District: All Elementary School Sections Meet Class Size Guidelines for 2017-18 Academic Year

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New Canaan Public Schools will see 4,247 students attend kindergarten through twelfth grade for the academic year that starts next Wednesday, officials said this week—just four more than projected.

In addition, due largely to continuous enrollment monitoring and attendant hiring by district administrators, the class sizes of each section within the town’s elementary schools will come within Board of Education guidelines, according to Director of Human Resources Gary Kass.

“We have been monitoring the enrollment very closely over the summer, meeting weekly just to try to keep track of who is moving in and who is moving out, and we have made some changes to our original staffing so we ended up adding teachers to achieve these class size numbers,” Kass said at the Board of Ed’s meeting on Monday night, held in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School.

“Back on May 31st, for example, we added a kindergarten section at East. In July, we added three sections—fourth grade at East, second and third grade at South School—and just recently, at the end of July, we added a kindergarten at South. So we have added those sections. We are still two full teachers below at the elementary level from last year.”

Here’s a look at overall enrollment projections for the upcoming academic year:

NCPS Enrollment Projections 2017-18

Level2017-18 EnrollmentEnrollment Projection 2017-18Difference
Total4,2474,243+4
K-41,5751,595-20
5-81,3451,339+6
9-121,3271,309+18
Source: New England School Development Council, as per NCPS

 

School board members commended the administration for its work in hiring new NCPS teachers and staff, and asked what are the hardest positions to fill (math is a tough one) and whether the large rising NCHS freshman class presents creates any specific pressures for the district (the school has planned for the grade).

Board of Ed Chair Dionna Carlson asked about an anomaly in the projections, where the third grade class is coming in 22 students fewer than NESDEC anticipated. Based on last year’s second-grade students, the district anticipates 329 third-graders, compared to NESDEC’s projection of 351.

“I am seeing more of a shift this year than I have seen in grades we traditionally can predict,” Carlson said. “Usually I have seen the big variance in kindergarten. My question is: What are you seeing with the third grade class. Are we having move-outs?”

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi noted that the district hasn’t dropped 22 students—rather, “we just didn’t have the influx that we generally do, according to the projection.”

“So the projection had us going up from 338 to 352 and what actually happened was we went from 338 to 329, so we lost a few, but it’s just that we didn’t pick up as many as the projection had us.”

Luizzi said it’s possible that New Canaan had families moving into town with young kids who just happen to be in grades other than the third, meaning they’re adding bodies to the district in other grades.

Here’s a look at projected class sizes for each of New Canaan’s three public elementary schools:

East School: Class Size Projections, 2017-18

GradeTotalSections 2016-17Sections 2017-18Average Class Size
Total5342928
K976519.4
11176619.5
21066617.7
31145619.0
41006520.0
NCPS Class Size Guidelines

* K-3: 16 to 20 pupils
* 4-8: 20 to 24 pupils
* 9-12: 14 to 25 pupils

(Source: New Canaan Public Schools)

 

South School: Class Size Projections, 2017-18

GradeTotalSections 2016-17Sections 2017-18Average Class Size
Total5472829
K1065617.7
1996519.8
21136618.8
31116618.5
41185619.7
NCPS Class Size Guidelines

* K-3: 16 to 20 pupils
* 4-8: 20 to 24 pupils
* 9-12: 14 to 25 pupils

(Source: New Canaan Public Schools)

 

West School: Class Size Projections, 2017-18

GradeTotalSections 2016-17Sections 2017-18Average Class Size
Total4542626
K744418.5
1805420.0
2966519.2
31045617.3
41006520.0
NCPS Class Size Guidelines

* K-3: 16 to 20 pupils
* 4-8: 20 to 24 pupils
* 9-12: 14 to 25 pupils

(Source: New Canaan Public Schools)

One thought on “District: All Elementary School Sections Meet Class Size Guidelines for 2017-18 Academic Year

  1. Enrollment = down — Dion Carlson asks a good question
    about 22 less student in the 3rd grade — here another question
    277 students in kindergarten — last 2 classes under projection
    = a elementary system with 1,385 a 190 less students
    granted there will growth each yr in class size by an average of 10 student per yrs — the birth number used by NESDEC were
    144 per yr when the real numbers were 120 per town clerk
    adds up to less not more over time !!!! 21 empty class rooms
    in the elementary system now(per BOE ) — what will it be in 5 yrs

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