Schooling has always been one of the major concerns of the Francophone community. In a minority situation such as exists in Windsor, teaching French is seen as an essential component in the preservation of language and culture. No French school system ever existed on the American side of the Detroit River, and this absence no doubt contributed to the complete assimilation of the Francophone population on the north shore. On the Canadian side, French schools have always existed, in one form or another, almost since the beginning of the colony. In fact, the first French school in what is now Ontario was established at Assumption parish in Sandwich in 1786.

At the time of Le Progrès, Ontario schools were officially English. But in theory, nothing prevented the hiring of Francophone teachers in areas where the majority of the ratepayers spoke French. In general, this system worked for everybody, as can be inferred from the annual report presented in 1881 by the Essex North district school inspector, Théodule Girardot. In his report, he praised the construction of two new schools, one in Tilbury West township, where a great number of Quebec families were choosing to settle, and the other one in Sandwich East. On the other hand, he deplored the fact that 800 children in the district had not attended any school in the previous year and he took to task certain trustees who always tried to hire the cheapest teachers possible. This document gives us a good idea of the state of education in Essex North in the late 19th century .

Le Progrès supported the idea of bilingual schools, recognizing the necessity of an English education in an Anglophone province. This was not the case with Le Courrier d’Essex, one of Le Progrès’s rivals. The Courrier’s editorial policy favoured the separation of French-Canadians into completely French schools (at least for students under ten years of age) as the only way to preserve the French language in the Windsor area . The government of the day was not ready to support what was then seen as a drastic solution, but was was perfectly willing to tolerate the unofficial bilingual system.

But in 1890, a new bill proposed by the conservative opposition at Queen’s Park would have required all instruction in Ontario to be in English only. Although easily defeated by Oliver Mowat’s liberal majority, this bill foreshadowed the troubles that would erupt in the province early in the next century with the passage of Bill 17. Le Progrès roundly criticized this mentality that would make English the only language in Ontario , ..

Le Progrès got involved in local school problems as well as province-wide issues, covering, for example, the school situation in Belle-Rivière in 1892. . In 1894, the members of Saint Alphonsus parish, in Windsor, started up a petition to hire a Francophone teacher for their school which was mostly attended by French-speaking students . The letters which appeared in the paper in the following weeks show how important this issue was to the local population , . Later we read how the petition was successful in obtaining a French-speaking schoolmaster .

The local school councils were made up of trustees who managed the affairs of each school. This was an important position that deeply affected the lives of local residents. For example, Le Progrès detailed the accomplishments of a trustee named Cousineau who managed to force officials to accord fair treatment to the French ratepayers in Sandwich West . But not all officials are so honourable. Le Progrès takes great pleasure in exposing and denouncing an obvious case of corruption involving Joseph Durocher, president of the Sandwich West council, charged with lining his own pockets with money diverted from teachers’ salaries. The accusations were levelled with great gusto, no doubt because Durocher also happened to be the Conservative reeve of the township .

At this time, education for most people ended with the last year of primary school. All students had to pass provincial exams to advance from one grade to the next. Graduation was an important yearly event in all the French-Canadian communities of Essex and Kent, and Le Progrès regularly printed the final results of the school year , , , .