| Posted By |
Message |
Mago
LIF Infant
Member since 5/14 233 total posts
Name:
|
Xpost: School districts - pros/cons small vs large
We're not in the school system yet and I'm not familiar with the school system on LI. What are the pros and cons of a small vs a large school district? Please share all sides.
Feel free to FM. Thanks!
link to post
|
Posted 3/15/18 2:43 PM  |
| |
|
Long Island Weddings
Long Island's Largest Bridal Resource |
lululu
LIF Adult
Member since 7/05 9511 total posts
Name:
|
Re: Xpost: School districts - pros/cons small vs large
I think you have to look at each district individually. There are some large districts that have tons of small schools and some small districts that have just a few large schools. And vice versa. It all depends on the district. I live in a small district with a few really large schools. I like it so far. Even though my kids' elementary school has close to 1,000 students it still has a small school feel. Maybe because it's a small town... My point is, I don't think you can judge a district by size alone as there are too many other factors.
|
| Posted 3/15/18 8:00 PM |
| |
|
PitterPatter11
Baby Boy is Here!
Member since 5/11 7632 total posts
Name:
Momma <3
|
Xpost: School districts - pros/cons small vs large
I have worked at a rural school, large suburban school, mid size suburban school, and a city school. My favorite - by far - was the mid size school. There was such a sense of community. I currently work in a school with a graduating class or well over 500 and it does not have the same feel. I also think it is easier to get lost in the cracks. Very small schools - like the rural school I worked for - often do not have the means that larger schools have meaning less services and opportunities available.
|
| Posted 3/15/18 8:26 PM |
| |
|
lightblue
LIF Adult
Member since 1/17 2249 total posts
Name:
|
Re: Xpost: School districts - pros/cons small vs large
I am in a small district but we bought before having kids- my son ended up having special needs and therefore needs to utilize the special education services through the district. Had I known I would have bought in a larger district that has more resources (money to spend on programs).
|
| Posted 3/16/18 9:56 AM |
| |
|
LSP2005
Bunny kisses are so cute!
Member since 5/05 19461 total posts
Name:
L
|
Re: Xpost: School districts - pros/cons small vs large
I live in NJ in a large district with a lot of schools. We have four elementary schools and there is a great sense of community within each elementary school. Our district offers amazing services. There are eight different types of special education classes per grade (some are offered at different elementary schools within the district but there are multiple levels of inclusion to self contained). The average mainstream class has 21 children per class and self contained classes are on a four or five to one basis. The middle school offers over thirty different club activities, including access to 3D printers, wood working, kitchens, washers and dryers, engineering, arts, music, trips, etc. I grew up in a really small school district with 100 kids per grade. Our district has about 300 to 400 kids per grade at the high school level. I think our school has just as much community as my small district did, but we have a ton more resources because of the much larger tax base, it is nearly 10x the size of where I grew up on LI.
So even though we are in a large district each elementary school has about 600 to 700 students. There are small school districts with 1000 students in their one school. I think you need to look at each district individually.
Message edited 3/16/2018 10:09:45 AM.
|
| Posted 3/16/18 10:06 AM |
| |
|
|
|
Re: Xpost: School districts - pros/cons small vs large
Posted by lululu
I think you have to look at each district individually. There are some large districts that have tons of small schools and some small districts that have just a few large schools. And vice versa. It all depends on the district. I live in a small district with a few really large schools. I like it so far. Even though my kids' elementary school has close to 1,000 students it still has a small school feel. Maybe because it's a small town... My point is, I don't think you can judge a district by size alone as there are too many other factors.
I agree with this. A large district may have large schools, small schools, or both. I live in N. Bellmore SD... we have 5 elementary schools. Some are big -- my son goes to the largest with 760 kids, grades K through 6 -- and some are under 300 kids. My son's school has 5 sections per grade, other elementary schools within the district have 2 sections per grade (although class sizes are pretty consistent across the board).
Also, some small school districts are on the Princeton plan, which may be more sections per grade in a building. Bellmore school district is smaller than N. Bellmore, and they operate on the Princeton plan. They have a K through 2 school, an intermediate school for grades 3-4, and then an upper grades (5-6) school. But I know they have 7-8 sections per grade level, which is more than at my son's large school.
I'm glad my son goes to a large school... I like him to be with a mix of kids and there are a lot of resources/support (our elementary school is the only one with an Asst Principal as well as a principal, for example).
Aside from what the school offers, our larger school has a very active PTA, with more parent volunteers to draw from.
Some of the downsides are, given the number of students, it's hard to do some programs that would work in a smaller school. The smaller elementary schools in my district have a school-wide talent show, for example. We only do a 6th grade talent show... we just couldn't do it across the board with the number of students we have. I book all of the assemblies for our school, and some programs won't work if they are more hands on or require smaller audience sizes. Drop off/pick up tends to be more hectic at a larger school.
To me, those are minor tradeoffs.
But in evaluating a school district, I'd definitely look deeper than size and look at the particular school(s) you are zoned for, see what they offer and how it matches up with what you want.
|
| Posted 3/16/18 11:27 AM |
| |
|
Aries14
Can't plan life...
Member since 8/08 2860 total posts
Name:
|
Re: Xpost: School districts - pros/cons small vs large
Posted by lightblue
I am in a small district but we bought before having kids- my son ended up having special needs and therefore needs to utilize the special education services through the district. Had I known I would have bought in a larger district that has more resources (money to spend on programs).
and see, I have have the opposite view on this. My dd also has special needs and I feel like I have gotten so much more and without a fight than my friends in bigger districts. I have actually felt so relieved we ended up in the smaller district because so many people in bigger districts have to send their kids to different elementary schools (within the district, just not their "home" school) bc that's where the district decided to have the special ed class that year. and it changes from year to year! We only have one elementary school so I don't have to worry about her always having to switch schools. I always hear people say that small district have a "lack of services" - I can say I have not experienced that at all in my small district. Of course that is just MY experience.
|
| Posted 3/16/18 1:58 PM |
| |
|
TTCwithHope
LIF Infant
Member since 4/10 297 total posts
Name:
M
|
Re: Xpost: School districts - pros/cons small vs large
....
Message edited 6/4/2019 8:38:04 PM.
|
| Posted 3/16/18 2:52 PM |
| |
|
BargainMama
LIF Adult
Member since 5/09 15660 total posts
Name:
|
Re: Xpost: School districts - pros/cons small vs large
We are in a small district. 2 K-2, 2 3-5, 1 junior high and 1 high school. My son's graduating class had about 250 kids in it. There are things our district doesn't have that larger ones have. Science Fair and Spelling Bee, Swimming (no pool) are some that I can think of off hand. We do have great special education programs IMO. We came from a huge district to this one many years ago. They would not give my son an aide at the huge district, and we had no problem in this district. I guess it just depends on your needs. I would look at the actual districts and their reputations vs. how big or small they are though.
|
| Posted 3/16/18 3:12 PM |
| |
|
ChristinaM128
LIF Adult
Member since 8/12 4043 total posts
Name:
Christina
|
Re: Xpost: School districts - pros/cons small vs large
It depends what you are looking for. We are in a small overall school district per se, but zoned for its largest elementary school, with 5 classes per grade. We are putting dd in a cathiolic school with just 1-2 classes per grade because she is highly reserved and our gut is that she can’t handle such a large scale. At least until she’s a little bit older, then we will see. It all depends on your child and their needs. We also like the very tight knit community that we won’t get in a building with 750 students.
|
| Posted 3/16/18 6:44 PM |
| |
|
