Public K classes in my zoned school have 24 kids and no aides. DS is at a private school and there are 6 kids in his class. I'm actually on the fence if that is too small or not, but it is better than the alternative.
They try to keep the classes around 20 give or take one or two. In kindergarten, they had a teacher, an aide, and a daily parent volunteer. In first and second grade, there is just the one teacher.
The same volunteer every day? Or a rotation? Do all classes do this or just kindergarten?
Looking online, I see 18-22 for most schools in the Seattle school district. But I don't know how this counts assistants.
I think I remember class sizes in the low 20s for elementary school, always with an assistant. But past 3rd grade the assistant is around a lot less. ETA Private school.
They try to keep the classes around 20 give or take one or two. In kindergarten, they had a teacher, an aide, and a daily parent volunteer. In first and second grade, there is just the one teacher.
The same volunteer every day? Or a rotation? Do all classes do this or just kindergarten?
Is this common?
It was a rotation. I only went in like once every six weeks or so (and my husband subbed a couple of times because he wanted to see DS doing his thing in a classroom environment). It's strictly voluntary too, you don't have to do it if you don't want to. But with the larger class sizes (20 kids), it's a smart way IMO of bringing the adult/child ratio down. The parents were asked to do easy things like play word or math games with a small group of kids. It was actually kind of fun and so nice to be able to see DS in a way we normally wouldn't get to see
My girls have 24 max and have had a full time Teacher Aide every year...until 5th grade, now there is no Aide. There are no IEPs or special Ed kids because it's a private school. I think this year it's 22 for DD1, 23 for DD2 & DD3. That's down, usually most/all the classes are maxed out because there is a waiting list.
Our kindergarten classes at many of our schools are hitting 25-30 kids with no aides. They are supposed to be capped at 25 but schools are going over because of enrollment. We also have a teacher shortage so even if there was space for new classes there's no certified staff to hire.
They try to keep the classes around 20 give or take one or two. In kindergarten, they had a teacher, an aide, and a daily parent volunteer. In first and second grade, there is just the one teacher.
The same volunteer every day? Or a rotation? Do all classes do this or just kindergarten?
Is this common?
It depends on the teacher. When I was student teaching, the teacher in K had a very well oiled system and had at least one volunteer and one student teacher per day.
Post by stephm0188 on Aug 27, 2015 15:09:12 GMT -5
My 2nd grader has 21 in his class. His class is inclusion, so it's smaller and has an aide who works with 2-3 of the students who need additional assistance.
Other classes have 23-25 kids, no aides. There's been a lot of growth in the district and the school board wants to hire more teachers to get the classes down to 18-20.
Kinder was < 20, but 1st grade and later it's been 26 each year, which is the max (school is at capacity). There are a few floating aides around the school but not full time for any classroom my any means.
DD has lucked out because she's been in the same class as a boy with Down syndrome the last 2 years. He had a dedicated FT aid supplied by the school who also helped the rest of the class whenever possible.
We're in California - Kinder is capped at 32 combined (meaning 16 early birds and 16 late birds). I was shocked they had no aides, but I guess that's standard. Parent volunteers are really necessary for Kinder.
I'm sure the older grades are between 28-32 without an aide. Even 25 years ago (or more :/) when I was in elementary I remember my classes being 30+ without an aide. It's what we're used to here.
K was 22 I think. I expect 1st to be 28. Some classes have a para but it is not required. Our school has been trying to connect more to educational programs at colleges so we might have more student teachers in the classrooms. It is usually seen as as win-win because the main teach has an extra person who might be able to do some small group work with some kids and the student learns the art of teaching from really experienced teachers (we have very low turn over at my school).