Elementary school AAP overcrowded/to max limit?

[Anonymous]

Anyone else notice that the ES AAP classes are very crowded and at number limits more so this year? Seeing text and WhatsApp threads it’s a ton of kids all designated to one AAP class for multiple classes. Wondering how 28+ kids in lower grades and 32+ kids in higher grades is feasible for teachers.

[Anonymous]

Our kids are going to have to be resilient. And our teachers may have to change how classes are structured, with less emphasis on self-directed work and more structure, to keep everyone on track.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our kids are going to have to be resilient. And our teachers may have to change how classes are structured, with less emphasis on self-directed work and more structure, to keep everyone on track.

Yes, agree. Was wondering how teachers are being supported given increase in numbers. More structure and less self directed might help classroom mgmt. I also hope there’s a way for kids to let their minds wander so they can do deep thinking and exploration of content. Just worried those opportunities won’t be part of aap curriculum anymore if there’s no space in class day to do that.

[Anonymous]

My class is much larger then previous years but other grades have smaller classes. The problem is the staffing formula used. It sucks and this is why at the same school you can have a class of 28 and 18.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My class is much larger then previous years but other grades have smaller classes. The problem is the staffing formula used. It sucks and this is why at the same school you can have a class of 28 and 18.

Than. Sorry typo

[Anonymous]

We are getting no additional support other than empathy from admin who know this year is going to be rough, but their hands are tied due to staffing formulas. Since the state limit is up to 35 in most grades, it’s not going to get better.

—Teacher

[Anonymous]

At our school the AAP class is always the smallest class. How would any of you know how many kids are in your child's class already anyway?

[Anonymous]

Long ago my daughter had a 4th grade AAP class of 35 kids. It was probably her best year of ES. Give it a chance.

[Anonymous]

My kids' local level IV only has ~20 kids in it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At our school the AAP class is always the smallest class. How would any of you know how many kids are in your child's class already anyway?

We have an active school parent thread. Everyone is sharing class assignments so that’s how I know. Everyone just says kid name and teacher. It’s nice as you see what friends will be with your kids. So per the teacher posting it is hard with the staffing formula. It’s almost as if they destaffed bc of numbers but then class size increased. I know teachers will try their best and put best foot forward, and it’s unfair to them and the kids to stuff kids in classrooms like sardines and expect same learning outcomes. We really owe it to our educators to support them with a better staffing formula. Especially as so many have stuck around during this pandemic and this year won’t be easier as need for subs will also increase again.

[Anonymous]

This is not new. My recent college graduate had 34 in his classes in upper ES.

[Anonymous]

My sons language immersion class had 31 kids in first grade, it was fine. He had a good year. The Gen Ed classes at our school have always been under 20 while the LI classes are in the 20's-30's.

I would guess that there will be some schools where the AAP classes are smaller and the Gen Ed classes are bigger. It depends on the Principal and the number of students in each program and how schools can handle the Teacher Shortage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is not new. My recent college graduate had 34 in his classes in upper ES.

What a relief that your DC didn't go through ES during the pandemic!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is not new. My recent college graduate had 34 in his classes in upper ES.

What a relief that your DC didn't go through ES during the pandemic!

They had a very hard time in college. Their college took a very drastic isolation approach for all students. They did not have one in person class after March 2020. When they came back to campus, they had to stay in their dorm room for two full weeks and could not leave- no mail and no deliveries allowed during that time either. If their RA organized an hour outside supervised activity, they could go out daily but only if they did not have a class that conflicted it. The only other time they could leave was to walk to the testing facility twice a week. All students were tested twice a week. They invoked the two week isolation on the entire student body a few weeks later and after any break. Food was inconsistently delivered by the food service and there were three choices - regular, allergy free and vegan- no off campus food orders allowed. I would have rather they were at home in ES during the pandemic. The isolation cast a very long shadow for too many of his cohort.

[Anonymous]

The problem with staffing formula is it his holistic grades 1-6. Then the principal decides where to allocate teachers. So you can have 60 kids in one grade and 80 is another with 3 teachers each. The staffing formula needs to be switched to grade level.