This week, I found an article about a school in California
that is trying to turn their school into an attractive computer science school. Cerritos Elementary School, in Glendale, CA
has been experiencing low student enrollment.
The decline in the student enrollment is due to the cost of living. Many families are unable to afford living in
that area. Around 84% of the students that
attend this school come from low-income households. English language learners make up 54% of the
population. Because of the low
enrollment and the need to help these students, the school is looking to
partner with Code to the Future. Code to
the Future is an organization that builds comprehensive curriculum and training
system for teachers in order to provide students with computer science at a
high level.
Cerritos Elementary School wrote a proposal in order to integrate
Code to the Future in their school. To
partner with Code to the Future, the school will spend a total of $266,000 that
would be spread out through five years.
The school board is expected to vote on this proposal next month.
This school is very committed to providing their students
with computer science. In 2013, school
officials applied for a grant that would make Cerritos school a science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics campus. They were unsuccessful in acquiring the
grant. Despite this, the school found a
way to incorporate technology by utilizing the available resources. For example, they began teaching
kindergartners how to use Google Drive and 6th graders to create
websites.
Principal Chavez –Fritz strongly believes in the need for
technology for this school. She states
that because of the number of low-income families and the number of English language
learners, the school needs to provide coding to the students in order to give
them opportunities so that they can be part of the workforce.
I commend this school for all of their efforts to acquire
the necessary technology in order to provide their students with the needed
education. I like the idea of Code to
the Future. They provide proper training
and tools in order to use technology to its fullest.
Reference:
Cerritos Elementary may become a computer science
magnet. (2017, June 22). Retrieved June 27, 2017, from http://www.latimes.com/socal/glendale-news-press/news/tn-gnp-me-cerritos-20170622-story.html
This post is somewhat similar to mine. I was saying how students in the minority have less exposure to technology and are underrepresented in the field. As our inclusion teacher I have made it my personal goal to make this a priority in our classroom. Not every teacher sees its value. Some think I am crazy. I just know that they already know the life cycles of a plant and the have no concept of how or why their computers and tablets work the way they do. I feel like we owe it to them!
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