# How many adults should be in the room?

> Maryland caps a twos room at one adult for six children and a threes-and-fours room at one for ten, in groups of no more than twelve and twenty. Here is what those numbers feel like at 5:15.

*What are the ratios, and do they matter?* — answered by the So Loved Academy team, 2026-09-10.

Maryland sets two limits, and most parents only know about one. The ratio is how many children one adult may look after. The group size is the most children who may be together as one group, no matter how many adults you add. A center has to meet both at every hour of the day, and the second one is the one your child actually feels.

## The numbers

| Age | Adults to children | Largest group |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Under 18 months | 1 to 3 | 6 |
| Toddlers | 1 to 3 | 9 |
| Two year olds | 1 to 6 | 12 |
| Three and four year olds | 1 to 10 | 20 |
| School age | 1 to 15 | 30 |

These are the most a licensed center in Maryland may run. A center may run smaller groups and more adults than this, and the good ones often do. Nobody is allowed to run more.

## Why the group size is the one to watch

A ratio can be met by adding adults. A group cap cannot. Twenty-four four year olds in one room is not allowed even with four adults in there, because the cap for that age is twenty. Group size is also what the day feels like. Twenty children with two adults is a louder, busier, more interrupted day than twelve children with two adults, even though the ratio is better in the bigger room. Smaller groups mean less noise, fewer transitions, and more of an adult's attention landing on your child.

## Ask about 5:15, not 10:30

The ratio has to hold at 6:30 in the morning with three children in the building and at a quarter to six with four, not only in the middle of the morning when everyone is in. This is why centers stagger their staff and combine rooms at each end of the day. Combining rooms is legal and normal. One teacher alone with twelve children at five o'clock because two colleagues went home is not, and it is one of the surest things that turns a happy parent into a furious one. So on a visit, ask what the room looks like at 5:15, and if you can, come and see it.

## Who counts as an adult

Cooks, cleaners, office staff and volunteers do not count toward the ratio, and neither does someone moving between two rooms. Every group needs a qualified lead teacher present. Aides help meet the ratio but may not be left alone with a group. If you see a room with one nineteen-year-old and no one else, ask where the lead teacher is.

## Who is allowed to teach your child

A lead teacher in a Maryland preschool room must be at least nineteen, hold a high school diploma, have completed ninety hours of approved training in early childhood, and have a year of supervised experience with preschool children. A Child Development Associate credential, an associate's degree in early childhood or a state teaching certificate can stand in for the ninety hours. Everyone completes health and safety training in their first three months and keeps training every year.

Those are the minimums. What you actually want to know is what the lead teacher in your child's room holds and how long she has held it, so ask her. Church-run programs on a different license track in Maryland are held to the same health and safety rules as everyone else, but that track waives some of the teacher qualification requirements. So if you are comparing a church preschool with a licensed center, credentials are the honest place to look for a difference, not safety.

## The one question to ask outright

Nobody may have contact with children before their background checks come back clear. Ask the director directly: is every adult in this building cleared, including the person who cleans it? Then ask when the last unannounced inspection was and whether you can see the report. Both are fair questions, and a good director is glad to be asked.

> The ratios and qualifications above come from Maryland's regulations for child care centers (COMAR 13A.16), current as of the date on this guide. Rules change, and so do programs. Before you rely on anything here, check it with the Maryland State Department of Education's Office of Child Care, or ask the center to show you.