Class Placement Policy

Because we are a very small school with only six classrooms, we are limited in the structure of our classes.  Each year, we will have two or more mixed-age classes. When we place children in mixed-age classrooms, we do not divide them up into “high” and “low”, as we want each grade level group in each class to be a balanced mix of students.  For instance, if your child is a 4th grader in a 3rd/4th grade class, that does not mean that your child is academically low.  Our teachers are experts at differentiating instruction, and they will provide all students with appropriate and challenging instruction no matter what the composition of the class.  In fact, many of our teachers prefer mixed grade classes as it forces them to really consider each individual’s needs and design instruction appropriately.  Many hours are spent carefully constructing the classes, and multiple factors are considered in the placement of students. Among those factors are:

• Overall academic achievement for balanced classes
• Opportunities to develop leadership skills.
• Balanced girl/boy ratio (when possible)
• Placing children with special needs in classes where they will have the best opportunity to succeed in the least restrictive environment. 
• Reading, Language Arts, and Math Levels: Reading, writing, and math are key elements for success in school. Efforts are made to balance classes so that each teacher has students with appropriate ranges of reading, language arts, and math levels.
• Teacher/student personalities: The faculty understands each individual student’s preferred learning style and how they as educators can create the best conditions for maximizing student learning. Although we often only have one teacher for each grade level, when possible, efforts are made to place students with teachers with whom they will be most successful.