HELP! I need a school that will have small classrooms, 20 or less...

for a child going into 4th grade. We are in the South Bay. My son has ADHD and an IEP, but he will be swallowed up in the larger size classes that start in 4th grade! I am panicking!

Parent Answers to "HELP! I need a school that will have small classrooms, 20 or less..."

View 6 answers: Newest-Oldest, Oldest-Newest
Display all answers

The only thing I could suggest for a smaller class is to request LD classes or BD classes (learning disorder or behavior disorder). They're generally smaller classes. But even then you have to keep in mind that the school is only so big, and they only have so many teachers. If they have a lot of kids in LD or BD then once again the class will be huge.

Now there was a year when my children were having trouble with their teachers. For my daughter, her teacher didn't want to slow her roll to answer questions. My daughter would have a question about the work to be done and she would raise her hand and the teacher would just ignore her. And for my son, she just didn't want to be bothered to teach him anything because he gives up to easy. If he can't learn something perfectly on the first try, he won't try again. Rather than trying to encourage him, she just wanted to complain about him. So I pulled my kids out of school that year and home schooled them.

On the upside of this....I got full control of what my children learned and how they learned it. The class size was three because I was teaching my other daughter the things she would need to know for kindergarten. I also had full control of field trips and when the day began and when it ended. As a result, between Barnes & Nobel (thanks to them for the home school discount) and the internet, my kids got a really great education that year and they had a lot of fun doing it. I only put them back in public school so I could back to work on days. If you have the time, and you have the patience...that might be one route to go.

Does the IEP states what kind of classroom your child will attend for 4th grade? ADHD kids usually have two options in LAUSD : Special day class for kids with learning disabilities and general education class. Special day class is small and can not exceed 10 students. If it fits to your child needs I need to know if you signed the IEP which put your child in a big classroom.The answer to this question can help me to give you suggestion what to do next.

I agree. Your best chance is at a private school. Public schools have a teacher to student ratio of 23 at the least.
Also Charter schools might be another avenue you might want to take.
Good luck

Hello, you might want to try looking into charter schools. They are free public schools, but some of them mandate smaller class sizes as part of their charter, although most have already had their enrollment lotteries by now.

If you're considering private schools, here's a list of schools around the country that specialize in kids with ADHD and/or LDs': community.greatschools.net/groups/11554/discussion/152556

1 2 Next >

Any contributed content above is the subjective opinion of that member or external author, and not of GreatSchools. GreatSchools does not check for accuracy in community posts or verify the contributor’s identity. If you are searching for health-related advice we strongly suggest you seek professional medical support. View our Community Guidelines for more details.

Local Q&A

Top cities

Los Angeles	Phoenix
Houston	San Diego
Chicago	Dallas
San Jose	San Antonio
New York	Miami

Browse questions about

Local Q&A is brand new! What do you think? Give us your feedback in our feedback forum.