what does a typical NoVa/arlington class "look" like?

[Anonymous]

I know nothing about public schools, nothing. my husband and i recently moved to arlington and we have 2 sm kids. we're interested in taking advantage of the terrific public school system for our DD who is only 2 now. in case knowing the particular school matters all i can tell you is we currently live in shirlington and although i don't know the elementary school our kids would go to i think we're in the wakefield h.s.district. Just trying to get an idea for class size, teacher:student ratio, exposure to music/art/p.e. classes, etc. do these thing vary from school to school in arlington? i have this fear of there being a huge # of kids in a classroom for some reason. thnx!

[Anonymous]

All of these things vary by school, but you can check the Arlington County Schools website to get an idea of your neighborhood school and various options (neighborhood school, Drew for Montessori, Claremont for Spanish Immersion, ATS for traditional approach). It seems like most of the schools have class sizes in the low-to-mid 20's (22-25 kids per class) with a teacher and an assistant for Kindergarten. Music and art 1x per week, PE 2x per week seems the "norm" though I can't confirm if that is across all of Arlington County.

Again, check the schools website for a breakdown by race, class size, test scores, etc.

[Anonymous]

13:12 here -- I should add that my kids also do art in their classroom, but it is art 1x per week with the art teacher.

Also, starting in 3rd grade many schools bump up music to 2x per week and in upper grades there is music more often because children have the opportunity to join chorus or play a musical instrument. All of these vary by school, but this is how it works at our school.