What is your child's class size in Kindergarten (or higher grades)?

[WitMom]

We are beginning to research schools for oldest DD for the fall of 2010, and feel strongly about pursuing a parochial education. One of the reasons (I thought) was for smaller class sizes, but as I'm talking to various schools, I'm shocked to learn how many kids they have in each section. So, if your kids are in kindergarten (or higher elementary grades), how many kids are in their classes? What is the ratio of teachers to students? It doesn't matter if it is a private/parochial/public school. I'm just curious. I'm starting to wonder if my expectations for class sizes are out of line.

[Babywhite]

I have really been working on this too...

The one that we are really interested in has a 15 to 1 (plus an assistant) ratio-- it's a private preschool with a really good reputation

We are on a waiting list -- I'm hopeful but doubtful...

Babywhite

[MartiesMom2B]

Martie's kindergarten class room has 20 kids and there is a teacher and an assistant. They do pretty well in her class room. I think that the limit in our district is 24 for kindergarten.

[jd11365]

17, no assistant.

[WatchingThemGrow]

Former K teacher - in the same district, I've had 14 kids (a couple moved mid year), and I've had 24 a year later, always with a full-time assistant.

Redistricting usually helps to even things out, and predicting how many students will move into a certain neighborhood is difficult.

I don't know if private schools have full-time assistants always. Seems like I always had more "help" than my private school teacher friends.

[janeybwild]

Kinde 24 with 1 assistant

[thomma]

I teach in the school where ds and dd attend full time K.
They are in a classroom of 21 students with a teacher and full time aide.

I teach 2nd grade and I have 21 students and share an aide with 2 other teachers (they have 19 and 22 students in their classes).

About 10 years ago I went through a period of 3-4 years where class sizes were 24-26 kids each year. Since then 20-21 seems to be the norm.

FWIW, the smallest group I ever had was 18 kids with a 1/2 time aide. It was the hardest class I've ever taught.

Kim
ds&dd 5/03

[lisams]

Kindergarten - 20 children/1 teacher and 1 full time assistant, plus an intern that is there a few days a week.

[charp2000]

In DS kindergarten class last year he was one of 15 students, with 2 teachers - a much better ratio than we would have gotten in the public school or even the private school he attends now. This was at a Montessori school & child care center (that only went through K).

[Tondi G]

20 kids to one teacher! If there is an aid in there they are there for a child with an IEP not for the teacher to use as a true assistant!

[schums]

In public school:

K - 24 kids, 1 part time parapro
1st - 26 kids, 1 student teacher (goes away Dec 5, no replacement)

Last year DS had 19 kids in K, with 1 part time parapro

[Karenn]

Public school, 20 kids, 1 teacher, no assistant. This is tuition based all day K. (Half day K is free.)

At the private school where I work, max. 16 kids, 1 half time aid shared between two teachers. First grade has the same arrangment with 18 kids max.

[C99]

My kids attend public school. My kindergardener is in a class of 25 with 1 teacher and an aide split between his class and the other K class (also w/ 25 students). My preschooler is in a class of 20 with 1 teacher and 1 aide.

[icunurse]

I just asked this question of our local school choices:
Private school (preschool - K only) - K averages 15 students with 1 teacher, this year has only 10 students.

Parochial school - 26 students with an aide

Public - anything larger than 24 students must have an aide, district tends to lean towards opening another classroom when students go above 24

[kijip]

It is 27 at T's Kindergarten...way too big and no aide- though she did have one last year. 5-6 more students than we were told, thanks to overcrowding in north end of the city schools here due to a population spike for births 2002, 2003, 2004 etc. Even our 15ish years of experience teacher with 2 Masters degrees from very prestigious schools who is raved about by all the parents is admitting it is way overwhelming and hard to handle. As a result, she relies heavily on volunteers. One of the parents is a SAHD that is a certified teacher and he helps a lot, plus my father volunteers nearly all afternoon, nearly everyday. And a lot of parents like my husband volunteer 1 shift every week minimum in class (I volunteer to help outside of class time). Without the volunteer time, she readily says she would have no idea what to do. It does not help that she has 2 kids that are serious discipline/behavior problems, to the point that at least 1 is being sent to a different school by the principal.

[kijip]

We are beginning to research schools for oldest DD for the fall of 2010, and feel strongly about pursuing a parochial education. One of the reasons (I thought) was for smaller class sizes, but as I'm talking to various schools, I'm shocked to learn how many kids they have in each section.

On average IME Catholic schools have high class sizes unless it is a tiny parish school. Other, non-Catholic, private schools tend to have the smallest class sizes, with public in the middle.

While it was was a far different era (late 40s and 50s), my father's large Catholic school had 40+ students per class in elementary school, and some of his high school classes had 50+. The 2 years he went to public school (once is 6th because they had moved and once in 12th because a new school had opened up and he wanted to attend) he said the classes had 1/2 as many students. My friend whose kindy son is at a Catholic school has the same number of students as his overenrolled pubic school and that is the norm there.

[s7714]

DDs class has 20 currently with one teacher and no assistants. I think 24 is the max for the district (for K) when it's one teacher with no assistants. All the classes in my DDs school have parents volunteering in the class pretty much every day of the week though.

[DDowning]

In our public school, there are 180 kindy students for 6 classes - three in the am and 3 in the pm. A.M. is between 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 - P.M. is 10:35 to 2:05. In my son's particular class (he's p.m.), the a.m. and p.m. teachers share duties to bring the ratio 1-15/16. They do not have any other assigned aids that i'm aware of. On T-W-Th, 2 parent volunteers come in from 11:10 to 12:40 to do centers to help bring the ratio down to 1-8 or 1-10.

[AngelaS]

Wow, I'm amazed at those numbers! Is anyone else? I admit, I'm a bit like an ostrich w/my head in the sand about class sizes, but after having taught my own girls one on one, I can't imagine trying to teach 20+ kids! My 6.5 yo is currently giving me a run for my money in school and I can't imagine teaching a roomfull of kids like her! :P

[egoldber]

K (small, private): 19 kids and a full time assistant.

1st grade (public): 24 kids, 1 teacher and a part time para pro

2nd grade (public): 21 kids, 1 teacher and an even less time para pro

[bnme]

Public K - 17 kids, 1 teacher,1 assistant who is shared, 1 special education teacher (there part-time for several students with IEPs, but also just as a 'cooperative teacher')

Most classes are 20-25 kids with one teacher and the shared assistant.

Most of our assistants are teachers completing their masters or undergrads. It is very difficult to get a job teaching elementary school on LI so many people spend years as assistants as a way to get in. Is that what para pro is?

[Sugar Magnolia]

Private-All grades 22 students max
Public- K 24 students with an aid in and out
1st 27 students with a Spanish aid in and out

[Melbel]

Private school in FL. Each grade has a full time teacher and a full time assistant. There are also reading, science and Spanish specialists.

JK & SK - 19 kids
1st - 3rd - 22 kids

[g-mama]

2nd grade, public school: 27 kids and no assistant

[g-mama]

Wow, I'm amazed at those numbers! Is anyone else? I admit, I'm a bit like an ostrich w/my head in the sand about class sizes, but after having taught my own girls one on one, I can't imagine trying to teach 20+ kids! My 6.5 yo is currently giving me a run for my money in school and I can't imagine teaching a roomfull of kids like her! :P

Yes, I do think the numbers are high, but I can tell you that my 8 year old (2nd grade) gives me a major run for my money when it comes time to sit down and work on homework. It takes every ounce of patience for me to get him to focus on stay on task and do his best work.

However, in school, in his class of 27 with no assistant, he is thought to be a "perfect" student, a good role model, a "gem" and wonderfully bright and amazing. While it's fantastic to hear that, I wish I could get some of that behavior here at home! So clearly some kids do better in a group dynamic, and mine is one.

[lmintzer]

Public school:

K-20 children, 1 assistant (for someone with IEP)
1-17 kids, no assistant
2-21 kids, part-time assistant (there were 24, but 2 moved and 1 transferred)

[lfp2n]

Public K is 21 kids teacher and 1 full-time assistant.
Also I think it helps that everyday there is a special (PE, music, art) that is run by another teacher and only the assistant goes with the kids, giving the real teacher time for classroom prep.

They also have 2 student teachers visiting from time to time.

Lucy DD 3/03

[mom2ethan]

Catholic school: 36 kids, 1 teacher, 2 full-time aides

[mamicka]

Public all-day K - 24 with very part-time aide. Lots of parent volunteers & most of every afternoon is rest, recess, & specials with other teachers.

ETA: I'm surprised at how small some of the schools are as a whole. Our elementary has 4 K classes of similar size, so 90+ K students.

[kdeunc]

DS is in public Kindergarten this year with 20 kids, 1 teacher, 1 assistant and 1 student teacher for the semester. The Parochial School in town has a class size of 30+. I am not sure of the number of teachers/assistants.

[MelissaTC]

DS attends a Catholic school. In his first grade class, he now has 29 students with one teacher and one assistant (who is also a certified teacher). We were at 28 which is large also but our school is known for its allergy friendly policies and so we picked up a new student last week. His school breaks down into small class sizes beginning in 6th grade. The other first grade class is the same but they will lose one student next week. Parochial schools tend to historically have larger class sizes and we knew that going in.

[hez]

Public kindergarten, here.

DS's class has 20. His teacher's AM class has 21. I volunteer at least once a month, and I have yet to go in when there wasn't an aide, too. So, ratio is normally ~10:1.

[jenmcadams]

We're in a small neighborhood public K-6.

For K, they max at 24 students with one teacher and one aid. There are two K classes (one full day and one 1/2 day).

For 1st-4th, the goal is no more than 20 (my DD has 17 in 1st) per class -- there's normally one teacher and various para support for kids with IEPs, DHH (Deaf and Hard of Hearing) students, and librarian and reading specialist time, but just one full time instructor. There are three classes per grade (they add a few more choice students in 1st grade -- our school is pretty sought after for choice enrollment and they normally have a long list of kids that wanted to come for K that didn't get in through the lottery).

For 5th and 6th, there are only two classes per grade with 30 students each.

[jk3]

18 with a teacher + an aide. Half of the class stays in the afternoon on M+T and the other half stays on TH+F.

Public school!

[jk3]

Wow, I'm amazed at those numbers! Is anyone else? I admit, I'm a bit like an ostrich w/my head in the sand about class sizes, but after having taught my own girls one on one, I can't imagine trying to teach 20+ kids! My 6.5 yo is currently giving me a run for my money in school and I can't imagine teaching a roomfull of kids like her! :P


Children often act differently in the classroom than they do at home. Their behavior can be elevated by peer models and by the structure of a classroom. Most of these ratios seem pretty reasonable to me.

[kijip]

My 6.5 yo is currently giving me a run for my money in school and I can't imagine teaching a roomfull of kids like her! :P

Watching my son's class it is clear that there is a wide range of kid personalities...not 20+ of the same temperament. And some kids are definitely influenced by the kids around them or by the class rules because like a pp, my son behaves totally different at school than at home. Though I agree with you, I know I could not teach elementary school to 20-30 kindergartners. I would be rotten at addressing the needs of that many different kids at the same time.

[caleymama]

Last year DD started the year with 16 in her public K class and added 1 student mid-year for a new total of 17. One teacher, no aids. The teacher would joke on days that several students were absent that it was Mrs. Fxxxx's academy because she'd only have 12 or 13 kids.

This year in public 1st grade, DD has 16 in her class with 1 teacher. As I've mentioned before, DD's class is the collaborative 1st grade class so they spend part of each day with the special ed 1st grade class that has 7 students, 1 teacher, and 1 aid. Ends up being 23 students, 2 teachers, and 1 aid for morning meeting, specials, snack, and any other non-academic activities.

At younger DD's private preschool, she has 12 students and 1 teacher.

[ett]

DS1 is in an integrated classroom with 20 kids and 1 teacher and 2 assistants.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Ds1's kindergarten had 22 students, 2 teachers, 1 aide!

His first grade is 22 kids and 1 teacher with 1 aide that floats between all 3 1st grades.

24 will be the max class size.

One of the most popular Catholic schools in town has 33-35 kids/ class w/ 1 teacher! Yikes!
Beth

[npace19147]

DD1 is in private pre-K with 16 kids in her class, one teacher, one assistant. They also go out for specials every day.

The public schools near us have an average of 22 or so kids in K, mostly with just one teacher. However, the Philadelphia union teacher contract says classes can go up to 33 kids with one teacher - yikes! Definitely a factor in our choice to go private.

[justlearning]

We were very fortunate to get into a public charter school that's known for its small class sizes. (My son was on the wait list since he was a baby!). His kindergarten class has 16 students with a teacher and a full-time aide (I love that the pair have been working together for 15 years). That's the same class size (with F/T aide) in all of their K classes at his school. Plus, there's always a parent helper in the classroom everyday. Recently, I had a hard time finding any more free days to sign up for because the calendar was filled nearly to the end of the school year by parents who had signed up to volunteer! It seems that other public schools in the area here have 22-25 kindergarten students in a class with a teacher and aide.

[lilycat88]

Private Pre-K: 17 with a teacher, an assistant (also with degree) and a student assistant (it's a school located on a university campus)

Private K: 20-25ish with 2 teachers (they have 2 classrooms next to each other and go between them based on activities) and a student assistant.

[deborah_r]

K: 18 kids, 1 Teacher, and I believe an assistant for part of the day (going to clear up that question at P/T conference.

When DS1 was at preschool last year, it was 18 kids, 2 teachers.

[spanannie]

My son's K class is Private and has 15 kids, 1 teacher and 1 asst. teacher. There should be 16 in the class, but they couldn't fill the last spot. The first grade we're looking to enroll him in next year has 16 per class as well.

[Twin Mom]

Public K - My DS had 17 kids but they added another this week. I believe DD's class also has 18 kids. Each class has a FT assistant. Starting in 1st grade there is one assistant for the entire grade and the class size gets a little bigger.

[vludmilla]

The private parochial schools in my area (metro NY) are often as high as 30! The high performing public school districts in my area are often 18 for kindergarten (with a teaching assistant) and no more than 20 for the elementary grades. High school classes are no more than 24 students each and very often smaller.

[MichelleRC]

Private K 16 kids, 1 teacher + 1 full-time assistant

Private Pre K 13 kids, 1 teacher + 1 full time assistant.

I love our little private school!

[WitMom]

Wow, can I just say I'm really jealous of some the class sizes your kids have. I'm really struggling with what to do. I've always planned on parochial schools for our DDs, but I'm just not happy with the class sizes in the schools available to us. Part of me says to just do public schools, with potentially (hopefully?) smaller classes, but my heart just isn't there. I really want the values/morals/ethics/beliefs that the parochial schools provide. I didn't think this would be so hard!

[KpbS]

I was looking at a private school a couple of weeks ago for fall of 09 or 10 enrollment. K class size was 11! I couldn't believe it. No idea about public K--I need to check out a magnet in hopes of getting a lottery spot.

[noodle]

In our district, K-3 have 20 max, 4 and up have 35 max. We've been in two schools in the district and the classed have always been maxed.

That said, we chose (and waited to get into) a school where there is always at least one parent in the classroom to help the teacher -- sometimes a lot more (yesterday there were three of us for the first hour and a half I was there, and six(!) in the afternoon -- this is not typical, but I often have only one or two students with whom to work in the afternoon). In this program, there is a parent-participation requirement and most families choose to help in the classroom. Some can't because of schedule issues, but even in families where both parents work outside the home, the preference seems to be to try to volunteer in the classroom on a weekly basis. In my experience, it makes a HUGE difference in the tone and effectiveness of the classroom to increase the adult:student ratio.

[Asianmommy]

Public 1st grade--1 teacher, 17 students

[tny915]

I'm currently touring schools.

Public K's in my area (Northern CA) max out at 20. Whether there are aides depends on the school. I've seen FT, PT, and aides split amongst several K classes.

For private parochial and other religious-affiliated, I've seen as high as 30, with PT aides.

I've seen classes in the teens for private independents, but that comes with a high price tag.

[jamesmom]

Public K: 20 students, 1 teacher + 1 aide

[lizajane]

Martie's kindergarten class room has 20 kids and there is a teacher and an assistant. They do pretty well in her class room. I think that the limit in our district is 24 for kindergarten.

same school system, same size. 20 with teacher and assistant.