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My kids' school has split classes at every grade level. There's a 1/5 chance each year the kids will be in the split. I understand the anxiety because I have hoped my kids don't get assigned to that class. However, as far as I can tell the kids handle it very well and it works out similarly to other individualized education (reading groups, etc) you would find in a single grade room. Like most things in life the parents that have been through it aren't nearly as concerned about it as the parents that haven't been through it. I take comfort in that.

I was also in a 1/2/3 split as a 2nd grader and a 2/3 split as a 3rd grader. I should be able to draw from that experience but I don't remember anything about the split so it must not have been to bad.

DS1 was in a split 1/2 class a few years ago. As an advanced (and older) 1st grader, it was great. As we approached 2nd grade, I was a bit worried, as his closest friends were moving to third grade and he’d be so much younger than the new 1st graders. We never actually got to experience it, though, because they did away with split classes with COVID (the kids used to swap classes for math, so that it was taught by grade level, while reading was done in one classroom).

As a teacher, it doesn’t feel all that challenging to me (in young grades). In my 2nd grade classes, I had kids who didn’t know all their letters, and others who were reading on a fourth grade level. So adding another grade level wouldn’t change the span all that much.

I would say some of how I feel would change based on the school’s curriculum, but in general, I’m a fan of mixed-age classes. There is much benefit to be had by both younger and older kids. But we did have social concerns (and to some extent, academic concerns) for DS1. He really loved it, though! And it was fantastic for him academically in year 1.

ETA: our split classes were designed so you stayed with the same teacher both years. So it was a purposeful cycle more than a way to fill classrooms. The teachers who taught in split classes chose to do so as well, which could make a difference.

@erinbaderin: my daughter (1st grader) is in a new school this year that has all split classes through 5th grade. So it's K/1, 2/3, 4/5, then 6,7,8 are separate. I was a little ambivalent but the other 1st grade parents I've talked to say it's fantastic and the kids do really well. The kindergarteners have a different schedule so the 1st graders get more classroom time which helps and then otherwise they learn the same things with some advanced groups available for students for reading/math. So far so good at ours school, but it's also the norm for everyone. I'm surprised to read that not every student/class level is split. That is odd!