Why a class of twelve costs more than a class of twenty-four

The arithmetic a school does not usually publish

A class of twenty-four in the same room with the same teacher for the same hour costs the school almost exactly what a class of twelve costs. So a school that fills the room can charge half as much, and some near here do.

What the other half actually buys: how many times your child is looked at

What you buy with the other half is the number of times your child is looked at. In an hour of ballet with twelve students, each one is corrected by name perhaps six or seven times. With twenty-four in the room it is once or twice, and the class becomes a room with music in it.

The effect that is harder to see: what a teacher remembers

There is a second effect that is harder to see. A teacher with twelve students remembers what she said last week to each of them. At twenty-four she remembers the class. Progress in a technique is almost entirely the accumulation of individual corrections, so the difference compounds over a year.

This is not an argument against a bigger class

We are not going to argue that a bigger class is worthless — a child who loves a large class and is happy is having a fine time. But if you are comparing two prices, that is what the difference is buying, and it is worth knowing before you decide the cheaper school is the same thing for less.