EXTRA CREDIT EFFORT : STUDENT TEACHERS HELP CUT SIZE OF 3RD-GRADE CLASSES.

Byline: Sherry Joe Crosby Daily News Staff Writer

Student teachers from The Master's College are helping the Sulphur Springs Union School District become the first in the Santa Clarita Valley to start reducing third-grade class sizes.

Under a pilot program that began Monday, four students with emergency teaching credentials have been assigned to Valley View and Sulphur Springs schools, where they will teach language arts and math to third-graders during the morning.

The program is part of Gov. Pete Wilson's initiative to cut kindergarten- through third-grade class sizes to a ratio of 20 students per teacher. The district, which already has cut first- and second-grade class sizes, hopes to hire more student teachers in December to fully reduce class sizes in third grade.

``It's a win-win situation,'' said Sandra Smith, principal of Sulphur Springs Community School. ``We can drop the student-teacher ratio and they're going to gain more knowledge and experience.''

A shortage of qualified teachers statewide is driving the district to tap the student teachers, fifth-year education majors who already have eight weeks of classroom teaching experience.

``We thought that was a pretty creative solution to the drying pool of teachers,'' said Marc Winger, assistant superintendent of instruction. ``We're maintaining the quality we want to maintain.''

Under the program, the students work as paid part-time teachers during the morning and as student teachers in the afternoon. They will work under the guidance of experienced teachers, planning lessons, grading papers and participating in parent-teacher conferences.

Although they spent the first few days observing classes, the student teachers said they can hardly wait to handle a class on their own.

``It's a wonderful experience as a beginning teacher,'' said Alisha Buzzoni, 26, who wants to teach third and fourth grades.

Students, too, benefit from the smaller class sizes, she said.

``It's a great opportunity for them to be with smaller group of students,'' Buzzoni said. ``They can have more individual time with us and we become more effective as teachers because we have a more experienced teacher we're learning with.''

In July, the state Legislature allocated $771 million, or $650 per pupil, for elementary schools to limit classes. If classes are reduced part of the day, schools receive $325 per student.

Sulphur Springs schools received $450,000; the Saugus Union Elementary School District got $600,000; and Newhall's Elementary School District received $525,000.

Making space for the extra classroom has been no easy feat. At Sulphur Springs Elementary, common areas and empty kindergarten classrooms have been turned into makeshift classrooms.

At Valley View, pupils doubled up in large classrooms and at Mitchell School, students meet on the auditorium stage, in the library and in a formerly unused preschool classroom.

Smith already has ordered six more portable classrooms for Sulphur Springs.

``Our ultimate goal is to be in the 20-1 ratio in kindergarten through third grade for the 1997-98 school year,'' she said.

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--Color only in SAC) Master's College student Tara Van Alstyne helps Rebecca Sheldon get through a book at Sulphur Springs Elementary in Canyon Country.

(2--Color only in SAC edition) Fifth-year Master's student Alisha Buzzoni works with Aakriti Kainth on Tuesday through a program aimed at reducing class sizes.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News