News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sisters Elementary School principal Tim Comfort and his staff are trying to figure out what to do with a suddenly booming population of kindergartners.
There are 67 students enrolled as of this month, according to Comfort, up from 57 last year at this time.
"It looks like we've rebounded from our low of 45 two years ago," Comfort noted.
The jump in kindergarten enrollment has placed a strain on class sizes, Comfort said.
"I have kindergarten classes with an average of 22 students," he said.
Optimum class size for the age group is 18 or 19 students, according to Comfort. Educators don't like to see class size creep over 20, because it cuts down on teachers' individual interaction with students.
Comfort and his staff are reviewing options for dealing with the burgeoning population - including creating a combined kindergarten/first grade class.
That option has the benefit of knocking all affected classes down to 19 students, but it would require hiring another teacher. If the school takes that route, the new class would start when students return from their holiday break on January 4, 2000.
The school staff must decide whether students would benefit from the change or if it would create too much disruption in the middle of the school year.
If the staff decides mixed classes are feasible, parents and children will be asked if they're willing to make the change.
"The judgment criteria will be if I have two or three children in each class willing to move," Comfort said.
A combined class would run the full school day, Comfort noted. Families of kindergartners who switch to the combined class would have to pay the $200 per month tuition currently paid by families of students in full-day kindergarten.
Reduced tuition costs are possible based on qualification for federal lunch programs.
If a combined K/1 class proves unfeasible, the school may continue on with large classes. Comfort may seek to bring full-time classroom aides on board to increase individual attention to students. Kindergarten classes are currently served by part-time aides.
The combined class is considered a one-year response to the population jump, Comfort said, but it could become a permanent feature if the population continues to grow.
Enrollment may continue to climb as families move into new subdivisions in Sisters. According to Comfort, the growth in the school population this year has come from families who moved into the area within the last four months.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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