Class Sizes

3rd Grade - started with 25, ended with 23... our fourth grade classrooms had 35/36 and at one point a year ago our fifth grade classrooms had almost 40 (yes 40!) before they finally added another teacher!

I am in a huge growing neighborhood and they always underestimate how many students will end up coming to our school

 

Oh, I would LOVE that...I had 23 first graders last year, and it looks like I'm going to have 26 to 28 this year!!!!!

 

And research backs you up..smaller class sizes lead to more indivdual attention which leads to greater success. But with the state of most district budgets, it just isn't possible unfortunately. It is always the kids that suffer.

 

My district ratio has 34 kids in a class, but my school has a class size reduction grant so I only have 25. LOVE that grant.

 

5th grade

2007--19 students, 3 on roll who were self-contained
2008-18 students
2009-18-19 students
next year--15-16 on roll

We've been lucky for the last few years. They keep the numbers down due to it being a major testing year. Fourth grade had high numbers.

 

NC caps K-3 classes at 24 (just FYI)

I teach 5th.

In 07-08- I had 23 at the most (26 different kids- I had a bit of a revolving door)
In 08-09 I began with 24 but was down to 21 by October and 20 by December. It was nice
In 09-10 I had 24 (25 different kids- one moved out and was quickly replaced)
In 10-11 I have 29 already- it will possibly be 30-31 if kids transfer. I have a teeny-tiny room.

 

State education caps numbers at:
K-3 = 25 stds
4 - 10 = 30 stds
11 - 12 = 25 stds

The private sector can place as many as they like in a class. A friend was paying AU$10,000 per year and was not happy that there were 33 children in her son's class.

I myself teach in the private sector and have 38 (4 and a half to 5 and a half year olds) with another teacher. Of the 38, we have 8 refugee children who have presented with extremely challenging behaviours and socialisation issues. We would love to have an aide to lower the student:teacher ratio but that would mean spending money. Two years ago I had 45 with 2 teacher aide to help me. I have the class photo to prove it!!

 

Most I have had in my class was 25.
Last year 21. I had the revolving door in my room.
Next year I heard I have 22 for now.

 

Class Size

First Grade I had 21 students I have up to 24 at one time.

 

State reduction grant? What's that about? I want to hear more!

 

lucky!!

24 this year

next year 30-35 I think

 

Private school

34 this year
31 so far for next year
36 two years ago (22 boys / 14 girls - 22 7-8 year olds boys should NEVER be in the same room)

 

I had 25 this past year. Next year I am currently expecting 22, but assume 1-3 more will trickle in. Class sizes are getting bigger. I always used to only have around 18.

 

Small Lutheran school...

I had 14 last year (12 boys, 2 girls!), and will likely have 16 next year. One of the things I love about my school!

 

I had 19 in my grade one class this past year, and expect to have 21 (the maximum) in my grade two class next year.

 

4th grade: 26 of my own students, but in reading and math I had 29 when subject-accelerated students came to me from third grade

 

Kinder - 24

 

6th grade 3 classes
Class 1: 31 students
Class 2: 31 students
Class 3: 23 students (some special ed students, which accounts for the lower number)

 

In 2009-2010 school year, we had 20-21 students in a class. There was 6 sections. For the 2010-2011 school year, we will have 25-26 students in a class. They are eliminating a section, so we are down to 5 sections.

 

Serious jealousy kicking in. The lower grades at our school I believe have 25, sometimes it goes slightly above that or below. I am usually happen whenever I get under 30. Mid 20's would be like a dream come true.
When you have less kids it makes everything so much easier.

 

Might have the smallest class size on the board...

Private School-2nd Grade
Last year-4 students

This year-5, possibly 6 students...might become a split class with 3rd so then that would make it 7 or 8 students

 

2nd: 20 students

We have a state grant that limits our class size to 22... if we exceed the number, we lose the money. Needless to say, our P makes sure that we stay under that cap! It's awesome!

 

How do you get away with not letting students register for the school. I love the idea, but I don't know how you get away with that.

 

I teach in a self-contained classroom for students with mutliple complex needs (severe/profound) and I will have 10 students in my room this fall (as well as myself and 9 learning assistants). It sounds like a low number but with this population its crazy large!

 

They probably don't have open enrollment b.s. like we do.

 

9 learning assistants?

 

It can be crazy but this explains the level of need the students in our classroom have. They all need 1-to-1 support so nine learning assistants it is.

 

Are they paid positions. Because I know my district does not have it in the budget for that.

 

They are paid positions.

 

I believe our special education department had one aide that assisted in teaching last year. Maybe 2, but I don't think so.

 

Well that is unfortunate for the students and teachers who need support to ensure that all children are able to learn and grow . Its always frustrating to me to see the impact that these tough economic times have on all students but extra frustrating to see how its affecting special education.

 

Well at least you have a special ed department....I have special ed students with NO support. :/

 

We have "hard caps" on our class sizes up to grade 3 (20 students/class). If we have new registrations that would put a class over that number, the students are "over-flowed" to a nearby school that has space. Certainly not ideal, but that is the process. New staffing is based on total number of students in the school, not per grade, so we would need about 25 more registrations than anticipated before a new teacher would be assigned.

 

I don't know if that was directed at my comment, but we don't not let students register. We just have to add another teacher when we exceed that cap. Two years ago we only had 4 teachers on my grade level. This past year our enrollment went up so much that we had to hire two additional teachers... so we now have 6 classroom. That is part of what the class size grant money is used for, to pay for additional teacher salaries! It's so nice because our population really needs the lower class size. We are also very lucky to have a lot of support staff... I have a Title 1 Math teacher, T1 Reading teacher, Special ed teacher, two ESOL teachers and an ESOL aide all on my grade level. Next year there will also be an aide in my room for a child in a wheelchair.

Trust me, I know I am VERY fortunate to have such low numbers. I appreciate it everyday, because I know that the kids are getting the best help out there!

 

Haha, we do have open enrollment. Two years ago I got a student a week before school ended. This year a teammate of mine got a student the last week. It's ridiculous! We have a very transient population. They are always moving in and out. Luckily my group this year was stable, but the previous year I got 10 new students after Christmas! My classroom was like a revolving door.

 

That's awesome! It seems like Canada knows what they are doing

 

5th Grade---Last year I started with 28 but I ended up with 25. 3 special education students, 2 students from Burma (One spoke no English, thank goodness for the other student. She helped out a lot!), 5 ESL students (most were higher levels though, so that helped).

Next year, I am scheduled to have 25, but I think one of the students has already left, so maybe 24. Like many of you, our 5th grade classrooms are the smallest in the building with the biggest kids.

 

< = 18 grades K-3
< = 24 grades 4-8
No exceptions
No split classrooms

 

I'm not in a public school, so can someone help me with this?

How can any public school NOT have open enrollment?

My mom sold her house yesterday. So today, a family with 3 kids is moving in.

I assume they'll register at the local school on or after Monday.

How could there NOT be open enrollment? They didn't have proof of residency prior to yesterday, so there's no way they could have registered before that.

I understand the need to settle staffing as much as possible early in the summer, but what alternative IS there to open enrollment for a public school?

 

Our open enrollment is different here. You can go to a different school district(say, a suburb) but you have to register by a certain time of the year(February). Once you are in the district, you have to stay at that school. You can float around in your own district at will. Milwaukee schools have revolving doors.
I teach in a voucher school. We seldom get kids after the beginning of the second semester.
Class size is capped at 25, but I only had 20 last year. It was just historically a small class. I'll have a big one again this year with lots of special needs. I have an assisstant 1 hour a day, for work stations. We do have Title 1 and some special ed pull outs, but no ESL, and we have 95% ESL in the school, most at higher levels.