Grouping Guidelines for Youth
Mark the blanks to rate your present grouping for youth.
E= Excellent
S= Satisfactorily Doing Now
I= Improvement Needed
N= Need to Start
A new class or department should be formed whenever an existing department approaches maximum group size and/or room capacity.
The maximum group size assumes that a room is large enough to accommodate that number of young people and that enough teachers and leaders are involved to maintain effective teacher-to-learner ratios. If the ratio of teens to teachers is higher than the number listed, the maximum group size should decrease in proportion. When the maximum group size is exceeded, the leader can no longer be personally involved with all learners. Even if there are enough adults to maintain the teacher-to-learner ratio, each additional teacher makes the logistics of training and guiding staff increasingly complex, further reducing the leader’s time spent with learners.
| Youth |
Maximum Group Size |
Teacher: Learner Ratio |
| _____ 1. Grades 6-12 |
30-40 |
1:8 |
As Your Youth Division Grows
| # of Youth |
Grouping |
Staff |
| 1-10 |
One Class Grades 6 or 7-12 |
One or Two Teachers |
| 8-80 |
Two Departments/Classes Grades 6 or 7-8 or 9 Grades 9 or 10-12 |
Two Leaders Two to Eight Teachers |
| 60-120 |
Three Departments/Classes Grades 6 or 7-8 Grades 9-10 Grades 11-12 |
Five to Twelve Teachers Three Leaders |
| 100-200 |
Four or Five Departments Grade 6 and/or 7 Grade 8 Grade 9 Grade 10 Grades 11-12 |
Four or Five Leaders Eight to Twenty Teachers |
Sixth and ninth graders should usually be grouped at church as they are in your local schools. If most of your ninth graders attend high school, group them with the high schoolers. But if most of them are in junior high, that’s where they should be in your church.
The above numbers are based on a balanced program in which a youth leader or skilled volunteer leads parts of the session in a large group, and other parts of the session involve small groups (up to eight per group), with a leader available for each group.
©2003 Gospel Publishing House, Springfield, MO. Permission to duplicate for local church use only. Wes Haystead, author of The 21st Century Sunday School, is also co-author, with his wife Sheryl, of How to Have a Great Sunday School, available from Gospel Publishing House.
