Multiage Classes Provide Options for Parents

NOTE: This is the second of a two-part series on Bethel Elementary School’s Multiage Program. The period for applications to the program began on Monday and run through March 23.

A visitor to the cannot help but notice the high engagement level of the students, especially considering there are 46 of them in the same room. And they’re nine and ten years old.

But both teachers are quick to credit the learning environment to people who aren’t in the classroom every day—parents.

All the educators interviewed for this article pointed to the traits that are developed in multiage classrooms—leaderships skills, social skills, increased responsibility, and self-pacing, among others. But the educators also emphasized that multiage classrooms are not for everyone.

They are not always right for the student. “We think most children can be successful in multiage,” said Bethel Principal Brenda Byrd, whose own daughter complete the multiage program. “But kids who work independently and don’t like a lot of group work may not be a good fit.”

Having a child in a multiage classroom also may not be right for a parent. Parents are expected to take an active role in their child’s learning, which is not always possible with some work schedules. The parents are encouraged to volunteer as well. “There is no question (having a child in multiage) is a big time commitment,” Richter said.

Richter and Kennedy do what they can to help when a parent cannot devote the necessary time, calling on other relatives to help if necessary.  

If parents are unable to make the time commitment, their philosophical support is still valuable. “Supportive parents are extremely important,” Byrd said. “I would never put a child in the program if the parents did not believe in it.”

Kennedy said academic ability is just one factor that’s considering when selecting students for the program. “We have children of all ability levels in the class,” she said. “This isn’t always a good fit for the higher-level kids.”

A Case Study

One such supportive parent was Holly Snyder. Her daughter Heather was in the first multiage class ever offered in all of Greenville County, taught by Millie Yarborough at Bethel in the late 1990s. Yarborough’s enthusiasm was what made the initial decision easy for Snyder. “She won us over,” Snyder said of Yarborough. “Millie was very devoted to learning and wanted to explore other ways of teaching. We never second-guessed her.”

Snyder said her daughter Heather was quiet and shy in pre-school, but after enrolling in the multiage class she began to open up. “Her confidence built up and she became more social,” Snyder said.

Heather also was in a multiage classroom in grades three and four, which is considered the intermediate program. After she completed grade four, her younger brother George was accepted into the primary program (then K-2, now grades one and two).

Today, Heather is a sophomore at Clemson, majoring in Chemical Engineering, while George is a junior at JL Mann.

Heather says of her multiage experience, ”It helped me be creative and learn how to figure things out for myself.”

Looking back over a decade after her first child started in the multiage classroom, Holly Snyder is a very satisfied parent. “(The children in the class) don’t sit at their desks all day,” she said. “It’s project work and my children loved that.”

Snyder never worried about the large class size either. “Even though there are more than 40 kids in the room, there are two teachers, an aide and often a student-teacher.”

In retrospect, Snyder said, “We were lucky to get in. It was too good to pass up.”

Multiage as a matter of choice

As school choice continues to be a , many public school systems are doing what they can to present options to parents. For Greenville County Schools, the multiage classroom is just one of those options.

“What we’ve done as a district, and what we’re trying to expand on, is to let every school community have something they can use to excite the student and the family about learning,” said Lisa Wells, a member of the Greenville County School Board.

Byrd, Bethel’s principal, believes that multiage is also a way to meet the needs of the larger community. “Business and industry tell us that they are looking for people who can work collaboratively and can problem-solve,” she said. “That’s really the core of what multi-age is about.”

“That’s what I like about how we’ve implemented choice,” Wells said. “The decisions are at the school level by the learning community that is there.”

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