Published: September 01, 2008 10:37 pm         

McKinley Elementary deals with overcrowding in 1st grade

Whether it’s a result of the baby boom, whether it’s “ice storm babies” or whether it’s some other cause, the fact of the matter is Enid has a lot of first-graders.

Elementary schools across the district are dealing with crowded classrooms in not only first grade, but kindergarten and second grade as well.

The kindergarten, first- and second-grade classes in Enid currently have over 500 students each, said Enid Public Schools Superintendent Shawn Hime.

McKinley Elementary School has been able to juggle resources and come up with a solution to its crowded first- grade class.

What was once a teacher workroom, or more commonly known as the “teachers’ lounge,” currently is being converted into a first-grade classroom. The teacher workroom has been moved to the basement of the building.

First-grade students will be pulled from the two existing first-grade classes, creating a third class of 19 students, which will be taught by Donna Pryor.

When the transition is complete, McKinley will have three first-grade classes of 19 students each, providing more students do not arrive.

“Sometimes we don’t get all of our students until after Labor Day,” said Hime.

It was feared the first-grade students would not adjust easily to their new class and new teacher so soon after the start of the school year, but McKinley Principal Jan Robinson said the teachers and students, as well as the parents, have been informed about the situation and everyone is on board.

“(The teachers’) approach (with the students) is, ‘Some of you get to go on an adventure,’” said Robinson.

The teachers explained to the students a new space was being prepared for a new class to come together and some students will go to the new class and some will stay in the old class.

Adams Elementary School also added an additional first-grade class by utilizing an empty room and many kindergarten classrooms will be adding teacher assistants to help aid the teachers with their crowded classrooms.

Teacher assistants will be added to kindergarten classes at Eisenhower, Garfield, Hayes, Hoover and McKinley elementary schools.

While there is no official explanation to the sudden growth of the kindergarten, first- and second-grade classes, Hime said Enid is growing and that only fuels the growth.

“A lot of it is the growth of Enid,” said Hime. “It seems like we have a lot of workers with young children coming to town.”

Although space may be tight, Enid Public Schools is glad to see so many children at school and it is willing to find ways to make space for the students.

“We’re happy to have them,” said Hime. “We’re committed to keeping our class sizes as low as possible.”

Enid Public Schools enrollment is up a total of 59 students from last year. Elementary enrollment is up by 146 students.