Class Size
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Class Size
September 2005
At the first day of Kindergarten, I was shocked to learn that
there are 27 students in my child's class (Montclair
Elementary). I was under the impression that there was a state-
mandated cap on class size in the first few grades--I thought it
was 15. Was I totally wrong, or was the cap done away with
recently?
I'm concerned, and wondering about how this compares to private
schools. I guess private schools vary widely in class size, but
is there any kind of average? Are most of them smaller for this
age group? Are you private-school folk horrified at the idea of
27 Kindergarten! ers, or is it about the same for you?
I'm second guessing my decision to give this school a try--I had
heard it was good, but this seems crazy...
very worried
We're in the same boat as you are. Our kids must be in the same class.
We were
pretty shocked, too, to say the least, especially since the other 2 K
classes have 20
kids each. It's our understanding that the Class Size Reduction
program, which was
started in 1998, gives incentive bonus money if K-3 classes hit the
magic number of
20. Go over that and you don't get the money. We were told that every
year the
principal designates an ''overflow'' class. It's the PM class this
year. It's a bummer
and a disappointment. I wish we had had a head's up about this BEFORE
the first day
of school. I think if it had been communicated to us and not sprung on
us, we
would've felt a bit better about the situation. For us, it's been a
pretty odd first week
of Kindergarten. On a high note, I don't know about your child, but
ours has
expressed happiness and excitement about being a kindergartner and
about what
she's learned the first week.
We have friends starting at St. Paul's this year and their K classes
are 18 students
each with 2 full time teachers in the classroom.
hoping for the best...
Yikes ! 27 sounds like an awful lot. Is there more than 1
teacher in the classroom ? Maybe that makes up for the
difference. We have our Kindergartener enrolled at a private
school with 15 kids in the classroom. Some parents were
disappointed that the number of students was so large ! But, we
are paying lots of $$$ .... ask around at the school and maybe
the kids will be put in smaller groups, etc. to help accomodate
the large class size. Also, a lot of kids means that your child
will have lots of different social interactions and that could be
a really good thing.
- anon
There is no state-mandated maximum class size, but there ARE
state finacnial incentives for keeping average class size at or
below 20 (never 15) in K-3rd grade. However, there are several
reasons not all schools participate: the ''incentives'' generally
won't cover all of the added coast of the smaller classes; any
subsidized class size reduction must be done first in the first
grade, and only then can K or 2nd be included, so some districts
participate only at grades 1, or 1 and 2; there isn't always
enough space, especially if your school provides full-day
kindergarten (some schools reduce K class size, but have only
half-day K, so two classes fit into the space of one. I'm not
sure if districts can selectively provide smaller classes in some
schools and not others, or if they have to do ALL district
schools the same way at the same time. You might check with the
principal, and parents of kids in grades 1 and 2 to see if there
is class-size reduction in place at any grade level.
R.K.
You didn't say how many teachers are in the room. Often in California,
they
get around the class size mandate by putting two teachers in a room,
because they just don't have the room space to do 15 - 20 kids per
class. I
can't comment on how this works for kids, since I don't have any in the
schools system yet.
Laura_kate
There is a class size of 27 at Crocker too this year. The
class size in public is usually limited to 20, not 15. I was
just told by a teacher that public schools are required to
limit class size to 20 for 1-3rd grade and doesn't include
Kindergarten because K isn't required by law for a child to
attend. Didn't know that. They do try to limit K to 20 anyway
and I think they get funding incentives to do so, but they
don't have to. I don't have a personal opinion yet because
mine just started, and his class has 22.
fellow K mom
SF Class size for Kindergarten is capped at 20 kids per class.
My children go to public school and I love that this is their
maximum size class up until 4th grade. I did notice that the
private schools I toured did not have any size limitations, and
therefore many ranged in the 25 - 30 per classroom size. But
another thing to note, is that even if the class is that large,
you need to consider if there are any student teachers or other
assistants available too. This always helps. Good luck.
Been there
My son's private kindergarten has 20 students and 2 teachers. When I
looked at kindergartens last year 15-20 students seemed the norm. The
K-3 cap (of 20 students) feel victim to the budget crisis in many
districts
although there are many districts that have approved a special tax to
keep class size low. I certainly agree with you 27 students (with one
teacher) is WAY too many.
Mom of a kindergartener
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