division of grades

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division of grades
By Cathy-Dee

I don't have any specific research, just what I've observed.

Quite often and in many areas we see these traditional splits
K to 3 (Division I)
4 to 6 (Division II)
7 to 9 (Division III)
10 to 12 (Division IV)

My
school is a K to 4 school and it works very well. I like having the grade 4's as they are a bit older and can be good examples and buddies for our younger children. They also can help with things like setting up chairs for our assemblies, putting up displays, etc., that the younger children are not as easily able to.
We used to have grades 5 and 6, and it was often very frustrating.

These grades were moved up to our High School because of space problems at our school and the High School created a middle school atmosphere for grades 5, 6, and 7. It has been working well for them too.

In one of our larger towns we have a K to 3 school and a grades 4 to 6 school.
Cons
- younger students do not have the example or help of older students
- older students are nice to have for reading buddies, to help with displays, etc.,
- older students are often better suited for some school duties - or at least partnered with younger students - for example crosswalk patrols.

Pros
- you can plan your activities around these age groups - i.e. grades K to 3 you can do themes and activities that they enjoy and not worry about boring the older kids (and vice versa)
- you can better plan the purchase of resources and equipment to the suit the ages of your students (a K to 3 school for example uses very different physical education equipment compared to a grade 4 to 6 school)
- The general atmosphere of the school is more suited to the students - books in the library, hallway displays, playground,

Personally if there is the possibility I think schools benefit from being split into specific grade levels.