The angry bird and pig that have recently made their way to other Tri-Town school committee meetings came to Mattapoisett on December 8 during a demonstration of the new Chromebooks students will be using, as well as the website code.org on which students will be learning how to code.
Students throughout Tri-Town, along with other students across the country, will be committing to the “Hour of Code” each week, and now Mattapoisett School Committee members understand what exactly students will be doing – having a ball and amazing themselves as they progress through different levels of coding activities aimed at introducing students to computer programming.
Superintendent Doug White told committee members to “make the angry bird chase the pig,” and following a few keyboard strokes, that familiar sound of angry bird garble was followed by smiles and laughter.
“You just wrote your first line of code,” White told School Committee Chairman James Higgins.
“That’s funny,” said Higgins.
The district has recently purchased 345 new Chromebooks for students to use within all four school districts, and the Chromebooks will also be utilized during the new online PARCC exam that will replace the MCAS.
White said the addition of the new Chromebooks addresses one of the technology goals in the Strategic Plan, calling for more 1:1 personal devices to be integrated into the curriculum.
“I think it provides a whole new set of tools … to work collaboratively within the classrooms,” said White.
Also during the meeting, Business Administrator Patrick Spencer told the School Committee that playground repairs and the installation of the new fence around the playground at Center School would be completed before December 19, and the RFP calling for bids to repair the playground surfacing at Old Hammondtown School opens December 30.
The committee approved the updated Articles of Agreement with the Southeastern Massachusetts Educational Collaborative (SMEC), and they also approved authorizing a new Capital Reserve Fund capped at $500,000 for READS Collaborative.
The Mattapoisett School District will celebrate its status as a Commendation School by the State of Massachusetts for its third year in a row on January 12 at 1:45 pm at Old Hammondtown School.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett School Committee is scheduled for January 12 at 7:00 pm at Center School.
By Jean Perry
