Dear Mrs. Dyson and Dr. Moran,

As parents of incoming kindergartners at Ritchie Park Elementary School (RPES), we are very concerned about the class size for the 2018-19 academic year. It is our understanding that currently two classes have 26 students and one has 27, with possible growth continuing over the course of the school year; the fact that RPES has only three teachers assigned to handle this volume of students is unacceptable.

We are worried about the wonderful staff being able to perform to the best of their best abilities with so many 5-year-olds in one class. The main reason for construction of a new elementary in the Richard Montgomery cluster was to decrease overcrowding, and therefore class size. Large class sizes means teachers can’t devote sufficient resources to each child; children who master material easily will be ignored so the teacher can devote more time to children who require more support.

In addition to the lack of individual attention, there is a safety issue. It is impossible for a teacher to keep track of 26 small children at one time, let alone actually teach them.

Therefore, we implore you to please approve adding a 4th kindergarten teacher at RPES to reduce class size and give our children and the staff the best possible environment to thrive.

Sincerely,

Concerned Parents of the 2018-2019 RPES Kindergarten Class