Starting K in APS next year or waiting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have three May birthdays (so really not so different from July). I think that the red shirted kids have a significant advantage in kindergarten-second grade, but by then it kind of dissipates. By fourth grade I would say that there is no difference. There are a good number of kids that are red shirted, so they are older, but I would say its actually a disadvantage once you get to a certain age. They age out of rec sports differently, their bodies are kind of a year ahead developmentally, etc. None of these things really matter, but I don't think that most people would say red shirting is a good idea off of dcum in real life.

Most kindergartners do not know how to read. Most do not even recognize all of their letters or numbers. They catch up.

People are right about next year being a larger kindergarten class year (maybe, who knows, maybe people won't come back in droves). I'm not sure that matters because individual classes are small, and its possible most people who red shirted this year will end up being unhappy with aps and going private/moving out of the area. I wouldn't let that dissuade you one way or the other.

Three kids, all boys, two July birthdays and one August. They started on time and it was fine. I guess they seemed younger than some of their classmates, but they found sports where height didn't matter and friends who liked the same things they did.

Some of the red-shirted kids were kind of mean, TBH, as though being older is always better. I guess maybe it seems that way when you're 7. Or maybe they were held back for social reasons and still hadn't caught up on that front.

Full disclosure: I know some parents who started their kids on time and second-guessed themselves for years. And I know some who held their kids back and it kinda stank for the kids in the early years, because they wanted to play with kids their age at recess, and most of them were in a different grade. But it's one of those things that sorts itself out over time.

[Anonymous]

Our daughter is turning 5 just before the September cutoff date for K.

We would redshirt her based on the pandemic, but she's on the cusp of reading, she writes all her letters and numbers well, she's doing math... she's ready.

Holding her back another year and putting her pre-K would probably be more damaging to her development than putting her in K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child has a summer birthday, and hasn’t been in a formal preschool setting since it closed in March of last year. I know each child is different but I would love perspectives on the district aspects of this decision. Is one of the following hypotheticals more trie than the other? I am just getting up to speed on the district dynamics.

Option 1: Send the child, because APS neighborhood schools are good, they will be able to differentiate and meet all kids where they are, and will have the resources to give children extra supports to ensure all kids thrive, and Kindergarten at APS doesn’t really require any academic skills at the beginning of the year.

Option 2: Don’t send the child, because APS may not be back fully in-person, they may have bigger than usual class sizes which means that kids will get less individual attention, and a lot of the N Arlington parents of 5yos last year redshirted to avoid a year of remote kindergarten, so a young 5yo would be in a class full of 6yos. And most Kindergartners will be able to write and read multiple words (i.e., more than their name) and already know letter sounds and can spell using phonics

Any other district resources I can tap into? I called the school we are zoned for but they said they don’t do k readiness assessments. I completely understand that K is largely about social emotional development, but I also know my sensitive and easily frustrated child may struggle if everyone is light years ahead.

I don't think either of the bolded are an issue

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:When our son was in K, he had 27 kids in his K class with one to two aids (varied during the year). Option 1 absolutely did not happen. Don't kid yourself, Arlington will absolutely jam as many kids as possible in that it can, the kids will be all over the learning spectrum, and the teachers will do their best but there is limited focus on the individual kid in a 27 kid classroom.

Where was this? The recommended max classroom size in APS is 24 and the average size is 20.6 in 2019, 21.3 in 2018. We have never had a K class size over 21.

All of the K classes were well over 21. The smallest was 24 and the largest was 27. Midway through year they added the second aid when we got to 27. I want to say we started at 25. Sorry that this smashes the notion that all Arlington schools behave the same way or follow the rules, but it's the reality. We should have had 5 classrooms, we did not.

Which school?

Maybe they had to rework classes because of the hybrid/virtual assignments. This is atypical class sizes in an extremely atypical year.

I've never heard of K larger than 22 (outside of covid).

It definitely depends on the school. Abingdon, ASFS, ATS, Ashlawn, and Claremont often have a class size of bigger than 22.

Not for K...

Well from my personal experience, yes, K at ATS and Abingdon has 24

My child's K class at Claremont was 24.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:When our son was in K, he had 27 kids in his K class with one to two aids (varied during the year). Option 1 absolutely did not happen. Don't kid yourself, Arlington will absolutely jam as many kids as possible in that it can, the kids will be all over the learning spectrum, and the teachers will do their best but there is limited focus on the individual kid in a 27 kid classroom.

Where was this? The recommended max classroom size in APS is 24 and the average size is 20.6 in 2019, 21.3 in 2018. We have never had a K class size over 21.

All of the K classes were well over 21. The smallest was 24 and the largest was 27. Midway through year they added the second aid when we got to 27. I want to say we started at 25. Sorry that this smashes the notion that all Arlington schools behave the same way or follow the rules, but it's the reality. We should have had 5 classrooms, we did not.

Which school?

Maybe they had to rework classes because of the hybrid/virtual assignments. This is atypical class sizes in an extremely atypical year.

I've never heard of K larger than 22 (outside of covid).

It definitely depends on the school. Abingdon, ASFS, ATS, Ashlawn, and Claremont often have a class size of bigger than 22.

Not for K...

Well from my personal experience, yes, K at ATS and Abingdon has 24

My child's K class at Claremont was 24.

I can see the options schools filling go the max size.

But which school in APS had _27_ in K?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When our son was in K, he had 27 kids in his K class with one to two aids (varied during the year). Option 1 absolutely did not happen. Don't kid yourself, Arlington will absolutely jam as many kids as possible in that it can, the kids will be all over the learning spectrum, and the teachers will do their best but there is limited focus on the individual kid in a 27 kid classroom.

This was in Arlington?

I've never heard any APS kindergarten class that huge. That sounds more like FCPS.

This was true at Glebe a couple of years ago.

Heck, my 2nd grader's virtual class right now is over 30 students. It's huge.

[Anonymous]

OP here— since it seems like there is significant variability within the district, how would people’s answers change (or at all) knowing we are in 22207? More likely to send? More likely to redshirt? My child knows letter sounds but I think is far from reading.

[Anonymous]

I'm on the same situation as you OP, except a late summer birthday. We're holding back a year and doing a junior k program

[Anonymous]

Hi, I sent my August daughter to school on time. We considered holding her back but it never made sense for her personally--her personality is very suited to a school environment and she looks/sounds mature. FWIW she's at an option school so her K was always at maximum capacity but it seemed fine.

[Anonymous]

Hold back. It’s an advantage to be older especially in boys. And one more year of him home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here— since it seems like there is significant variability within the district, how would people’s answers change (or at all) knowing we are in 22207? More likely to send? More likely to redshirt? My child knows letter sounds but I think is far from reading.

Wrote back to you earlier (three may birthdays), I would send him if I were you personally. The only compelling argument people have given here has been the college thing, which I hadn’t thought about personally. We live in 22207.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here— since it seems like there is significant variability within the district, how would people’s answers change (or at all) knowing we are in 22207? More likely to send? More likely to redshirt? My child knows letter sounds but I think is far from reading.

Why would zip code matter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here— since it seems like there is significant variability within the district, how would people’s answers change (or at all) knowing we are in 22207? More likely to send? More likely to redshirt? My child knows letter sounds but I think is far from reading.

Why would zip code matter?

It's a proxy for income. Many can't afford to redshirt.

(Though I'm not sure that was true this past school year, as those with less means may have been less able to support virtual K, and school wasn't functioning as childcare.)

[Anonymous]

Do you guys at age 30 plus REALLY think your parent choosing to red shirt you are not changed your educational pathway.

For what it is worth I started kinder at age 4. Maybe that is why I am went to a state college and am only a government lawyer. If my parents would have pushed me back I could have been a corporate lawyer bringing in the big bucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here— since it seems like there is significant variability within the district, how would people’s answers change (or at all) knowing we are in 22207? More likely to send? More likely to redshirt? My child knows letter sounds but I think is far from reading.

Why would zip code matter?

The experience at various neighborhood schools seems to be different. Since I’m not inclined to share more details about my situation or school, I was hoping zip might be a proxy. I may well be mistaken but it seems like the closer-in neighborhoods have more density and maybe bigger class sizes?