1st grade classes are 30 kids and it's a mess

[Anonymous]

If my DS’s school hadn’t added a new teacher this would have been us too. I heard that they get around some of the class size regulations by bringing in the school technology specialists and the floating STEM teacher and stuff from time to time. Staffing is always a challenge and elementary class sizes have been somewhat unpredictable due to kids leaving and then coming back when the closures were finally over.

[Anonymous]

This is simply the new reality in FCPS. Everyone needs to reduce their expectations as schools recover from the pandemic.

Go private or hire a tutor if you do not have the patience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That is insane. Why doesn’t FCPS reduce class sizes?

This is exactly what you should expect when you keep voting for the same crowd, so don’t act surprised when you get what you voted for. They funnel the money to the schools that serve the undocumented kids and assume others will pay for enrichment on the side.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At my child's school, the first grade classes (6 and 7 year olds) are a mess! This is the grade that includes all the kids whose parents didn't want them in virtual kindergarten and weren't able to do private the virtual year, so on top of the huge class sizes, there's a broad range of ages in this class - from the kids who are still 5 with birthdays next week to those that turned 7 halfway through Kindergarten last year. Our principal refused to hire an extra teacher despite the fact that last year's class sizes were also huge (but kindergarteners had an IA to help). It's awful, it's out of control, and there is no support for the poor first grade teachers. Is there anything we can do to petition the principal to hire a new teacher for next year? 30 kids in a first grade class is TOO MANY.

DS's first grade class had 32 kids in it 4 years ago. This is not a new thing.

And your kid is fine now, right?

OP: what do you think will happen if your kid goes thru the year with a class this size?

[Anonymous]

At our school in LCPS the large class sizes were at least partially due to late registrations.

[Anonymous]

OP, I don't know that this will change anything, but I would write to your school board representative and the Superintendent. Use the word "equity" many times in your email and if you can, talk about how the class size interferes with meeting the Portrait of a Graduate goals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I don't know that this will change anything, but I would write to your school board representative and the Superintendent. Use the word "equity" many times in your email and if you can, talk about how the class size interferes with meeting the Portrait of a Graduate goals.

This will not help whatsoever if it’s a high SES school with halfway decent SOL scores

[Anonymous]

Advice from a parent whose kids had "only" 27 other kids in their grade school classes: do what it takes to let them come home after school on the bus. Get a sitter if you must who can show up M-F from after school until you get home if you cannot be there. Do not put your child in SACC; iyour child needs to get away from that chaotic environment. 6-7 hours is more than enough time spent in that level of noise, churn, and chaos. Get 'em out of there as soon as the bell rings at the end of the day!

Seeing the relief and smiles on my kids' faces when they got off the bus in the afternoon is one of the best things I ever did, looking back. They could relax, clear their brains, and it made a HUGE difference for them at that age. They came out as well-adjusted humans who are now young adults. They now say they are thankful they got to come home from FCPS after school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Advice from a parent whose kids had "only" 27 other kids in their grade school classes: do what it takes to let them come home after school on the bus. Get a sitter if you must who can show up M-F from after school until you get home if you cannot be there. Do not put your child in SACC; iyour child needs to get away from that chaotic environment. 6-7 hours is more than enough time spent in that level of noise, churn, and chaos. Get 'em out of there as soon as the bell rings at the end of the day!

Seeing the relief and smiles on my kids' faces when they got off the bus in the afternoon is one of the best things I ever did, looking back. They could relax, clear their brains, and it made a HUGE difference for them at that age. They came out as well-adjusted humans who are now young adults. They now say they are thankful they got to come home from FCPS after school.

This is exactly why kids at low SES schools who must go to SAC should have smaller class sizes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That is insane. Why doesn’t FCPS reduce class sizes?

Because parents refuse to go through the boundary process to readjust populations. An adjustment is desperately needed to balance numbers. The full spectrum is Chantilly at over 2900 and Lewis at under 1700 students. It's a significant difference in range at many schools across the county. Parents want both a very high-SES school and small class size, which is a ridiculous demand for a public school system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I don't know that this will change anything, but I would write to your school board representative and the Superintendent. Use the word "equity" many times in your email and if you can, talk about how the class size interferes with meeting the Portrait of a Graduate goals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is insane. Why doesn’t FCPS reduce class sizes?

Because parents refuse to go through the boundary process to readjust populations. An adjustment is desperately needed to balance numbers. The full spectrum is Chantilly at over 2900 and Lewis at under 1700 students. It's a significant difference in range at many schools across the county. Parents want both a very high-SES school and small class size, which is a ridiculous demand for a public school system.

Lewis is 1700?!?

That is great! Their enrollment is going up!

Although aren't the schools with higher esol and farm populations supposed to be smaller than the other schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is insane. Why doesn’t FCPS reduce class sizes?

This is exactly what you should expect when you keep voting for the same crowd, so don’t act surprised when you get what you voted for. They funnel the money to the schools that serve the undocumented kids and assume others will pay for enrichment on the side.

I many times have written to my school board member begging for reduced class sizes including when they got the covid money. It would be an expense that would benefit students and teachers across the board. It never happens, and they spend money on stupid crap like iPads for all kindergartners. It would be a million times more beneficial to have small classes where teachers can meet all the students’ needs than all the dumb bells and whistles the district spends money on.

[Anonymous]

Where would the extra teachers and classrooms come from?

Sometimes the class size is just the luck of the draw — one or two more kids and you would get another class. My kids have had very large classes 34 in 4th) and pretty small (21). It’s all fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That is insane. Why doesn’t FCPS reduce class sizes?

People complain about property taxes as-is.