Calypso Elementary School

Our experience with Calypso Elementary School was disappointing. We transferred our child in from a Charter School and were surprised to learn the current direction BASD is headed. Since the recent installment of a new curriculum a few years ago, the students are doing a large about of work and testing on computers (reading, grammar and spelling). We expect the 2nd grade students to type answers into a computer. This concerned us so I made it a point to speak with the tech teacher, principal, and 2nd grade teacher about what was going on and how we could have a different curriculum for our child. The answer was that there is no way out of it, even if we sent our child to a different BASD school. In my conversations with the tech teacher I was told that there is no guarantee that my child's grade (Grade 2) would ever learn to read or write in cursive. The district is expecting that students will dictate into devices, so learning those skills isn't a priority. I went a little farther and interviewed some parents of middle schoolers in BASD. I was told that in 2019-2020 8th graders will only be offered math (in class and at home) on computers. Since none of these things support our family or community values, we have enrolled our child at a different school where they are teaching the same curriculum without computers, cursive instruction/practice, with a guaranteed to have a teacher teaching paper-and-pencil math. Our experience made me do some hard thinking and in speaking to college professors and doing some research on my own I realize why this rubs us the wrong way so severely When looking into the research done on technology use in schools there is a great support for it from the makers and sellers of school tech and tech platforms (like Clever, Chrome Books, etc.). When looking at the raw research (not from makers and sellers of tech or platforms) the outcome weighs heavily toward a technology in school being harmful, not beneficial, depriving students of a necessary face-to-face communication, camaraderie of group learning through interpersonal exchanges and cognitive challenges that come when you don't have a computer telling you there is only one right answer or that they have found that answer for you already. Should BASD continue down this road the outcome seems grim, so we hope that BASB can start taking steps to focus on learning through interpersonal, relational communication to ensure that our children are successful communicators, thinkers, leaders and teachers in our community and workplace.

Our experience at Calypso Elementary School was disappointing. We enrolled our child there coming from a Charter School and were surprised to see what is going on with the current public education system in our community. QUALITY OF ACADEMICS-With the rollout of the new tech-based curriculum the younger students are expected to do a large amount of their reading work, grammar, and spelling on computers. They are tested on computers and made to type answers into a computer. This concerned us, so I spoke with the technology teacher and was told that there is no alternative and beyond that, there is no guarantee that our child's grade (grade 2) would ever learn how to write or read in cursive, as the district is pushing toward dictation devices. Had we known about the tech initiative that BASD is taking we would not have sent our child there. In researching technology in schools the main sources that support regular technology use are the studies from the makers of the online education platforms (like Clever). If reading independent studies (not from the makers/sellers of these platforms) the outcome weighs very heavily toward tech being more harmful than beneficial, especially at these younger ages. In my interviews with middle school parents within the district it sounds like the technology use gets even worse as the students get older, in fact starting 2019/2010 8th graders will only be offered math in the classroom and at home on a computer... none of these things support our family and community values so we very recently pulled our child out and our child is having a wonderful experience at a different school that teaches the same reading curriculum WITHOUT the computers and will carry through the educational years with pencil and paper math lessons/tests. The future of BASD seems grim if it continues down this road, so we hope that they will start taking steps that can focus on the importance of collaborative learning through interpersonal relationships as it is highly valuable to be a functional and successful adult. TEACHERS AND FACILITIES- The teachers are nice and qualified, but the new curriculum undermines their ability to teach to the learning styles of individual students. FACILITIES-The facilities were clean and well kept and there was the availability of music, art sports and a variety of other curricular.

The academic program for reading, grammar and spelling are basically being sourced out to a web-based platform and curriculum. The teachers of this newly introduced curriculum have their hands tied as they are forced to teach all children exactly the same, even though it is a tried and true fact that all children learn differently. There are very intelligent children developing anxiety and being given poor grades for not being able to learn through the new computer-based curriculum.

this school is great at teaching lessons and making sure you know them