John Glenn School Superintendent Christopher Winchell looked further into the corporation’s Average Daily Membership count and reviewed that with the school board this week.
Previously, Winchell said enrollment increased to 2,006 this year which shows an increase of 46 students this school year. This brings a concern of class sizes to some board members as enrollment continues on an upward trend at John Glenn. Winchell shared what those numbers mean when it comes to class sizes, especially in grades K-6.
“We like to have small class sizes as much as possible,” said Winchell. “We want those kids to be able to have as much one-on-one attention and small group attention from our teachers as we can possibly provide, but at the same token there is a tug-of-war there between providing those great resources to kids verses the revenue we have to cover those expenses.”
In grades K-2, the number of students in each class average about 23 in both the Walkerton Elementary School and North Liberty Elementary School, but Winchell monitors the numbers quite frequently as students may move in and out of the school district.
“We monitor that day-to-day and week-to-week and we’re not afraid to make adjustments if we believe we need to do something of that nature in the best interest of the children.”
Winchell says overall the school board members are pleased with class size for the time being. In the coming years, if enrollment continues to grow, they may consider adding teachers which could lead to expanding the buildings to accommodate the rise in the number of students.
