MCPS Kindergarten Student:Teacher ratios? Screen time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - asking for specific schools this year isn’t going to help you much. Things can swing quite a bit. Let’s say the mandated max is 25 kids per class. If the school this year had 51 kindergartners, they’d have 3 classes of 17 kids per class. If next year there are 50 kids, you’d have 2 classes of 25.

Yep makes sense and is very helpful! Anyone have strong feelings one way or the other on how much screens their kids are getting in school?

MCPS makes the kindergarteners do standardized tests on chrome books. Annoys me a lot, but not enough to go elsewhere. Otherwise screen time seems teachers' decision. Maybe some teachers will weigh in here. What I see is them doing interactive things in a group like dancing to a letter song while the song plays on a screen

[Anonymous]

We have a 4 K classes this year, and 19-20 kids per class.

[Anonymous]

I’m sure screen use will increase with the current budget freeze.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - asking for specific schools this year isn’t going to help you much. Things can swing quite a bit. Let’s say the mandated max is 25 kids per class. If the school this year had 51 kindergartners, they’d have 3 classes of 17 kids per class. If next year there are 50 kids, you’d have 2 classes of 25.

Yep makes sense and is very helpful! Anyone have strong feelings one way or the other on how much screens their kids are getting in school?

Ours does a lot on screens and did in K as well (daughter is in second grade now), but it doesn't seem to have had a negative impact on her. It's most of what she comes home talking about from school, but it hadn't bled over into increased demands for screen time at home, she reads a lot, etc. It seems like a lot of watching videos about things, and sometimes she learns something from them which isn't the worst. (Our kindergarten was 16 kids, first grade was 14, second is twenty)

[Anonymous]

If you’re worried about screen time, don’t pick MCPS. They rely heavily on devices. Yes, there is still quite a bit of paper-based work, particularly for K-5, but the screen time that does exist is probably more than you are comfortable with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you’re worried about screen time, don’t pick MCPS. They rely heavily on devices. Yes, there is still quite a bit of paper-based work, particularly for K-5, but the screen time that does exist is probably more than you are comfortable with.

Do you have a suggestion for a local school district that is better in this regard?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’re worried about screen time, don’t pick MCPS. They rely heavily on devices. Yes, there is still quite a bit of paper-based work, particularly for K-5, but the screen time that does exist is probably more than you are comfortable with.

Do you have a suggestion for a local school district that is better in this regard?

I think privates are going to offer what you're looking for, not publics. Most area public school districts have bought into the ed-tech model and rely heavily on Google devices.

[Anonymous]

Consider that not all screens are created equal. A screen with a standardized test is not the same as a screen that lets you scroll TikTok, and nor do they affect your child's brain the same way. Don't accidentally become a luddite.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, almost every MCPS school will have some screen time, but it also comes down to individual teacher preference. I've seen early ES teachers avoid screen time at all costs, and I've seen teachers use it in a really innovative way that keeps kids engaged and active.

Also, most MCPS schools are fine for K-3. They understand the need for strong educators in the earliest years, and any behavioral issues that stem from generational trauma are not yet leading to massive outburst (typically).

Basically, you are focused on the wrong things, which is understandable. Look at what matters - including community, your own commute and happiness, and the MS and HS options.

I think Takoma Park is a good mix of all of those things, even if your kid does a reading unit per day on a Chromebook.

[Anonymous]

Viers Mill ES is just across the zip code border in 20906 but the Randolph Hills neighborhood in Rockville feeds there. Title I, currently 4 K classes of 18, first grade has 14-17. In kindergarten, students are on chromebooks every day for 15-20 mins doing specific reading/phonics games with their progress being tracked. We have three kids currently from 1st-8th grade and never had a "bad" teacher at VMES. Can't recall specific numbers for the other grades, but it does go up slightly in the upper grades. 20-22 per class right now for 4th grade.

[Anonymous]

My DD goes to a title 1. She is in 2nd and her classes have typically started with 17 kids with 1 or 2 that move mid year. There has also been a para or a fair amount of kids being pulled for various things. There was some screen time on math games/people go but DD's K teacher was super play based and I felt in didn't impact her at all. In 1st and 2nd the teachers use it to get assessments like DIBELS done. My DD loves the school and has made friends and I have loved the teachers, but I can't recommend the school. There is almost zero after school clubs, no PTA and the principal is standoffish and not helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Title 1 schools have smallest classroom size
Focus schools are next
The rest have guidelines, but no maximum numbers. I had one kid with 23 per class at the start of the year had 26 by the end. The other had 22, ended up with 27 by the end of the year

Thanks! I’m interested in current ratios at any specific schools you may know of. Particularly Rockville/potomac/bethesda.

FWIW, Takoma Park and Rockville have city taxes on top of county taxes. Bethesda and Potomac are not incorporated as cities, so there are just county taxes there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Title 1 schools have smallest classroom size
Focus schools are next
The rest have guidelines, but no maximum numbers. I had one kid with 23 per class at the start of the year had 26 by the end. The other had 22, ended up with 27 by the end of the year

Thanks! I’m interested in current ratios at any specific schools you may know of. Particularly Rockville/potomac/bethesda.

FWIW, Takoma Park and Rockville have city taxes on top of county taxes. Bethesda and Potomac are not incorporated as cities, so there are just county taxes there.

There are also a lot of neighborhoods with Rockville addresses and zip codes that are outside of the city limits of Rockville.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - asking for specific schools this year isn’t going to help you much. Things can swing quite a bit. Let’s say the mandated max is 25 kids per class. If the school this year had 51 kindergartners, they’d have 3 classes of 17 kids per class. If next year there are 50 kids, you’d have 2 classes of 25.

To reiterate, there is no mandate in MCPS about class sizes, only guidelines. If that 26th kid pushes your Principal to push central office for another classroom depends on so many things: when the extra kid is officially registered/in the system, if there are any teachers available, if there is a other classroom available on the first floor (that is required for K), if your principal is experienced and knows to do this early enough and isn't in fear of central office for their job, etc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Title 1 schools have smallest classroom size
Focus schools are next
The rest have guidelines, but no maximum numbers. I had one kid with 23 per class at the start of the year had 26 by the end. The other had 22, ended up with 27 by the end of the year

Thanks! I’m interested in current ratios at any specific schools you may know of. Particularly Rockville/potomac/bethesda.

FWIW, Takoma Park and Rockville have city taxes on top of county taxes. Bethesda and Potomac are not incorporated as cities, so there are just county taxes there.

There are also a lot of neighborhoods with Rockville addresses and zip codes that are outside of the city limits of Rockville.

Actually that is true for Takoma Park as well. If this matters to you, talk to the realtor about this to see if the residence is inside city limits. Mailing addresses can be misleading.