Well, ds started his new school today. I am so mad at myself right now. I obviously did not ask the right questions when getting info about the school. Ds has 33 students in his K class with one teacher and no aid!!!!!!!! I just about fell over when his teacher told me this. They had major cutbacks this year, so all the info. I researched on the internet was wrong. She also has some special needs kids. (which ds had in his Texas school) along with some students with behavioral problems. I am not as concerned about this year. Ds is only going 1/2 days and he is already way ahead thanks to a wonderful preschool he attended the last 2 years. I am really concerned about next year when he is in 1st grade. My ds is very quiet and shy and I am worried that he will get lost in the shuffle with over 30 students in a class. I am now thinking of looking into private schools in the area. Do any of you have dks in schools with this large of class size??? What do you think of it?? For those of you who are teachers, what do you think??? I know that 1st grade is such a big year with reading and writing. I just don't want ds to get behind. Any opinions/advice would be so appreciated.

By Colette on Wednesday, January 7, 2004 - 08:07 am:

That is ridiculous! We had major cutbacks last year too, and I work in kindergarten (one of the only aides for 3 kindergarten classes and the only aide for extended day kindergarten). Our regular kindergarten classes are 20 kids w/one teacher and an aide only on certain days/times. The teachers can barely handle it, especially because a lot of kids w/special needs do not get diagnosed until they are in kindergarten. Thankfully, my dd is in 1st grade and her teacher has an aide. If she was in kindergarten this year I would consider keeping her home and looking for a private school. I think the teachers here would quit before doing 33 kindergarteners w/no aide. I know I would.

I have noticed this year, due to staff cuts, that the pto has offered to volunteer their time in the classrooms, running things off and helping the teacher get supplies ready for activities. Some of them even bring their younger kids to school with them when they do this. I know the teachers appreciate it.

By Debbie on Wednesday, January 7, 2004 - 08:21 am:

Thanks for responding Colette. I think the look on my face was priceless when ds's teacher told me the class size. She thought I knew. Ds's old school had 20 students and I thought that was alot. His new teacher did have two moms helping her yesterday. However, when ds came home he even said. "Mom, our class is so big." Then he told me that they don't do anything here. They start the day by checking attendance and talking about the date, weather and general stuff. Then ds did an art project, they had some free choice time to play at different stations set up in the classroom and then he had music and came home. He is only there for 2-1/2 hours. Then to top it off, the pick up system is terrible and parents start lining up 1 hour before school gets out to pick up their dks. They have them wait outside to be picked up and yesterday it was below zero with the wind chill. If you don't get there early, they are standing outside for a long time in the cold weather. It is just ridiculous.

I am going to a mom's group tonight that is having preschool night. There will be several schools giving out info. Most of them also include higher grade levels. I am going, so I can check out the private schools in the area. I want to get as involved as I can and see how things go. My opinion right now is that his school is just a waste of time.

By Karen~moderator on Wednesday, January 7, 2004 - 09:36 am:

More {{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}} to you, Debbie. I think that getting really involved in things there, particularly the school, will be a great thing for you for more than one reason - it will obviously benefit your DS and you will learn more about your area and meet people and hopefully make some friends. I know you're unhappy with the school situation, but try to keep an open mind and ask a lot of questions, don't stop at this preschool night. If I were you, I'd try to find out about every possible school in the area. Also, what are the possibilities of you helping out in his class? If you get *friendly* with the teacher, maybe you can suggest some learning activities for the kids? Make yourself and your thoughts known, YOU have plenty to offer these people. After all, being the *new kid* isn't just about learning about *them*, THEY also have the opportunity to learn from YOU.

By Blueridgemom on Wednesday, January 7, 2004 - 09:37 am:

Wow, that is a huge class size. Even for older kids, that would be difficult, but near impossible for 1st graders. I would be surprised if your DS was getting any individual attention at all.

By Melanie on Wednesday, January 7, 2004 - 10:11 am:

I agree that is much too large. I agree to check out all your options. My son is in a k-1 class this year with 19 kids. At 12:00 the K kids go home. So from 12:00-2:15 his teacher has 8 first graders to work with. It is that time of the day that is of most value to the kids and the teacher. She can really take the time to work with them individually and on their level. With 33 kids in the class there is no way a child's individual needs can be met.

I am sorry to hear you are not happy with the move so far. I hope as time goes on you all adjust and make it feel like home. ((((HUGS))))

By Mommmie on Wednesday, January 7, 2004 - 10:27 am:

Eek! Sounds a lot different than the 22 max rule in Texas you were used to.

That is a lot of kids in one class! The other moms should have some insight as to what's going on. Maybe a new school is being built or there is some other temporary explaination for it. Is it a booming housing area? How are the school's test scores? How does 33 mesh with the No Child Left Behind legislation?

Growing up we had 30-35 in a class all through school starting in 1st grade. There was a lot of falling through the cracks. But, of course, school wasn't as academic as it is now and we all survived.

By Carolk on Wednesday, January 7, 2004 - 11:24 am:

I know my son's school only allows 22 kids per kindergarten class. My sister used to be an aid for kindergarten and those class sizes were about 23-27 kids.

33 seems like an awful lot of 5 year olds for one person.

By Debbie on Wednesday, January 7, 2004 - 12:03 pm:

I am going to talk with my neighbor this afternoon. Her 3 boys go to school there and she has lived here for 9 years. I am also going to call the district. They have always had a max of 22 students before this year. From what I have been told, there is a budget crisis, so they cut teachers. I just don't understand this. I am not really sure what is going on. I didn't have a lot of time to talk with ds's teacher before class started yesterday. We picked this area because we were told that the schools were wonderful. We also did a lot of research on the internet and the school ranked very high. This is just new this year, so I really need to do some more checking to find out if it is only temporary or something they plan to stick with.

By Trina~moderator on Wednesday, January 7, 2004 - 02:00 pm:

Yikes! 33 Kindergarteners, and no Aide?! As a former K teacher myself, this scares the heck out of me! Seems it would be nothing but crowd control. My DD has 19 kids in her class, with a PT para and lots of parent volunteers. Budget cuts or not, they're required to follow the state teacher to student ratios per age level.

By Lauram on Thursday, January 8, 2004 - 03:17 pm:

That absolutely is FRIGHTENING! I also taught k. I had 24 one year and that was CRAZY. Go to the board of ed! Rally the other parents. YIKES! No class in CT is allowed to be more than 30, but our district has a 25 kid policy and in K there is now a 20 kid max. Last year when I taught K, I had 18. THat's almost half the size! I also had an aide for 1 1/2 hours a day!

By Debbie on Thursday, January 8, 2004 - 05:42 pm:

Well, I talked with ds's teacher and she said that she is getting lots of parent participation. There are usually 2 parents in the classroom with her each day. The school set up a special program when they found out about the cuts. I did a lot of calling to the Illinois state board of education. I haven't really gotten a straight answer, but was told they don't have much say in the schools because they don't provide much funding??? I did check into some private schools in the area. One I really liked. However, the fees are just ridiculous. They want $1,000 a month per child plus gifts during the year. We just can't afford this. I am just going to become very involved with ds and make sure I help in his classroom each week. This way I will know what is going on. He really likes his teacher and the school and is very happy there. We will just have to see how things go. My neighbor said that all the referendoms (sp?) they try to pass to get $$$, get turned down. I don't know what everyone is thinking. They are trying to get more funding, so they can make changes next year. I am just going to get involved and make noise and hopefully things will change soon.

By Karen~moderator on Thursday, January 8, 2004 - 05:48 pm:

A suggestion - could you possibly attend some of the school board meetings? I did that for a while when my kids were young, and I wasn't satisfied with some school issues. It might give you some insight as to how you could possibly spearhead something to drum up interest in these referendums that keep getting voted down. For the life of me, I can't understand why people will vote *no* to education related things. Even if they don't have kids in the school systems, it will be those kids who are who will one day be running things and making decisions that affect everyone, so you'd think they would get a clue, huh?

By Dawnk777 on Thursday, January 8, 2004 - 06:14 pm:

Wow, 33 kids in a classroom is insane! We have 4 kindergarten classes at the school where I work and my children attended. When Emily went there, she was one of just 13 for an afternoon class. Now they have all-day kindergarten. I don't really know how many kids are in each class, but I know that each table at lunch has space on it. 2 tables per class - each can hold 16 kids. So, there are less than 32 in each class for sure. Some day at lunch, I will have to count each class! LOL! Or ask the aides that work with them at lunch.

In Sheboygan, they try to keep kindergarten, first and second grade classes a little smaller, so they can build a good base of skills, so 3rd, 4th and 5th are a little bit bigger.

By Debbie on Friday, January 9, 2004 - 08:10 am:

Karen, I do plan to attend the school board meetings and PTO meetings. The school has always been rated high academically. The only problem is the class size because of the cutbacks. I am just going to get very involved. My ds is very good about coming to me and discussing what he is doing in school, which helps. I am just going to stay on top of things and do all I can to help the school get back to where it should be.

By Dawnk777 on Friday, January 9, 2004 - 03:19 pm:

I asked one of the kindergarten aides today about class size. The school where my children went to grade school currently has about 18-20 kids in the kindergarten classes.

By Lauram on Friday, January 9, 2004 - 06:41 pm:

FYI- in my class of 18 kids last year, I had 2 parent volunteers for 1 hr each day! Like I said, those numbers are SCARY!