Elementary schools will see smaller class sizes

Noaki Schwartz

COSTA MESA -- Parents know that the more attention their kids get

early on, the better they thrive.

And with the statewide kindergarten class-size reduction program

arriving in Newport-Mesa this year, the district hopes local kids will

have a better shot at academic opportunities later in life.

“Research shows that we need to put a lot of emphasis on kindergarten

through second grade,” said Cheryl Roberts, a kindergarten teacher at

Wilson Elementary, adding that it is during these years that children

must reach certain academic benchmarks such as learning letters and

numbers and understanding shapes.

Three years ago, the state began a jointly funded the program with

local school districts to make classes in kindergarten through third

grade smaller. By reducing classes from 30 children per teacher to 20,

teachers can give more individualized attention to each child.

The idea was to focus on students in their early years in school, in

the hopes that such attention would prepare them to be better students

all the way through school, said acting principal Pam Eastman.

Smaller classes in the primary grades will also benefit teachers who

still labor to control 30 or more students, said Roberts. Ideally,

smaller classes would prevent such huge discrepancies in the upper

elementary grades in math and reading levels.

For example, in one classroom, abilities can range from remedial to

advanced -- from first-grade levels to fifth-grade levels.

Teachers and administrators hope that the new program will help bridge

that gap.

“It gives us the space to really differentiate our program,” Eastman

said. “We’re getting kids individually instructed.”

As a special bonus, for about 40 minutes each day, Wilson and many

other elementary schools will have a ratio of 10 students per teacher.

The school has two kindergarten classes -- one in the morning and one

in the afternoon -- resulting in an overlap of two teachers.

But an unfortunate casualty of the shift in funds is the loss of

teachers’ aids, said Virginia Muschetto, another instructor at the

school.

However, she added that the hope at Wilson Elementary is that

concerned parents will volunteer some of their time to help around the

classroom and make up the difference.