classroom size / number of children in a room

[SunRise]

Hi

How many children are in a class room at your Montessori. State age group and number of pupils and part day vs full day if you know.

My son is a new student in the 3-5 classroom.
30 children - there are 10 new children, presumably 3 year olds; 20 returning.

At his school there are 4 3-5 classrooms, 2 6-9 classrooms and 1 10-12 classroom.

I am not sure how many are partday vs fullday.

I am curious about the class size, for comparison - I think 30 kids in a room is a lot (2 teachers).
And if you know how many classrooms for each group that would be interesting too.

Thanks!
Sara

[flyingspaghettimama]

Ok, I checked for the exact number...There are three 3-6 year old classrooms. Each has 25 children in them. There are two 6-9 yo classrooms; one 9-12; and a middle school with lots of children (not sure the exact count).

I don't really think 30 is too many - it's pretty typical for most Montessori schools that I've seen to have between 20-30 children. They should have a balance though - the older children are helping the teacher with younger children (i.e. give lessons, helping with social problems, etc). If the teachers are good and it's really set up like an authentic Montessori, everything works out. If they're not so great, then it will look like a sort of "lord of the flies" school. Not good. :p

The ratio of full day:half day is important too - The afternoon is supposed to be for older children (around age 4-5 and up, depending on their non-need for naptime). The younger children are just there in the morning at my daughter's school; then they stay for morning + lunch; then they stay all day until 3.

[Tine]

DS's school is a small home-based one serving ages 2.5–6. There are 14 kids total, but the size limit for each session (morning & afternoon) is 10 kids. The morning session is full (10 kids) and is pretty evenly divided among the ages. The afternoon session has 8 kids; this group is slightly older on average but still contains a couple of little ones. I think a total of 5 kids (including DS, who is 2.5) stay for the full day.

The school has 2 teachers and no aides/assistants.

[smirlynwittles]

My daughter's school is more like a one room school house. There are 30 3-5 year olds and 8 toddlers. The toddlers are in a special toddler area of the room during the core hours. I'd say less than half of the kids are full-day.

There are 2 teachers for the toddlers and more for the preschoolers.

[butternut]

At our first M-preschool (a private parent coop), there were 20 children ages 2.5-5 with 2 fulltime Montessori accredited staff and a cook/cleaner. Most went from 8.30 am to 1:30 pm, 4 - 5 days a week. A few had childcare until 4.30 pm.
At our second M-preschool (a public), there were 22 children ages 3 - 5 with 3 Montessori staff. The school is open from 7 am to 5 pm, with children's hours ranging from 15 per week to more than fulltime. Most about 25 hours per week. They have the morning work session, and mostly are outdoors for the afternoon although the program is considered Montessori all the time.
(I should note that preschool is a very different concept here in Sweden as there are very very few SAHM with children over the age of 2. Almost all children over the age of 2 go to some childcare or preschool. On the other hand, you cannot get any childcare for children under the age of around 1 1/2 as all parents are home with their babies with a generous maternity/paternity leave of absence.)
My sons are in M-grade school. Their school hours are flex start 7.45- 8:15 am and they finish at about 1:30 or 2 pm. They have childcare available at the school in the same rooms and with some of the same teachers from 7 am to 5:15 pm. Mine go until after snack most days--about 3 pm.
Edited to add the teacher ratios:
The k-1 class has 38 students with three fulltime Montessori teachers, two part-time aids (who then stay on for afterschool care) and two personal aides for 2 children with downs syndrome.
The 2-3 class has 40 students with two fulltime Montessori teachers, two aides who run the afterschool care, and two personal aides for 2 children with downs syndrome. We feel like there are a LOT of teachers at our school!

[addax]

The two Montessoris we looked at but didn't choose had 22 children 3-6 in a large room with a Montessori accredited teacher and a teacher's assistant (M teacher in training). The school we chose has 11-12 kids 2-5 with an M accredited teacher and a teacher's assistant (with a mainstream teaching qualification). In two adjoining rooms with a large outside play area.

[mom2a2z]

Our elementary school has 3 classrooms with grades 1-3, each with about 20-25 kids in them. They have a teacher and an assistant teacher in there full time and also various parent volunteers throughout the day. They take the kids out in small groups 6-8 for Spanish, music and art. Art is sometimes done in the classroom, though.
Ds just moved up to the upper elementary, grades 4-6. There are 2 of those classrooms. His classroom has 20 kids. As with the lower elementary, they have a teacher and an assistant teacher in there full time and also various parent volunteers throughout the day.
Our school also has a middle school, grades 7-8, I'm not sure how many kids are in it or the teacher ratios. They do have quite a few teachers who specialize in specific subjects at the middle school level. I think there are also two teachers there full time. One of them is also the principal, our school has a teaching principal.