Fritsch Elementary students work in the school’s Computer Science lab.
Five of six elementary schools in the Carson City School District have earned national recognition and are among only 160 schools nationwide to receive the CS100 School award for their commitment to providing exceptional computer science education to K-5 students.
Bordewich Bray, Empire, Fritsch, Mark Twain and Seeliger elementary schools were listed among 160 schools across the country. Fremont Elementary School in Carson City will join the list as early as next week.
CSisElementary and CSforAll announced the inaugural group of 160 schools receiving CS100 Awards. CS100 Awards recognize elementary schools that commit to teaching at least 10 hours per year of computer science to every K-5 student. The awards were announced March 30 at CSK5, the National Summit for K-5 Computer Science Education. Award-winning schools submitted 90-second videos describing their programs, five of which were featured at the CSK5 Summit.
The CS100 Awards reflect a new urgency for elementary tech literacy. Facing a digital future, less than 6% of U.S. high school students take even one computer science class.
“It turns out that computer science is a literacy, and like other literacies, it must be acquired in the elementary grades,” said John Pearce, executive director of CSisElementary. “We owe every child a solid understanding of coding, robotics, artificial intelligence, data science and computational thinking to prepare them for the digital future.”
Award-winning schools came from all over the United States, reflecting diverse demographics and nearly every kind of community. Initial review of winning schools indicated 40% Title I schools and wide-ranging ethnic and community composition.
Surprisingly, 90% of award-winning schools used the same model, using one or more Specials teachers to reach all students in all grades. Few winning schools relied upon all classroom teachers or outside contractors for CS instruction.