Student/Teacher Ratio for Preschool

[Anonymous]

Hi,

We just started preschool today and I learned that they had 33 kids in there! What should the student/teacher ratio be? We are coming from a home daycare to a center and wow! what a adjustment for both of us. I think we both wanted to cry!

[Anonymous]

Someone can comment for NOVA since we are in the process of moving there but in Texas the ratio is 1:8 for preschool. My son's 3/4 year old class has a max of 24 with 3 teachers. I think 33 is crazy! Can you imagine. Even most public K wont go over 24/26

[Anonymous]

Hi OP, How is it possible that you did not know how many children were going to be in your child's class? Didn't you get a class list when you enrolled? Where is the daycare located? There should be at least 1 to 8 in a 3 year old room. If you are in DC there always need to be 2 teachers in the room, so with that logic there should be 5 adults. Sound nuts to me. Where is this mad house?

[Anonymous]

A lot of things play into ratios. What state are you in? What age are they kids? How many teachers? Was this all day or at the end of the day? Sometimes classrooms merge at the end of the day.

The ratio for Maryland is 1:3 for infants, 1:6 for two year olds, 1:10 for 3/4 year olds, and 1:15 for 5 and up (although may vary if NAEYC accredited).
Maryland also sets max group size, for example there can be no more than 12 two year olds in one room, no more than 20 3/4 year olds, and no more than 30 kids who are 5 and up in one room. But sometimes this varies depending on the size of the physical classroom.
This is a handbook that contains the ratios, you'll have to scroll down a bit though: http://www.marylandpublicschools.org/NR/rdonlyres/FF4D42D2-46A0-44E6-9CEC-546C5641F978/31469/Sub16CTRamend012312.pdf

DC and VA may be different, but are probably similar. You can try looking on their licensing page to find out that information. 33 kids in one room does sound like a lot.

[Anonymous]

I should of checked but when I asked when we toured they told me it was slow during the summer and they were combining groups so I assumed it was not going to be a zoo. I'm really uncomfortable with 33 kids in one room. What should I do? I did account for 3 adults (one teacher and 2 adults). But again, that room is so big with tons of kids in there that i was confused.

The place is called imagination learning center 2 in chantilly. It gets good reviews and the children all seem happy BUT it's crazyiness.

Any recs for a more manageable and better preschool program? I'm aftraid with that many kids and one teacher with two helpers, my son wont really get a lot of attn... what would you guys do?

[Anonymous]

Try it out and look for another place if you don't like it. It'll probably several weeks or months to switch.

[Anonymous]

My DD's "2s" class has 14 kids and 3 teachers. Admittedly it's not a cheap school.

[Anonymous]

My DD's 2s class, on paper, has 25 kids and 5 teachers. In reality, there's rarely more than 18 or so kids with 5 teachers in the classroom, since many of the kids are only M/W/F or T/R attendees.

This is in NoVA.

[Anonymous]

So I'm seeing a trend that 33 with just one teacher and two assistants is a bit crazy.

[Anonymous]

AND OP here.. can anyone recommend a decent preschool in chantilly? I clearly cannot find one by myself.

[Anonymous]

My son has 20 kids with three adults (4s and 5s) Last year they were 15 with 2 adults, but they shared a very large space with breakout rooms with another class, so it could appear that it was 30 kids in one room, but there were four adults, and the classes did most things separately.

[Anonymous]

Well OP here. Today there are 36 kids scheduled to be in the room. When I dropped my DS off, one teacher and one assistant. I mentioned the high number and she said it's becasue they are a program and not a class.

[Anonymous]

You left your child in that situation? I don't think there is a difference between a program and a class. One teacher and on assistant is wrong and the program should be reported to licensing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I should of checked but when I asked when we toured they told me it was slow during the summer and they were combining groups so I assumed it was not going to be a zoo. I'm really uncomfortable with 33 kids in one room. What should I do? I did account for 3 adults (one teacher and 2 adults). But again, that room is so big with tons of kids in there that i was confused.

The place is called imagination learning center 2 in chantilly. It gets good reviews and the children all seem happy BUT it's crazyiness.

Any recs for a more manageable and better preschool program? I'm aftraid with that many kids and one teacher with two helpers, my son wont really get a lot of attn... what would you guys do?

Go to Beantree Learning in Chantilly. My son is in the Preschool 1 program and the student teacher ratio is 1-8. The Preschool 1 program is separated into three groups and in my son's group there is 1 teacher and 7 children. My son has been there for 2 1/2 years and we are very pleased with the school

[Anonymous]

Wow, that seems INSANE to me. In my son's 3s class in MC, there are three teachers for 13 kids. I can't imagine adding 20 more kids to the mix!