Looking for help choosing a great school for my DS

[mom'sfolly]

The charter school may not have special ed classrooms, reading instructors, special teachers for art, pe and music. These will all effect the student/teacher ratio. My kids school has a Structured Teach program for autistic children, it is one of several in the district. This classroom has about 5 adults for 10-12 students. This counts for the student/teacher ratio. Student/teacher ratio is important, but so is average classroom size. here in Texas, K-4 is limited to 22 children per classroom. MY son's grade has about 160 kids in it, so there are eight teachers.

Other things to look at are:
Average class size
specialized programs available: TAG, reading specialists, computer and science labs, afterschool programs, etc.
an active PTA/PTO
building features....new schools in our districts have document cameras that allow projection of anything, more computer facilities, more interesting and useful stuff


An older schools don't have all the fancy new stuff, but usually have better established PTAs. The PTA at our school runs a variety of enhancement programs: afterschool drama clubs, math club, take home science kits, family movie night, and helps fund field trips and other things. Some charter schools opt out of certain programs. One in our area just does the math/english/science and social studies curreculum. They have a four hour school day.

 

[AndreaGS]

I remember when we were moving, I used greatschools.net to check test scores and see what the other parents had to say.

 

[teach1rusl]

mom'sfolly :

The charter school may not have special ed classrooms, reading instructors, special teachers for art, pe and music. These will all effect the student/teacher ratio. My kids school has a Structured Teach program for autistic children, it is one of several in the district. This classroom has about 5 adults for 10-12 students. This counts for the student/teacher ratio. Student/teacher ratio is important, but so is average classroom size. here in Texas, K-4 is limited to 22 children per classroom. MY son's grade has about 160 kids in it, so there are eight teachers.

Other things to look at are:
Average class size
specialized programs available: TAG, reading specialists, computer and science labs, afterschool programs, etc.
an active PTA/PTO
building features....new schools in our districts have document cameras that allow projection of anything, more computer facilities, more interesting and useful stuff

Definitely don't be swayed by the supposed teacher:student ratio. When those reports state things like a 18:1 ratio, it makes it sound like there are only 18 students in the ave. class. But visit any class there and you'll see much more than that. That's because they figure in ANYBODY who is teacher certified, including PE, Art, Music, Library, Speech, and Special Education teachers. If the principal is certified, he/she will be figured in as well. So that ratio is VERY misleading.

Instead, ask what the cap is for each grade level. In Kentucky, for example, the cap for 4th grade classrooms is supposed to be 28 students per teacher. However, I've been in schools with 29 and 30 students in a class (was told the school council had voted to allow more???). Some states don't have caps. The other criteria mom'sfolly mentioned are very important as well.​

 

[Chicken Chaperone]

Quote:
Definitely don't be swayed by the supposed teacher:student ratio. When those reports state things like a 18:1 ratio, it makes it sound like there are only 18 students in the ave. class. But visit any class there and you'll see much more than that. That's because they figure in ANYBODY who is teacher certified, including PE, Art, Music, Library, Speech, and Special Education teachers. If the principal is certified, he/she will be figured in as well. So that ratio is VERY misleading.

Instead, ask what the cap is for each grade level. In Kentucky, for example, the cap for 4th grade classrooms is supposed to be 28 students per teacher. However, I've been in schools with 29 and 30 students in a class (was told the school council had voted to allow more???). Some states don't have caps. The other criteria mom'sfolly mentioned are very important as well.

Excellent posts and points! Thank you everyone! I've started a master list of questions from all y'all's great points and I have an appointment to go and see one of the local charter schools a week from today and an 'info meeting' at another one after that so the hunt is on!
A million thank yous and keep those thoughts and experiences comin' my way! I sure appreciate all of it!!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Depending on the particular situation, class size and student:teacher ration may not have much impact. My son went to pre-K at a Montessori school that had 32 students in the class. That teacher knew exactly what level each child was on for everything, and could talk to you about your child in detail. His kindergarten had I think 20 students and the teacher knew everything about each of them and divided them into groups based up ability.

His first grade teacher had 20 students and couldn't keep them straight or individualize anything. She complained that with 20 kids she could not individualize--too many kids. His 2nd grade class was a combined 2nd and 3rd grade class with 45 students. Sounds difficult? There were two teachers--that class rocked. Both teachers knew just about everything about every kid, where they were at in each subject, their individual strengths and weaknesses. They had multiple ability levels for most subjects. The following year the class had 63 students and was nearly as good.

From a numbers standpoint, one would expect the 1st grade class to have been the best. It was the worst experience he has ever had in school. He learned absolutely nothing during that year--he was no better a reader, and did not mastered any more math than what he started the year with.