How many kids in Irvine classrooms?

D

Dinofan

New member
I think we are very close to deciding to live in Westpark II, which would mean the kids would attend Plaza Vista K-8. Does anyone know how many students they have in classrooms at the elementary level? On greatschools.org I see the student:teacher ratio as 25:1 in most schools. Seems like a lot, in FL by law it cannot exceed 18. The elementary schools in Irvine seem to be small population wise (500-600), but many students in one class (by contrast, in a good elem. school here you can have 1000-1200 students, but only 18 in a class, which means more classes and of course more teachers).
Also, why are some elementary schools closed to mid-year enrollment, even if you live in the attendance area (I saw this on the iusd website). If we decide to move mid-year, and I find the perfect house right by the school, does that mean I may not be able to attend that school?

TIA for clarifying.
 
1. Just FYI, Plaza Vista is a year-round school... some people prefer that, others don't.

2. You should check with the school in question directly about mid-year enrollment... what is on the website may not accurately reflect the school's policy.

3. Class sizes are actually pretty large in IUSD... I think ours is 28 kids... that is something you can ask the school also.

Good luck and please let us know what you find out.
 
Thanks.
I do know about the year round thing. I think I like the idea. Summer weather in irvine is pretty nice, not like in Miami for example, so we don't need to go away for two months.
28 seems very crowded! As long as the kids are nice, and the teachers manage, I guess that's ok too.
I will check with the school, and let you know.
 
My wife teaches elementary (not in Irvine) and has had her class size increased from 20 students three years ago, to 28 students today.  This is due to state budget cuts with the class size increasing by 2-3 students for each of the past three years.  Her perspective is that the high achieving students will always succeed regardless of the higher ratio, but that the lower achieving students are impacted the most.  In a class size of 20, it's much easier to provide the individualized attention they need, but with 28 she says some kids have no chance of catching up and will be left behind.  She teaches in a lower income area with 50% ESL students so this may be more of an issue than in Irvine.
 
Right, I forgot about that, I stay at home, so the longer the kids' vacation, the more work for me! Dh works in education, so summers are pretty flexible for us.
I really like the Plaza Vista website, I've learned a lot about the school just by checking out the different links they have. For instance, at different grade levels, the teachers give a brief description of themselves, I find that very nice, kind of get to know them before you even enroll.
Also, the k-8 thing works out perfectly for me, with three kids, I only have one school to worry about for many years.
 
So by increasing the class sizes, does that mean they've had to fire teachers the last couple of years? I guess thing are worse in CA than in FL.
Don't the generous donations by TIC and other companies fill the holes? Or are those aimed basically at specials like music, art etc? If I had a choice, I'd rather put more money in securing smaller class sizes, and cut out the specials, that parents can supplement after school at their own cost. And as far as specials, I'd focus on the ones that I'm interested in. For instance, my son has zero talent at art, but he loves music, so why waste two hours a week drawing, when he could learn an instrument. Am I correct?
 
Her district has had to pink-slip teachers, although it has been minimized to some extent by retiring baby boomers.  Due to the teacher's union, pink slips are prioritized based on tenure.  So the newer of a teacher you are, the higher on the list of pink slip candidates.  They have been downsizing for so long that it is now up to 7 years tenure with the district that you can be pink-slipped.  My wife has been at her job 13 years so she is still ok, but who would have ever thought that things would get to this point?

Also, regarding music and art... they have been phased out, not so much due to the budget, but rather because of the intense pressure to score well on state testing.  There's not much room for things like fun & creativity when 97% of your time has to be spent on test prep.  Her school received a distinguished school award a couple years ago, but then the scores dropped the following year and they were at risk of being taken over by the state.  The scores were still high mind you, just a tad below where they were they year before.  The way the law is written, this can lead to a state takeover without improvement. 

The education bureaucracy in California is insane.
 
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