How do you handle the class sizes??

[Anonymous]

A skilled teacher will do it very nicely...with small groups of kids involved in centers/seat work/lesson time. Also, keep in mind kids are always bring pulled for a variety of support services which helps the numbers too. A teacher that does not have good control or has very needy kids will struggle. Parent volunteers play a big role too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A huge reason for the increase is the fact that people arepulling kids from private schools and realizing it is not worht the $ in this economy. Don't be fooled by wait lists and the schools creating a panic for you to apply.

Agree

[Anonymous]

A really obvious thing to do here is tinker with the zoning and send some kids from 26+ students per class to rarefied Somerset, just across River Rd..

Has anyone offered a satisfying explanation of how Wood Acres can have overflowing classrooms for the last several years while Somerset operates kind of like a little private school? They're just a mile and half apart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A really obvious thing to do here is tinker with the zoning and send some kids from 26+ students per class to rarefied Somerset, just across River Rd..

Has anyone offered a satisfying explanation of how Wood Acres can have overflowing classrooms for the last several years while Somerset operates kind of like a little private school? They're just a mile and half apart.

Do more research, Somerset is overflowing as well. The Bradley Hills/ BE / Somerset etc cluster is changing 2013.

[Anonymous]

Then, it's a question of teachers and space.

How can Somerset have 21 kids in a class while Wood Acres has 26 or 27? More teachers, no?

[Anonymous]

The problem with tinkering with the zoning is that you never know what happens year to year. At Rock Creek Forest ES, the two English Kindergartens (it also has a Spanish Immersion program in the school) started the year with 12 kids each, now up to 14. However, the previous year there were so many kids in the English K that they had to add a 3rd Kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

PP, At my school there is no way the 12 and 12 as well as the 14 and 14 would be in ONE CLASS!

[Anonymous]

Woops I mean there is no way that either would be two classes..it would be one class of 28 children..

[Anonymous]

in response to the original poster's question, i have a kid who attended wood acres k last year. she is in first grade now. the classes are huge, but the teachers do a good job with them. my dd's class last year was 2/3 boys -- and it still worked out. there is a lot of working in small groups.

as for worksheets, well, all the kids do those a lot of the time. from that perspective, it's not the education that i had hoped for. still, she learned everything she was supposed to and more. if your kid doesn't have attention issues or learning issues, he or she will be fine. most parents are pretty happy with the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Woops I mean there is no way that either would be two classes..it would be one class of 28 children..

Right - that's because its a title 1 school - mandated to have 15 or less - if you wanted to move to the cluster (usually Einstein or Wheaton) where the elementary schools are mandated at 15 per class, you are welcome to do so - all I've heard on these boards is how desirable B-CC Whitman et al are - sometimes explicitly mentioning the lack of students on subsidized lunches or ESOL students. So, weight the options - title 1 low class sizes, non-title 1 larger class sizes. Presumably, the non-title1 schools have children that might not need as much individualized special attention due to the home environment - thus the ability to have more children per classroom.

[Anonymous]

Does Washington Waldorf own their current building? That used to be a public school which re-started would do wonders to alleviate the crowding at Wood Acres/Westbrook/Bannockburn

[Anonymous]

Its just hard for me to understand how 26 kids to 1 teacher can work, ever. I understand they break up the kids into smaller groups etc., but that's still a lot to manage. Also, on the tour I took at Wood Acres, there was actually a parent volunteer conducting a grammar lesson while a teacher was out testing kids. I understand that parent involvement is wonderful for a school, but that involvement should come in the form of library volunteers to help kids check out books/reshelve books, raising money for school purposes, organizing book fairs, not taking the job of teacher! The prinical told me when I asked that this parent was not trained in education but was "just helping out." Its honestly hard for me to think about sending my kids there when I see this sort of thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not sure if this is correct, but the director of my son's preschool just told me that the county has now upped the class size to a max of 1 teacher to 27 kids max.

Yes, I think it used to be 26 and with budget cuts they are adding one child...now 27. Don't quote me on this though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Its just hard for me to understand how 26 kids to 1 teacher can work, ever. I understand they break up the kids into smaller groups etc., but that's still a lot to manage. Also, on the tour I took at Wood Acres, there was actually a parent volunteer conducting a grammar lesson while a teacher was out testing kids. I understand that parent involvement is wonderful for a school, but that involvement should come in the form of library volunteers to help kids check out books/reshelve books, raising money for school purposes, organizing book fairs, not taking the job of teacher! The prinical told me when I asked that this parent was not trained in education but was "just helping out." Its honestly hard for me to think about sending my kids there when I see this sort of thing.

I looked back at all of my ES class photos and we always had about 24-27 kids per class w/ one teacher. Most of us turned out just fine. I think the earlier grade teachers have it tougher since kids these days come into K on so many different levels.

[Anonymous]

I work in the County. Class sizes can go up to 27. High school classes now can go up to 33 or even 34 students at times. The next two years will be very lean ones--programs, classes, and extracurriculars will be cut. Some are going as I write this. The buzz is that things should start to improve after that, but my concern is that once standards change (decrease), it is hard to re-attain funding for lost programming. Keep in mind that teacher morale is low--they are constantly being asked to do more with less--less pay, fewer resources, etc. Realistically, one teacher cannot adequately meet the individual needs of 27 first grade students. That said, most children will do fine anyway. In the meantime, PLEASE get involved. Parents make all the difference--let your priorities be known to County Council members, to our delegates, to Weast (MCPS) and to other elected officials. Write your newspapers, volunteer in classrooms, donate supplies, take care of your children's needs at home so they can function to the best of their ability in school. Give them breakfast, put them to bed at a reasonable time, talk to them about their day. If your child has a physical or mental health issue, don't expect school faculty to solve those problems for you. They can point you to resources, and they can help your child in myriad ways, but be realistic about their limitations. And learn to advocate for your child. In this system, many of the students who fall through the cracks are the ones whose parents don't get involved. Perhaps English is a second language, or the culture is unfamiliar, or they had children when they were very young, or they lack parenting skills, or they are neglectful, etc. I am not saying this to complain about parents--most are wonderful--but truly to arm parents with the uncomfortable knowledge that the school system is just "fine." An "excellent" education requires extensive parental involvement.