Class sizes at Hawley Road average 27 to 30, said Principal Bob Helminiak. Federal guidelines suggest a class size of 18. Helminiak said Hawley Road received a grant that allowed the school to shrink the size of 1st-grade classes to 18. On the positive side, he said, the K-5 school is so crowded because parents and students want to be there. Parental involvement is a key reason that the school is able to overcome the obstacle of large class sizes.
Parents support the school's expectation of high academic achievement.
Helminiak said only about 40 of the school's 330 students live in the neighborhood where the school is located. The rest are bused in from neighborhoods throughout the city. That's not just lip service, said Helminiak. We run a very orderly school, with rules established partly by the kids. There's no dress code.