class size?

DS has 17 kids in his class and Kindergaten has 3 classes in total this year. (don't know the class size of the other classes)

Wondering if it will stay the same for years to come?

I know it might get bigger next year because our district does not offer full day K.

Re: class size?

My DD's K class was 18 kids. They had 4 sections. This year because of budget cuts, they cut it down to 3 sections and she has 25 kids in her 1st grade class

Re: class size?

As a teacher in one of the two districts on LI that is on contingency I can tell you it is only going to get worse in the foreseeable future.

Inflation rate is 3.8% but the tax cap of 2% will only allow districts to increase their budget 2% of their current budget.

Right now, that means the same programs, etc this year will cost 3.8% more next year, therefore, a district must cut AT LEAST 1.8% more from this year's programs to be in-line with next year's 2% tax cap. Nothing will be put back, it will just be further cuts.

Unfortunately, class sizes will continue to go up. Some teacher's contracts have a class size cap included (not mine) so that might hold sizes down until the contracts expire. Boards will try to loosen these in the coming years.

Just to give you a comparison, I teach high school. Last year I had 106 kids and taught 2 different courses. This year, I teach 139 in three different course... first two weeks of school kids were sitting on the windowsills. I also have two Chinese students and several 504/IEP students with accomodations/resource room teachers and no co-teacher... I figured it out the other day and it's like teaching 7 different courses!!! Behavioral problems are through the roof!

My DH and I moved to a top Suffolk district, however, with the catastrophic cuts that are coming, we are seriously considering keeping our kids in private school.

The best advice I can give you is to attend Board of Ed meetings regularly and be very involved in the school community.

Re: class size?

There are 27 kids in my son's 1st grade class.

Re: class size?

My son had 15 kids in K, 23 kids in 1st and 21 kids in 2nd.

Re: class size?

Re: class size?

My kids have 27 kids each in their Kindergarten classes and the school has 11 K classes.

Re: class size?

My kids are in private school. The average class size is 18-20.

My DD is in K and she has 20. DS is in 2nd and he has 17.

Re: class size?

My daughter had 24 kids in her kindergarten class last year and has 23 in her first grade class this year!

Re: class size?

My kids go to NYC public school. My dd in 4th grade has 33 kids!!! and my ds in 2nd has 29.

Re: class size?

My sons 1st grade class has 21 kids and my other sons 3rd grade class has 23 kids.

WAY too many IMO

Re: class size?

22 in Kindergarten

Re: class size?

20 kids in my DD's K class. They have 6 K classes this year. They had to get more teachers because of such high enrollment.

Re: class size?

Re: class size?

We are in Queens and my DDs class size has always been between 18-21 kids for K to 2nd grade, which I am happy with. There are typically 3 classes for each grade.

However this year a first grade teacher is on maternity leave and was not replaced, so the 2 remaining classes have 32 kids each which seems insane to me. I do not know if the parents have complained about that, my DD is currently in 2nd grade.

Re: class size?

My son has 25 kids in his 1st grade gifted class. The other 2 first grade classes have 32 kids in them.

ETA: We're in Chicago

Message edited 9/27/2011 11:25:02 AM.

Re: class size?

DS has 18 kids in his class and four K classes this year due to higher enrollment. It is usually 3 classes with up to 20kids in each. I am not sure what they are going to do in 1st grade as there are only 3 1st grade teachers now. I can't believe some of the class sizes that I see here-30+kids..oh my..poor teacher!

Re: class size?

I'm not sure of the economics of the situation but I think with cutbacks you'll see class size increase.

But if you're asking for class size as the kids get older, they increase the sizes throughout the grades.

Re: class size?

16 1st grade. Was 14 in K. Each grade has 3 sections with the exception of K which they dropped to 2 this year. We are very lucky. I live in NJ.

Re: class size?

DS has 17 in his K class, but I expect it to go a lot higher with the new budget cap.

Re: class size?

19 kids this year. (K) They have a teacher and an assistant, plus a student teacher for now. It's a nice ratio this year, I have no idea about next year though.

I think there are 10 (K) classes in his school alone, and 2 other schools in the district.

Message edited 9/27/2011 5:09:48 PM.

Re: class size?

21 in her K class with two aides

Re: class size?

From K to 5th grade Jordan has always had 22-26 kids every year. The grade right behind her only averages about 17. She happens to have a big grade. They add an entire extra class(extra teacher) for her grade every year too

Re: class size?

22 in dd's kindergarten class

Re: class size?

we have 23 in K, supposedly it's the largest class they have seen in something like 10 years...