//BIGGIE
Chaos... in kindergarten? I
BY ETHAN MAGNES
ethanmagnes@csdecatur.net
magine Decatur infested with millions of five-year-olds. Picture them climbing the rooftops of busy buildings, chasing each other throughout the Decatur square and jumping on the tables at Chick-Fil-A. Most kindergarten teachers throughout Decatur schools may feel as if young kindergartners are taking over their world. Working as a full time kindergarten
teacher is already an overwhelming job. Adding five more students to your class for the rest of your teaching career is a nightmare. Teachers in Decatur may have to start planning for an over- populated environment. Higher grade levels may need to buckle down for a population growth when the current kindergartners graduate to their level. School population has increased in
recent years. Fourth graders in Decatur added an extra 40 students between the end of last school year and the first day this year. Fifth grade has also expanded by 21 percent. Kindergarten made the biggest population jump out of all the grade levels.Te total number of children this year was 68 more than
20 CARPE DIEM • OCTOBER 2011
estimated. Tis made them the most populated grade level in all of Decatur schools, with a total population of 352 students. By Georgia law, children are not re-
quired to go to school until kindergar- ten. For many kindergartners, it is the first opportunity for formal education. With expanded classes, there are more students with little or no school experi- ence who need extra attention. Tat is hard for both kindergarten teachers and paraprofessionals to handle. Te City Schools of Decatur (CSD)
has over 3,200 students total. Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) is a measure- ment of a school’s performance ac- cording to standardized test results. Decatur is one of the few elite school districts where all the schools met AYP last year. Te rise in success throughout Decatur schools has increased enroll- ment in CSD. Te school board is trying their best to cope with the rising population. “Our information shows us that many of the new students come from out of state or even out of country,” Superintendent Phyllis Edwards said. “Some are com- ing from private schools and some from surrounding areas. We are conducting a
CSD’s expansion becomes overwhelming
thorough review to ensure that families actually live within the city limits and meet the residency requirements.” Even though the kindergarten population has increased more than projected, the population jump is a good sign for Decatur schools. “I think that it’s a positive thing to say about City Schools of Decatur. If we’re this full, then it means that families believe in our school system,” Brooke Nation said, a kindergarten teacher at Claire- mont Elementary School. When Nation started teaching six
years ago, she had 17 kids in her class. “Te more kids you have, the more you struggle to meet each kid’s individual needs. Because there are so many of them in there, it’s difficult,” she said. Nation has a crowded class of 23 this year. Her one class is only a speck in the 352 kindergarteners throughout four elementary schools in Decatur. Nation is not the only teacher with
extra five-year-olds darting between desks every morning. Her colleague, Stephanie Trauner, is another one of the four kindergarten teachers at Clairemont. Not only is she a former elementary school teacher for many Renfroe and Decatur students, she is a
Photo by Ethan Magnes
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48