dealing with large K classes in Mont. Co.

[Anonymous]

We are happily moving to Montgomery County from DC, and I'd like to prepare my child for larger classes (she's been in a teeny pre-school and pre-K environment). Is it true there is one K teacher for 20+ kids? Do mothers/parents volunteer in kindergarden, on a rotating basis, to help out?

[Anonymous]

Yes, there are usually 20+ kids in a MoCo classroom with one teacher. As far as parent volunteers, it depends on the school. My kids go to a school with a high level of parent participation, but you don't really see parents in the classroom on a regular basis. It's more with support things - field trips, class parties, and recess supervision. Maybe other schools are different in this regard and allow parents in the classroom.

[Anonymous]

It depends where you are moving to. Most Title I and focus schools will have fewer than 20 students in kindergarten classes. Our school had 15 or 16 in K classes last year. There was active parent involvement in the classroom for reading and math centers. I believe there was at least one parent per day volunteering in DS's classroom.

[Anonymous]

When people say they volunteer, it really depends on the classroom and the teacher. My son's K teacher sent out a parent volunteer calendar each month and you could fill in the blocks you wanted. The computer lab and art teacher also sent out volunteer forms. Most teachers at my school would rather have volunteers for special events like field trips, field day, class parties, etc. My son did fine in K with 24 kids and one teacher (an aide was shared by all of the K classes). His preschool was small too (9 kids in his pre-K class).

[Anonymous]

My school had a ton of parental volunteer participation during class - but usually by the same set of revolving parents. We had large classes last year - but the teachers handled it just fine - be prepared though when you go in the first month, it can be, and is, a bit chaotic. It calms down after everyone gets their sea legs, so to speak.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My school had a ton of parental volunteer participation during class - but usually by the same set of revolving parents. We had large classes last year - but the teachers handled it just fine - be prepared though when you go in the first month, it can be, and is, a bit chaotic. It calms down after everyone gets their sea legs, so to speak.

we were worried this year. We had a teacher who was young, new to our school, and with 22 kids in the class. Her prior school was red, which meant a much smaller class size, so we were worried about how she'd do with 22 kids. Well, DD came out reading at a level equivalent to the end of 1st grade and adored her teacher. The teachers have a system and it seems to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It depends where you are moving to. Most Title I and focus schools will have fewer than 20 students in kindergarten classes. Our school had 15 or 16 in K classes last year. There was active parent involvement in the classroom for reading and math centers. I believe there was at least one parent per day volunteering in DS's classroom.

Just be aware that there will be fewer Title I and FOCUS schools this coming school year than in past years.

[Anonymous]

You can thank the CC for allowing K classes (and others) to climb in numbers.

25 will be the norm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It depends where you are moving to. Most Title I and focus schools will have fewer than 20 students in kindergarten classes. Our school had 15 or 16 in K classes last year. There was active parent involvement in the classroom for reading and math centers. I believe there was at least one parent per day volunteering in DS's classroom.

Just be aware that there will be fewer Title I and FOCUS schools this coming school year than in past years.

the focus schools that were cut have already been announced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can thank the CC for allowing K classes (and others) to climb in numbers.

25 will be the norm.

i looked back at my class picutres once when this topic came up and oh my they were the same size.................

[Anonymous]

If MoCo Schools put its extra faculty back where they should be -- in the classroom -- instead of cushy, minimally beneficial positions such as staff dev., our classes wouldn't be ballooning in size as much as they are in these financially challenging times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If MoCo Schools put its extra faculty back where they should be -- in the classroom -- instead of cushy, minimally beneficial positions such as staff dev., our classes wouldn't be ballooning in size as much as they are in these financially challenging times.

It has to do with the number of classrooms not teachers..

[Anonymous]

Before this becomes the runaway MoCo bashing (either school board, superintendent, City Council etc. etc.) train - remember that the original poster while also asking whether it was true regarding the class size, mainly was asking how to prepare her child. She was not looking into getting into the merits, reasons, or anything else regarding the class size.

To that, I will say kids are pretty resilient and can rise to the occasion. If I were you, I might try to find other kids in her class or at least in her grade to have playdates over the summer (maybe new neighbors can help finding the kids in the neighborhood, if they don't have kids themselves) so she can feel like she has a friend the first few weeks. I know for my relatively less extroverted son, having friends already helped immensely.

[Anonymous]

13:00 here again - also - if you have a neighborhood pool - go - she may meet many of her classmates there as well.

[Anonymous]

My DS transitioned from K with 13 kids and 2 teachers (private) to public 1st with 25+ kids and 1 teacher. We all survived. Offer to volunteer in the classroom to get an idea of the teacher and classroom...and also help out of course.