(STORY IMAGE:KHQ.COM)
SPOKANE, Wash. -Only a couple of weeks into the school year and a south hill elementary school is already dealing with the challenge of too many kids.
Mullan Road Elementary School principal Mike McGinnis said they are doing everything they can to not disrupted the students ability to learn.
The elementary school is dealing with explosive growth. Much more than administrators expected: 671 students.
"This year has again been a little bit more of a challenge." McGinnis said.
McGinnis, sent a letter to parents and families who attend Mullan Road. He said that while they have been anticipating growth, “Between the time that our office opened here, and when we opened school, we ended up with a considerable number of new enrollments."
So what does this mean exactly?
Larger class sizes. Right now at Mullan Road, the average class size is 25 students. But those numbers are up and there are between 27 and 28 kids per class. When it comes to higher grades, they are seeing an average size of 28 kids per class. They've already added eight more classrooms to support the larger numbers of students.
As a parent and a teacher herself, Jennifer Duggan likes having smaller classes sizes. Her daughter, who attends Mullan Road. only has 21 classmates in her class. “For me it kind of gives me more one on one time with my kids.”
A smaller class size lets Jennifer focus on her students with more one on one time allowing the students to receive the attention that they need.
"I'm all for that because I know my kid will get more time," said Jennifer.
Right now Principal McGinnis is exploring options which would include grouping grades together to create more space.
"We've come to a point where we are going to have to look for additional solutions," he said.