We're at a Title I school in FCPS where the K-3 cap is 21. We love it.

I asked the principal if it was the same at all Title1 schools and she said that the cap is determined by the percentage of kids qualifying for free/reduced lunch. Some schools have higher caps like 24.

If it is a Title I school it has lower limits for K-3 dictated by federal rules. The chart is also out of date - our school ende dup with a MUCH higher average than what's listed there due to growth.

Our neighborhood school's K classes were split evenly. The chart posted was correct for the beginning of the year.

That chart is very deceptive. It says the average for my school's 1-3rd grades is 23... but in reality, my child had 30 last year (and the other three classrooms of that grade were at least 27). I believe the grade above DC's had very low class sizes (20) and the grade below DC's was middle-ish (25). So, maybe it averaged out to 23, but I don't really care about the average when my kid is in a class of 30.

(Although, DC did in fact survive... so it's not all gloom and doom. Just don't trust that the "average" statistics are representative of every classroom.)

It varies -- I don't think it's as simple as you're imagining it. But here's a chart that may interest you.

http://www.fcps.edu/it/studentreporting/documents/ElmClassSizeAvg2011.pdf

Where? The max I hear around our neighborhood is 26.

I know it has to be greater than 30 b/c my child had 30 last year.

Does anyone know what the maximum class size FCPS will allow in first grade and second grade? I"m wondering what the cut off is for those two grades before a new class needs to be formed.