The Beauty of Mixed-Age Classrooms
By Catherine Roldan, Grades Teacher
Madrona School, Bainbridge Island, Washington
Over the past four years, Madrona School has transitioned from eight single-grade classrooms to a varying number of mixed-age classrooms, depending on enrollment year to year. As a grades teacher, these years have been tremendously rewarding for me. The small class sizes have given me a chance to truly exercise creativity in teaching. I have seen many benefits of having children of multiple grades in one classroom.
Social
I have seen an increase in happiness and camaraderie in all students since we began combining classes. I see third graders playing with first graders (and even kindergarteners) and all the other possible combinations in between. Three years ago, an 8th grader confided in me that they never thought they could be friends with 5th graders, and they were surprised by how effortless (and fun!) it was to have friends in other grades.
Previously, single-aged grades gave the students the idea of “these are your friends, the ones that are your age,” and if there was not a friend for a student, they were often hesitant to branch out to other classes and students despite teacher encouragement. For the kids on the playground, there were phrases like “the third graders are interrupting our game” or “the fifth grade is in our spot”. Teachers allowed competitive sport games that were at times not quite age appropriate for all participants because it was one of the few times that we would see mixed-aged play.
This is not to say that harmonious play was not achievable in the past, but what I have seen with combined classrooms is our strong social education more easily coming to fruition; not over months and years, but immediately within days and weeks.
Academics
Over these four years we have been very creative about when students need to be combined in multi-age classes and when they should be separated into similar academic classes (which often translates to singular grades or ages.) The success of each combined program from year to year has been due to flexibility, honesty, and creativity. We have been wise enough to distinguish when and where teachers are needed and have been able to staff appropriately.
I find that struggling students do not feel as much negative pressure caused by comparing themselves to students in the grade below them and the grade above them. In a mixed-age classroom, there is such a variety of abilities and speed of acquisition, that all learners can feel at ease.
Numbers
There has been speculation about what is the golden number that makes a healthy class. Budget aside, some of my favorite years (even prior to 2020) were with small classes —as small as 6 students. There was a guilty pleasure because we, the teachers, were always striving for the largest class but, the intimate group of 6 had just as many pros, if not more, as the hearty group of 15.
There is a feeling of “what if they don’t get along?”, and a worry that if there are not enough friends to choose from, students will be miserable. I have seen, with as small of a group as 6, that the students find deep connections with each other. In a larger class, to find 6 friends that were very tight knit was rare.
Recently, two parents shared with me that they used to think of phrases like “the class is too small” or “there are not enough social options for my child” and had both wondered where they had gotten that perception in the first place. So far, their children have been thriving in a smaller, tight knit group and they realized any issues their child might be having, would still exist regardless of the numbers; more children wouldn’t solve it.
Heading into the Future
We at Madrona School are committed to welcoming the students that come to us. Currently, we have small classes that are thriving. In the future, we may have larger classes. Regardless of size, we will always find ways to bring the classes or mixed-ages together in creative and social ways while creatively meeting their academic needs.
