OT larger or smaller school?

[stacy6552]

Hey guys. All things being equal, like services, and such, probably even the same class size, which would you choose? 2 schools in the same county with roughly the same family demographic, where would you send your child?

 

[kiddisney]

though every says that w/a larger school you have more options - i find that the personal part of being in a smaller school outweighs the options - and even then - w/more kids some of the options aren't even available -

my kids go to a small school and got to be in plays, sports, and other activities and clubs right from the start where my nephew goes to a school 5x's the size and has to wait until spots become available to join some clubs - and he only gets to play one sport while mine play three -

 

[Aliceacc]

It totally depends on the child.

I taught for 7 years in a school with a student body of under 800. Since 1987 I've taught in a school with a current population of 2550. (Not counting a 6 year stint as a SAHM.)

The small school has its perks: (in my case at least) smaller class size, a closer class, more of a chance for a quiet kid to shine.

The larger school also has its perks: a heterogeneous population, a tremendous list of activities and sports and activities, (we offer something like 91 teams on an assortment of levels!) better facilities-- more options all around. As the previous poster mentioned, there's more competition. But that means that the kids who do make the teams have a better chance of being on a winning team, since they have beaten out so many other kids for the spots on the teams.

I absolutely LOVE the school I'm in right now. But the choice really depends on the child. Visit both schools, get a taste for the philosophy and the atmosphere and that special something that makes the school what it is. Talk to the kids-- about the food in the cafteria, the length of their commute, the cliques, the electives, the class trips the competition, their homeroom teacher-- anything you can think of. Then make your decision.

There is NO one-size-fits-all answer here. You mention "all other things being equal"-- that's the problem. Those other things are the things that matter. It's the individual quirks and incidentals that make each school so special.

 

[Minniemouse07]

My dd (6yo) goes to a very small elementary school in our neighborhood and I LOVE it!

It is only k-3 and has only two classes per grade level...and less than 20 kids in each class!

With less than 200 kids in the entire school it truly is a family atmosphere. Every teacher knows every kid and the principal knows every family (I say family over student because she does... she knows my 2yo son on sight and he knows her!).

Just because it is small doesn't mean it isn't diverse. Dd's class is financially, ethnically and religiously mixed...even w/ the smaller amount of kids.

Her education is first rate. The ability of the teachers to get more one on one time w/ each student allows them to identify issues early and get them taken care of. Even w/ their diverse challenges our school meets their education goals each year.... sometimes when other larger district schools in more affluent neighborhoods don't!

I would go w/ smaller school every time!

 

[DawnM]

I agree....depends on the child.

My older child would do MUCH better in the tiniest school available (currently my home!)

My 2 younger would fit in wherever you put them.

Dawn

 

[summerrluvv]

My son went from a large elementary school (over 1k kids) to a small one recently (about 250 kids?). I prefer the smaller school. The class size is the same for his particular grade level (25 kids). They do more activities, more special events, and everyone is more close knit at the smaller school.

 

[FSUDisneyGirl]

I will definitely look for a smaller school when I have kids...at least for the younger grades. I think it's wonderful when everyone gets to know everyone else! Of course, I also believe it depends on the school. There are great schools both big and small!

 

[rt2dz]

I think it is just a matter or personal preference.

I did both as a kid. The high school I started with was a total of 475-ish kids and the high school where we moved to I had a graduating class of 800-ish kids (and we were the smaller graduating class). I always preferred the larger school myself when I was a kid.

I didn’t like everyone knowing everything; it was nice to make a change or do something without everyone knowing all your past performances or having preconceived notions (especially teachers). And, amazingly, I did know about 75% of my graduating class.

I preferred larger colleges too. There were more opportunities. If one thing wasn't going well, there was something else to try. More opportunity to fit in.

DS7 has 200 kids in his grade. He doesn’t mind it at all. Our friends have a son the same age and there is ~50 kids in his grade. Each school has the same class size, so that isn't an issue. When they do larger activities, the grade levels are just divided up. Half the classes do it on Day 1, the other on Day 2--or an AM/PM switch. Nothing is ever cut out. We do about the same things that the smaller school does. And when we had severe problems with his teacher in K, we had plenty of ways to rectify it. Had we only had 2 K teachers, I'd been in big trouble.

 

[mommy-on-the-move]

I agree, it entirely depends on the child.

All our kids have (or will) go to our most local primary school- eldest daughter we assumed would fit in better there as it's small school, she was a timid child, extremely shy and we thought smaller environment= less chance to be over looked, for middle school we realised the smaller middle school was failing badly so she went from small school (260 kids) to big school (900 kids) and i was petrified- however it's been fabulous for her, the best move we could have made. She has flourished- the larger student body means she isn't such an outsider as there are other unusual children there (she really stood out at her old school as we don't at all match the "norm" ) being a larger school it has a fantastic gifted student program which she was put on immediately (at the other school-although they acknowledged it, it made her a social outcast as she was the only gifted student in her class) she's had the oportunity to enter national writing competitions, national book reviews, she's been in 3 drama productions, she's a distance runner now (where as before she was the non-sporty kid) she's learning to play flute- all things she wouldn't have had the confidence to do in a smaller school as she felt the need to blend & hide, in a bigger school she doesn't find the need to do that.

Eldest son however is a special needs student- he's on the gifted list too but also the special needs register, he has dyspraxia, dysgraphia, is colour vision deficient & is being assessed for the autistic spectrum & a couple of other coordination based needs. He has physio, occupational therapy, will need a scribe in later school... a big middle school isn't going to suit him because I am aware SN students can get lost into the system because in a larger school their underachievement doesn't lead to a big spike in class grades like in a smaller school.

Youngest daughter is a social butterfly- I know she's most likely to chose whichever school the majority of her little group goes to and we'll be happy to support that, I don't like her having to live in her siblings shadow anyway (2 elder siblings on the gifted register is alot of pressure)... youngest son is just learning to walk and talk so time will tell there.

 

[barkley]

i don't think you can get much smaller than my kid's school-grades 1st-8th and a whopping 26 total students (with 2 teachers)

my kids love it but they've never realy known different (at least ds). they both do well and like the fact that they know everyone and everyone knows them. dh on the otherhand went through a small school system (not nearly so small-in the low hundreds) and he detested the fact that there were not more opportunities to make more friends.

i think small schools have advantages-generaly smaller classes so more one on one attention, more opportunities for everyone to be included in any activities offered, often more opportunities to do things because it's more affordable and 'do-able' with less students. the downside is if you have an issue or problem or a teacher just is'nt a 'good fit' with your child there may not be many if any options (and there can be a shortened chain of command such that staff is doing double duty so you can't complain to the principal about the teacher because the principal is the teacher), if you are more of a 'private person' you may not be comfortable with an environment where generaly everyone knows everyone else's buisness AND you may be called on more to help out (smaller parent base=greater demand on existing parents).

i guess my only concern with a small public school would be that in some areas those are the first (and current) ones being closed due to budget issues. i know that in the town we used to live in there are allot of heartbroken families because the smallest school in that district is being closed because it's more cost effective to move those kids into the bigger schools since they can't physicaly increase the numbers they send to the smaller (buildings would have to be added).

 

[HerdOHuds]

When I taught at an elementary school with just one class per grade the great thing was that every teacher really knew every child because we would talk in the lounge at lunch and it created a real family atmosphere. And the bad thing was we would talk in the lounge at lunch and if there was trouble we all knew about it. No secrets at all! So when a class of kids that seemed to grow trouble like mold came through, everyone knew every little moment. And with just one class per grade there was no way to break the group up and mix them with more positive role models.

Then I taught in an elementary school with 4 classes per grade level. I found that to be much better because we could match students and teachers up by learning style.

Guess it depends on the school, from my point of view.

 

[Lucky'sMom]

We moved last fall to get out of a big school district. In our old district, while I was happy enough with the elementary schools, I was not happy with the school system for kids in grade 7 +. It was a huge campus, and our kids were forecasted to graduate in a class of 1000 students. We moved about 10 minutes away to a smaller district. The old distict had 4 elementary schools, in this district all of the kids in each grade are together, and their "graduation class size" is now around 200. It "feels" different here, like the school teachers and staff care more about knowing our family, etc. It's been a great transition, and we are so happy we moved.