school.  Books reflecting the diversity of cultures within the school and society are read to the students.  In the older grades, novels showing the impact of stereotyping, prejudice, and exclusion are studied.  Some of these novels are about historical realities such as the Shoa and black slavery in North America. Other volumes will reflect prejudices and stereotypes in the students’ reality of today.
A vibrant means by which our school’s mission is cultivated and incorporated into the daily curriculum is through our music program.  Mrs. Luck, our music teacher, chooses songs that reflect and teach about our diversity.
In the last few years a number of workshops for the staff have been given by different Sisters of Sion.  These have included the apostolic section of the constitutions of the Sisters of Sion, Theodore’s understanding of education, and a historical overview of the charism of the congregation.
One staff formation session was a presentation on Islam by Muslim parents.  This workshop, along with all the others, have always incorporated time for the staff to reflect upon how each them has, or will, integrate the subject into their role within the school.
Along with these workshops, new members to the staff receive an orientation to the mission during the course of their first year at our school.
In the midst of our diversity, the teachers, along with the staff, work on a daily basis to help ensure respect is being reflected upon and lived in relation to the varying aspects of life at the school.  We find that the older students can be of great assistance in this matter.

Whole school Social Justice Programs that cultivate the Sionian Charism
Our grade six students, who have been trained as peace-keepers, are asked to give up about one hour of their free time each week to be mediators for the younger students.  They have become an integral part of our respect for others and are instrumental in instilling dialogue as a means of settling conflict at an early age.
At Halloween, the students have been asked to raise funds for the ‘Goldie Project’.  It is a riding stable that allows children with severe disabilities to experience the joy of horseback riding.  The project was initiated by one of our own students, and has now been embraced by us all.
Each year at Christmas time, the students are implicated in a program to gather food and money for those in our community that are the hardest hit.  This year, the school successfully answered the call for winter clothing and other necessities for less fortunate schools that were within our own school district.
For many years, our older students have marched off through the snow to sing at the senior residences in our area.  Their songs bring comfort and joy.  We have been told that for many of the seniors this event has been the best part of the holiday season.  They have especially enjoyed chatting to the students once the concert was over.
Due to the young age of our students, we bring in many issues through the choice of pedagogic material that is used in class to raise awareness of different realities. Each child is then invited to share their own experiences.  Due to our diverse student background, there is richness in these areas.  As many of our own students have witnessed, or been faced, with these issues.

Religion and Ethics and Religious Culture Instruction

The Mandatory Ethics and Religious Cultures Program Required by the Quebec Government
Quebec society is undergoing change:  societal challenges are as much an issue for urban centers as for rural regions; mentalities are evolving in keeping with a multitude of influences; values and convictions are being asserted with greater force; questions are constantly being raised. The school must therefore adjust to this transformation.  It is within this context that the Ethics and Religious Culture program is being offered to all elementary and secondary schools students.  This program will replace the Catholic Religious and Moral Instruction, Protestants Moral and Religious Education and Moral Education programs that have been taught until now.  The new program, which reflects the preference of the majority of Quebeckers, will make it possible to offer the same education to all Quebec students while respecting the freedom of conscience and religion of parents, students and teachers.

The Ethics and Religious Culture program will allow your child to:

• Acquire or consolidate, if applicable, an understanding of how all individuals are equal in terms of right and dignity
• Learn to reflect on issues
• Explore, depending on his/her age, different ways in which Quebec’s religious heritage is present in his/her immediate or broader environment
• Learn about elements of other religious traditions present in Quebec
• Grow and develop in a society in which different values and beliefs coexist

(Taken from the Ministry’s web site)

Religious Education
Due to the very diverse population of the school, the religion class is an option for the parent.  While the majority of the students in the religion classes are Catholic, some classes also include Orthodox and various Protestant denominations.  The classes that have a mixture of Christian denominations increase the opportunities for age appropriate ecumenical reflection.  In the spirit of Nostra Aetate, students learn about various aspects of other religions such as their sacred places and books.  Being a Sion school, an emphasis is placed on reflecting on biblical passages from both testaments, the Jewishness of Jesus, and the relation of Judaism and Christianity in whatever way is possible according to the grade level during these classes.
Alongside the religious instruction, and to meet the needs of our families from diverse backgrounds, there is an ethics and religious course.  While meeting all the requirements of the above stated government set program, it also allows for the real opportunity of dialogue betweens students of diverse cultural and religious backgrounds.  Using a wide variety of resources, ethical values appropriate to the students’ ages are examined, and then discussed.  It is a rich opportunity for sharing and listening to others.  The ability to express ones own point of view, while understanding and respecting that of others, is strongly developed.

Our hopes for the meeting in Jerusalem
As we look forward, the strengthening of our connection to our Sion roots is key to our continued growth.  We are very interested in our history and the lessons to be learnt, and applied to today.
Building connections to other Sion schools is seen as a continued enrichment of our own school’s commitment to the Charism.  We are eagerly anticipating learning from others, and engaging in dialogue.  We are ready to share our own reality, and experiences, with others in the Sion community.  The background and reality of Jerusalem will be fertile ground in which to continue our own unique journey.
With the leaving of Sr. Jackie, next September will be the first year in our history that our school does not have the presence of a Sister of Sion.  The sisters will continue to fulfill various roles in relation to the school:

• A sister will continue to be the Visitor in relation to our Board of Directors.  The ‘Visitor’ has veto capacity in relation to the School’s Mission, building, and the hiring and firing of the director.
• The Sisters of the Canada-U.S. community have established a school committee. This committee will be on hand to offer support for the charism in our school.
• A Mission Director position has been created and defined as a daily presence within the school.

We know that the future holds challenges and joys.  Attendance at the International Notre Dame de Sion Schools meeting will be a pro-active step towards how we continue to carry out our mission in the years to come.  We wish to take this opportunity to thank the planning committee who has made this meeting possible.  Your hard work and dedication are much appreciated.