How many students in your kid's elementary class . . . school freakout

[sste]

I am having a school freak-out here, even though DS is only 2.5 y/o.

I have now turned down all out of state job offers/visits due to pregnancy.

Without going into detail a combination of DH's job and highway construction makes it untenable for us to live in the suburbs, either north or west.

Fine, we identify a cute neighborhood in the city. But very little single family housing and bizarre city system of trying to get into an elementary school. Classes are routinely 27-30 kids . . . and there has been talk of budget cuts increasing that. We would do private kindy but then would want to transfer him to public school.

As far as I can tell the school outcomes data is inconclusive - - has never been able to establish that small class size matters except for possibly disadvantaged kids/early elementary. But, obviously outcomes aren't the only issue I want a nice environment and enjoyable experience for DS for grades 1 onward.

What is your elementary school class size? Your view of 27-30 kid classes?

[kristenk]

DD's kindergarten class has 21 students in it. We started off the school year with 20 students in all 3 K classes. If there had been something like 2 more K students, they would have split the kids into 4 classes instead of 3.

I've heard rumors that we'll have 3 first grade teachers next year, instead of the 4 that they have this year. This year's 1st grade classes have something like 17 kids/class.

I'd probably freak out a bit at the 27-30 number, just because I know that the classes in the past have been much, much smaller. I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping that next year we have 4 1st grade classes.

[Momof3Labs]

If not the north or west suburbs, have you considered south or southwest?

We're southwest, and use the public schools. DS1 had 17 or 18 kids in his kindergarten class, and 22-23 (one mid-year transfer) in his second grade class.

[momof2girls]

That number seems VERY high to me. Will there be an aide in each class to help out? I would think they would need one in the very least. D had 19 in her K class. Now has 19 in First Grade

[Leeannpk]

Are those numbers for kindergarten, 1st or 2nd grade? Around here it is not unusual for a 4th or 5th grade class to have 27 or 28 kids in it, but younger grades are kept smaller. My kindergartener has 22 kids in her class and my 1st grader has 20. I'd call the school directly to inquire about the actual sizes of kindergarten and 1st grade classes.

[HIU8]

We are not going to our neighborhood elem school, but when I visited it they had 3 classes of 22 kids each for K this year. Last year I believe they had 4 classes of 18 or 19 in K. I have been told that my county just approved a new ratio of 1 teacher to 27 students for K starting next year. I'm so used to 12-15 kids per class that even 19 or 22 shocked me. Howeve, it is totally understandable that there are many more kids in the class the higher the grade.

[SnuggleBuggles]

k- 22 kids but 3 full time, experienced teachers, private school
1- 19 kids, 1 teacher, 1 aide that floated bewteen the 3 1st classes
2nd- 23, same situation as 1st
3rd- 24 kids I think it's too high with only 1 teacher.

I would much prefer 18 for all grades. My friend is a 3rd grade teacher and she says that you can really feel even an extra 2 kids.

Beth

[AnnieW625]

Out here in California class sizes in most public schools this fall are going to be between 25 and 30 kids, and once it's into the higher grades 30 is almost standard. It's almost the same maybe a bit smaller in the Catholic school but not by much. I am probably the only mom here who isn't 100% concerned about class size because as someone who went through public school in the 80s and 90s with always at least 25 kids in a class I never felt like I was being given a less of an education than I was had the classes been a bit smaller. Now what really concerns me about education is the cutting of music, arts, phys. ed., and science programs, and or release time teachers at many schools. If higher class sizes meant that they could keep some of these programs then I'd be happy, but it doesn't mean anything and therefore that is why we are considering Catholic school too.

[SkyrMommy]

Our younger grades K-3 are usually around 20 students give or take 1-2 in either direction. Older grades are sometimes more 24-25, but with budget cuts this year we may reach the higher number across the board.

As a former teacher I consider class size of 27-30+ students in the younger grades is very high & think that students will lose out on individual learning time even with a teacher's aide in the room. That big of a class just doesn't leave room to wiggle in terms of adapting lessons to different needs/teachable moments.

As a parent I wouldn't like to have my child in that situation and miss out on some individual attention as well as activities that may be impossible with such a huge group.

I hope that you can find a school/situation that is best for DS... at least you are thinking now & have time to work on it.

[pinkmomagain]

That sounds very high. I think in our district it is under 25. Is there an assistant or aide in the classroom besides the main teacher?