“Classroom creep” is the phenomenon where school administrators feel pressured to increase class sizes in order to increase the funding available to the school. Every student added to a public school classroom brings in approximately $11,000 to the school. It is very easy for school administrators to add “just one or two” more students to a classroom in order to increase the school’s budget. There is an easy justification that one or two students don’t make much of a difference, and the money goes to the greater good of the school.
Accredited independent schools receive approximately $5,000.00 a student from Alberta Education.
At Dominion Academy we feel strongly that smaller classrooms, with a higher teacher to student ratio, results in better student learning. We commit to keeping our classrooms to the following class targets:
| Age/Grade | Student:Teacher Ratio | Max Group Size | Alberta Commission On Learining Recommended Size | Our Targets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3yo | 1:8 | 16 | 15 | |
| 4yo | 1:10 | 20 | 15 | |
| Kindergarten | 17 | 20 | ||
| Grade 1-3 | 17 | 20 | ||
| Grade 4 | 23 | 20 | ||
| Grade 5-6 | 23 | 25 | ||
| Grade 7-9 | 25 | 25 | ||
| Grade 10-12 | 27 | 25 |
Our school culture of Christ-like behaviour, appreciation of culture and beauty, and life long learning is of infinite importance to us. We understand that to have an embedded culture such as this requires students to subscribe to this ideology from an earlier age. We also recognize that this culture takes time to grow. After our initial start up, we do not plan to offer a second class of any grade, other than kindergarten. As these students grow, a second class will be added yearly to accommodate them, allowing our school to grow in an organic way and without overwhelming the dominant culture of the school.
