Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you know if it's a Focus School? And what is that?

Here's a link showing the explanation and the list of the focus schools in MCPS. The ones in red are the focus schools.

http://www.gtamc.org/resources/links---montgomery-county/red-zone-green-zone-mcps-focus-and-non-focus-schools

Thank you.

Anonymous wrote:How do you know if it's a Focus School? And what is that?

Here's a link showing the explanation and the list of the focus schools in MCPS. The ones in red are the focus schools.

http://www.gtamc.org/resources/links---montgomery-county/red-zone-green-zone-mcps-focus-and-non-focus-schools

15 kids. Title 1 school

It can also vary alot from one year to the next. 1 extra child can mean a whole new class and much smaller numbers. I would agree with pp that said numbers are really not everything. My DC had 29 in grade 1 with a fabulous teacher. He did so much for her...and everyone else I would not have traded that for an eh teacher with 17 kids.

How do you know if it's a Focus School? And what is that?

Ours has 19. Not a Title 1 school.

Focus school -

17 kids last year

This year one section has 12

My kid goes to a Focus school in Gaithersburg. There are 20 kids in his K class. From what I heard, this is the most it's been. Typically there are 15-16 kids in the kindergarten classrooms in this school, but with the population growth that number has gone up. If the number reaches 21, they can justify adding another K classroom and teacher.

24, and yes my just turned 5 year old is plenty challenged.

Unless you are Title I, class size can be a crap shoot, all depends how many kids show up that year. Could be 20 kids, could be 28. Also I think class size is not the only factor in how the year goes. Teacher effectiveness and the number of behavior issues are certainly other factors. Unfortunately you can't control these things.

If class size is the most important thing for you, move to a neighborhood that has a focus or Title I school- they will have lower class sizes than more wealthy areas.

If I were you, I would call the school your child would go to and ask them how big their kindergarten classes usually are. How big the kindergarten classes are in my child's school is not relevant (unless it's the same school!).

Also, class size is not the be-all end-all. It's better to be in a larger class with a good teacher than a smaller class with a bad teacher, for example.

Ours has 26-27. I think that is too many for K. But it really depends on which school your child would be going to. I've heard anywhere from the teens to upper 20s for MCPS Kindergarten.

Our school, which is not focus or Title 1, has between 17-20. We were very pleasantly suprised! Teacher is extremely competent and all seems calm... well as calm as kindergarten can look.

This varies widely across Montgomery County. Which school are you slated for?

The main reason we are looking into private school is class size.

How many kids in your child's k class?
Are you satisfied with how the teacher is challenging your child?