Has anyone successfully gotten an extra teacher for their grade to avoid overcrowded classrooms?

[Anonymous]

my 2nd grade child has 29 kids in her class. they need to get an extra teacher, but the principal's request keeps getting denied by the school board. have any parents here successfully banded together to advocate for an additional classroom teacher? thanks!

[Anonymous]

How many requests has she/he made? Why do they keep getting denied? Is 30 kids the cutoff?

[Anonymous]

There is no official cutoff. Only guidelines. My child had 29 in grade 1..no aides. For second grade they added an extra class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:my 2nd grade child has 29 kids in her class. they need to get an extra teacher, but the principal's request keeps getting denied by the school board. have any parents here successfully banded together to advocate for an additional classroom teacher? thanks!

...to the school board? I thought the requests must be made to the Superintendent.

[Anonymous]

It is my understanding in MCPS that "classroom teachers are fixed on 9/1." Principals have the ability to request & hire additional teachers up to approx Day 1 of the school year, but if a whole ton of kids move into the school boundary during the school year, the principal is not able to hire a new teacher.

A couple of years back, one grade at our ES finished with about 33 kids in each class, after beginning with 25 in each class, because so many students moved into the school boundary during the year.

[Anonymous]

A week or so after school started an extra section was added the year my child was in second grade, bringing the class count back below or near 20/class. I don't recall parents being involved in the decision -- I think our school's administrators just pushed hard for it.

An extra section was also added to the K year for the same class, but that was the week before school started.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Why is 29 such a problem? My daughter, who's in grade 2, has 32 in her class.

High school teachers have classes of 30+. I won't tell you how large some of the art classes were. They could rival a lecture hall in a college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is 29 such a problem? My daughter, who's in grade 2, has 32 in her class.

High school teachers have classes of 30+. I won't tell you how large some of the art classes were. They could rival a lecture hall in a college.

There is a big difference between ES and HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is 29 such a problem? My daughter, who's in grade 2, has 32 in her class.

High school teachers have classes of 30+. I won't tell you how large some of the art classes were. They could rival a lecture hall in a college.

There is a big difference between ES and HS.

no

Trust me; there isn't.

I teach 9th grade.

There's VERY little difference.

I am guessing you're not an educator????

[Anonymous]

I teach first grade and have taught K and second. There is a huge difference just between K and second grade so there must be an even bigger difference between them and HS. My K students had daily bathroom accidents, needed help with everything from zipping coats to buttoning pants. Many of them cried for their moms for the first month or two of school. Most cannot read. Does this describe a HS student? I certainly hope not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is 29 such a problem? My daughter, who's in grade 2, has 32 in her class.

High school teachers have classes of 30+. I won't tell you how large some of the art classes were. They could rival a lecture hall in a college.

There is a big difference between ES and HS.

no

Trust me; there isn't.

I teach 9th grade.

There's VERY little difference.

I am guessing you're not an educator????

Not the PP but I teach middle school and you are right on. There is very little difference between ES, MS and HS. It's just that ES students are more adorable and they love you. By the time they get to HS they've figured out how to push all your buttons, try to get away with murder, and they think they are superior to you.

[Anonymous]

a few things for your fact-finding: the central office tracks enrollment by grade and program as of the end of every month. Call them and get the latest figures for your grade and the # that would trigger an extra class. I no longer have a contact but it would be somewhere in the COO's office. the #s are not secret; they should be glad to answer questions.

if you are at the trigger, you can start a petition and go up the chain to: community supe; BoE; council. I was successful some years ago but that was in a title I school when enrollment kept growing far beyond the targets. It took months to get the new teacher, and then it was fairly disruptive which is something else to consider.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I teach first grade and have taught K and second. There is a huge difference just between K and second grade so there must be an even bigger difference between them and HS. My K students had daily bathroom accidents, needed help with everything from zipping coats to buttoning pants. Many of them cried for their moms for the first month or two of school. Most cannot read. Does this describe a HS student? I certainly hope not.

Yesterday, I turned in two for a drug deal. One is a 20 yo senior who was kicked out of his PG high school. He has gang markings. not my first, will not be my last

I worked 1-1 (during my planning) to help a student complete a project for graduation. He's been in this country for 2 years and entered illiterate in his own language.

I have one student in my regular class with an 80 IQ. I'm sure I have more.

I know for a fact that, after scrutinizing scores, many of my 9th graders are on a 6th grade reading level. Unfortunately, our support classes are filled to capacity b/c we don't have enough site licenses for the program.

I just found out one student was pregnant. again - obviously is NOT my first, nor will she be my last

BTW - I share ONE composition assistant with three other teachers. And although my pay stinks, I'm glad I'm only PT b/c I have 90 students instead of 150

Would you like to trade, PP? [u]

[Anonymous]

Sure. Sounds like a deal. I am still tired from holding some of my K students for most of the day b/c they can't stop crying about well, everything. It's all hard even at the "good" schools. Then, you have parents all over you as well as your principal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sure. Sounds like a deal. I am still tired from holding some of my K students for most of the day b/c they can't stop crying about well, everything. It's all hard even at the "good" schools. Then, you have parents all over you as well as your principal.

I'm 06:21.

FWIW, I would never or - more importantly - COULD NEVER teach elementary school. I prefer my large kids who can understand sarcasm!