Personally, I love having full day Kindergarten at the home (local district) elementary school. Learning from the older kids and meeting more families in the neighborhood is important. Space has been an issue for some time in all elementary grades; let’s not have the youngest lose out on a great opportunity. Whether we expand schools or redistrict, it is time to get some folks working on a solution instead of uncertainty each year.

Can you give more information on "Monatiquot could open up next September if the Montessori School, in the last year of its contract there, puts in a long-term bid to lease Eldridge School." pleasssseeee

I think first and foremost, the construction of all these condo's/apartments needs to stop. At any given time there are about 100 houses for sale in Braintree, we don't need more! My husband has always lived in Braintree, we have been in our neighborhood for 14 years ( and we are the newbies!) I will not support redistricting (not that it will matter) we chose this area to be in the schools we wanted our kids to attend. How can you take kids that have been in a school for years, pull them out and send them somewhere else, for no fault of their own? Put an end to all the building and maybe you will see the numbers level off.

Hi Abdul,

This option is still in the preliminary stage. If Montessori goes with a 10-year lease at Eldridge, they would leave Monatiquot, where they currently take up about half the space. That would, potentially, leave space for kindergarten classrooms for students from areas throughout town at Monatiquot. Some committee members and parents have pushed for that option for a long time, saying it would provide more space at the elementary schools and more full-day kindergarten slots. Dr. Kurzberg has cautioned that the Monatiquot option would add costs to the district because of transportation and staffing, and because the department could no longer lease that space to another organization.

More on the Eldridge lease can be found here: http://braintree.patch.com/articles/eldridge-lease-could-help-relieve-elementary-school-overcrowding

And if you search "full-day kindergarten" in our search bar at the top of the page, we have many articles going back to 2010 on the subject. Hope that helps!

It is absurd after, going on 3 years, some children still have to depend on a lottery for a space in full day kindergarten. Isn't the town past verifying if there is "enough interest". At this point it is the responisibilty of the town to see to it that this is offered to every child whose parent feels it a neccesary part of their child's foundation.

Laura Burton. You don't want any more homes or condo's built in Braintree. Where is the money going to come from to re due some of the schools so more kids can go to full time kindergarten? The money collected from property taxes could go to this project. Maybe if the town also sold the empty buildings around town ie the old water dept building on Washington Street then that money would be used also.

Matt, I would rather see my taxes go up to pay for it!! I have four kids in the school system, and when you hear people say ( including school committee members) that they are bursting at the seems, that is an understatement, bringing more children into an already overcrowded school system is not the answer

...

So how many children are in your kids class?

All the classes average 22-25 kids

Nothing wrong with that amount. When your kid goes on to college class sizes are bigger then that. A college lecture hall could have 300 to 400 students.

I don't know anyone who is happy with class sizes in themid to high 20's, If you were to review just about any of the recent school committee meetings, you will see parents there begging and pleading for more teachers/smaller classes. By the time they get to college, hopefully they will have a better attention span than what most elementary age children have!!!! (LOL)

Paula
This year 25 is acceptable and next year 30. What do the children think? Why don't you student representatives at these meetings? Are we really comparing a 20 year old college student to 6 or 7 year old now? Attention span, brain development, maturity
And consistency are key factors in a child's ability to learn! Let's be consistent of what we want and expect of Braintree's school children.

First, comparing elementary school education to college lecture halls is ludicrous. Having class sizes that exceed 20-25 students is excessive for elementary school age children. These are the years that set the foundation for their education and we are failing the kids if we allow larger classes with less individual attention. Second, let's take a hard look at the existing space in the schools. Liberty, for instance, has their computer lab in half of the cafeteria. Their “library” consists of a cart that rolls from room to room. They aren’t even allowed to take books out. If you compare the average expenditure per student to cities and towns across the state, Braintree is near the bottom. Some would argue that we are being more efficient but when you have lack of resources or poor resources as noted above, you have to wonder if we’re not short changing our children. While my children have done well, it has been as much or more about the at home education my wife provides than what the opportunities they have received in school. I truly think that the teachers are doing the best they can but are handcuffed by the

And by the time they get to college if they don't have a better attention span and they have not developed important social skills then what? And you really think everyone in this town would be willing to pay more taxes to re due schools for smaller classes? There is another answer to this problem. Private schools or even home schooling.But higher taxes is not the answer.