More screen time and less face-to-face time with teachers and peers is not a great idea! Kids needs be have conversations, group discussions, and face to face time with teachers and peers to learn material. Adding more screen time is not sensible. Maybe additional homework can be added to the curriculum so that students can go home at the end of the day and work independently on this Summit Personalized Learning Program. This program is not appropriate for a public school and this is something that possibly should be explored and experimented with at a private school where the admin and families help to shape the curriculum. Thank you.
A
Amanda Ocone
8 years ago
Our children should be learning communication/social skills and they can’t do that by sitting in front a computer all day. I do not want the Summit in Cheshire Schools.
P
Pam Wallinger
8 years ago
As a technology teacher in another district, I support the use of computers to enhance learning in all academic areas. Our children are going to compete in a global economy and technology plays an important role. That being said, it should not drive the curriculum. Students still need to be thought about digital citizenship and the use of technology and what their digital footprint looks like . That cannot be done by setting a child and a computer to work independently for an extended period of time. That instruction needs to come from a teacher and the computer should never replace the teacher in the classroom. Technology needs to support what they are learning in the classroom and extend that instruction and some cases but should not be their primary means of obtaining that instruction. I agree with many of the parents comments that having children sit at a computer for hours to do work and then go home and set it again is not what we should be doing. There are other avenues to allow children to work independently. We have been using differentiated instruction in the classroom for years. Let’s not turn the computer into a teacher !
C
Carolina Ramirez-Blier
8 years ago
I actually just got a chance to read this petition thoroughly with my husband. Even though my personal experience hasn't been negative with the program I agree that there has been little to no information when it was first deployed. I also agree with all the incosistencies related to privacy, grading, screen time etc. I'm not indifferent to the summit program but I do like to give a chance to things in order for education to evolution with technology. I also think parents should have the option to opt out of the program if they wanted to. In summary, I agree that until all the concerns listed in this petition are addressed, this program should be on hold.
E
Elizabeth Marini
8 years ago
As a teacher and a Literacy coach, I see the benefit for voluminous reading at a child’s instructional level but not when it gives a studebtbadditional screen time avdckess teaching via conferring and replicable teacher feedback. I moved to cheshire for its school’s reputation. If summit stays, these two taxpayers age their school age children are out!
M
Michelle Tarca
8 years ago
My son said he doesn’t absorb information from a screen the way he does from a teachers lesson and a book. He misses the way school was. He claims these videos do nothing and DREADS personal learning day. BOE PLEASE LISTEN TO THE PARENTS aka Taxpayers!!!!! Summit is not worth the divide this is causing between Administation and parents. This platform doesn’t work for all kids. The privacy concerns are REAL (these are minors) and the makers of this platform are in the data business. Remember nothing is ever truly free. Thank you for trying something new but it’s time to stop. I have asked to opt my child out 3x!!! PLEASE LISTEN, we need to work together. I am now looking at other schools. I shouldn’t have to, Please press pause or better yet go back to the drawing board, get rid of this screen time driven mess. And let’s find some new answers together
K
Karen Colwell
8 years ago
Although implementation at my son’s school seems reasonable and he remains neutral on Summit, I am concerned about the inconsistency among schools and the stress it is causing some of our students. It seems that implementation and teacher contact time is vastly different across buildings. My son is headed to Dodd next year. In the past I’ve heard wonderful things about Dodd. Since Summit implementation, I am concerned about sending my son to Dodd because of how Summit is being used with some teams. Any program that is causing health and emotional problems in a significant portion of students across schools and grade levels, is of concern and shouldn’t have a place in the education of our children.
S
Susan Olesen
8 years ago
A computer is a tool, not a teacher. You can't make children sit in front of a computer all day - remember that? Let's keep our education reality based.
M
Matt Levine
8 years ago
There should be an opt out
J
Jennifer Piscitelli
8 years ago
No more SUMMIT. We didn't ask for it and we don't want it!
A
Ann Morris-Kirby
8 years ago
Add me to the list...
M
Michele Schweighoffer
8 years ago
This program is horrible! Stop using our children as guinea pigs! My husband is in education and he agrees. Stop it!
R
Renee Casner
8 years ago
The technology error is a difficult time to be raising children, now we have to add school as another contributing factor to excessive screen time. As a family who partakes NO forms social media other than text and email, I feel very strongly that allowing our children to be educated by the founder of Facebook is careless and irresponsible. I feel that Facebook has done far more to negatively impact peoples lives versus improve the TRUE quality of their lives. Facebook was scientifically designed to hook people in based on the neurological response humans get from having others "like" their posts. So for many it has become a form of addiction much like drugs and alcohol with a constant need to post personal information to fulfill the need to get more likes. So I can't help but question the true motives behind the development of the Summit program. While I sympathize completely with teacher and the need for assistance in managing classrooms with such varying degrees of leveled learners, I prefer my children not be part of this experiment. In addition I have serious concerns from a developmental standpoint. Age 13, like at age 3, is one of the times in a child's development in which they experience a significant level of neurological growth in regards to their brains. What are the effects on their neurological development during this highly crucial growth period of spending several hours in front of a screen at school to then come home and spend more time completing homework in front of a screen? I am highly concerned about the lack of social interaction during such a critical development period in their lives. Have any medical specialists (developmental pediatricians, pediatric neurologists, pediatric neuro ophthalmologists etc.) been brought in to assess this program and the impact a program of this magnitude has on child development? Another concern is fast forward to high school...Cheshire has its very own grading system, how does this impact our ch
J
Jennifer Sweeney
8 years ago
My daughter has been experiencing stress headaches and migraines since starting Summit. She is stressed out and cries over the blue line and testing. A few weeks ago she actually said everything in my life seems worse because of the stress from Summit. I was originally in favor of Summit but have changed my mind after seeing what it is doing to my daughter.
A
Anonymous
8 years ago
I do not support the Summit program. I have a child currently enrolled in the program at Dodd school and she isn't enjoying it. I don't like too much screen time.
H
Heather Sepkowski
8 years ago
Kiki, I totally agree with you, this is ridiculous!
Heather
A
Anonymous
8 years ago
Children need human interaction, not to be spending hours staring at the blue light of a computer screen, which harms their eyes and undoubtedly does, yet to be confirmed damage, to their developing brains.
S
Stacy Sellers
8 years ago
Our children need the teacher - student interaction. People need human interaction. Enough of the computer based learning. Bring back books and keep our teachers...teaching!
B
Barbara Graziosa
8 years ago
My daughter’s future is based on the foundation of her primary, secondary, and high school education. I grew up in this town as did my parents and aunts and uncles. My daughter will be the 11th family member to graduate from town. Cheshire has always been know as a fantastic town to have your children educated in. I DO NOT, AND WILL NOT sit idly by and watch her and her classmates be Guinea pigs and loose precious learning time. It is apparent that not enough time was put into preparing our teachers for this program. I fully agree with this petition, and hope it will be heard and understood by those it is addressed to.
J
Judi
8 years ago
More teacher training and the hiring of more teachers please. People need people...
More screen time and less face-to-face time with teachers and peers is not a great idea! Kids needs be have conversations, group discussions, and face to face time with teachers and peers to learn material. Adding more screen time is not sensible. Maybe additional homework can be added to the curriculum so that students can go home at the end of the day and work independently on this Summit Personalized Learning Program. This program is not appropriate for a public school and this is something that possibly should be explored and experimented with at a private school where the admin and families help to shape the curriculum. Thank you.
Our children should be learning communication/social skills and they can’t do that by sitting in front a computer all day. I do not want the Summit in Cheshire Schools.
As a technology teacher in another district, I support the use of computers to enhance learning in all academic areas. Our children are going to compete in a global economy and technology plays an important role. That being said, it should not drive the curriculum. Students still need to be thought about digital citizenship and the use of technology and what their digital footprint looks like . That cannot be done by setting a child and a computer to work independently for an extended period of time. That instruction needs to come from a teacher and the computer should never replace the teacher in the classroom. Technology needs to support what they are learning in the classroom and extend that instruction and some cases but should not be their primary means of obtaining that instruction. I agree with many of the parents comments that having children sit at a computer for hours to do work and then go home and set it again is not what we should be doing. There are other avenues to allow children to work independently. We have been using differentiated instruction in the classroom for years. Let’s not turn the computer into a teacher !
I actually just got a chance to read this petition thoroughly with my husband. Even though my personal experience hasn't been negative with the program I agree that there has been little to no information when it was first deployed. I also agree with all the incosistencies related to privacy, grading, screen time etc. I'm not indifferent to the summit program but I do like to give a chance to things in order for education to evolution with technology. I also think parents should have the option to opt out of the program if they wanted to. In summary, I agree that until all the concerns listed in this petition are addressed, this program should be on hold.
As a teacher and a Literacy coach, I see the benefit for voluminous reading at a child’s instructional level but not when it gives a studebtbadditional screen time avdckess teaching via conferring and replicable teacher feedback. I moved to cheshire for its school’s reputation. If summit stays, these two taxpayers age their school age children are out!
My son said he doesn’t absorb information from a screen the way he does from a teachers lesson and a book. He misses the way school was. He claims these videos do nothing and DREADS personal learning day. BOE PLEASE LISTEN TO THE PARENTS aka Taxpayers!!!!! Summit is not worth the divide this is causing between Administation and parents. This platform doesn’t work for all kids. The privacy concerns are REAL (these are minors) and the makers of this platform are in the data business. Remember nothing is ever truly free. Thank you for trying something new but it’s time to stop. I have asked to opt my child out 3x!!! PLEASE LISTEN, we need to work together. I am now looking at other schools. I shouldn’t have to, Please press pause or better yet go back to the drawing board, get rid of this screen time driven mess. And let’s find some new answers together
Although implementation at my son’s school seems reasonable and he remains neutral on Summit, I am concerned about the inconsistency among schools and the stress it is causing some of our students. It seems that implementation and teacher contact time is vastly different across buildings. My son is headed to Dodd next year. In the past I’ve heard wonderful things about Dodd. Since Summit implementation, I am concerned about sending my son to Dodd because of how Summit is being used with some teams. Any program that is causing health and emotional problems in a significant portion of students across schools and grade levels, is of concern and shouldn’t have a place in the education of our children.
A computer is a tool, not a teacher. You can't make children sit in front of a computer all day - remember that? Let's keep our education reality based.
There should be an opt out
No more SUMMIT. We didn't ask for it and we don't want it!
Add me to the list...
This program is horrible! Stop using our children as guinea pigs! My husband is in education and he agrees. Stop it!
The technology error is a difficult time to be raising children, now we have to add school as another contributing factor to excessive screen time. As a family who partakes NO forms social media other than text and email, I feel very strongly that allowing our children to be educated by the founder of Facebook is careless and irresponsible. I feel that Facebook has done far more to negatively impact peoples lives versus improve the TRUE quality of their lives. Facebook was scientifically designed to hook people in based on the neurological response humans get from having others "like" their posts. So for many it has become a form of addiction much like drugs and alcohol with a constant need to post personal information to fulfill the need to get more likes. So I can't help but question the true motives behind the development of the Summit program. While I sympathize completely with teacher and the need for assistance in managing classrooms with such varying degrees of leveled learners, I prefer my children not be part of this experiment. In addition I have serious concerns from a developmental standpoint. Age 13, like at age 3, is one of the times in a child's development in which they experience a significant level of neurological growth in regards to their brains. What are the effects on their neurological development during this highly crucial growth period of spending several hours in front of a screen at school to then come home and spend more time completing homework in front of a screen? I am highly concerned about the lack of social interaction during such a critical development period in their lives. Have any medical specialists (developmental pediatricians, pediatric neurologists, pediatric neuro ophthalmologists etc.) been brought in to assess this program and the impact a program of this magnitude has on child development? Another concern is fast forward to high school...Cheshire has its very own grading system, how does this impact our ch
My daughter has been experiencing stress headaches and migraines since starting Summit. She is stressed out and cries over the blue line and testing. A few weeks ago she actually said everything in my life seems worse because of the stress from Summit. I was originally in favor of Summit but have changed my mind after seeing what it is doing to my daughter.
I do not support the Summit program. I have a child currently enrolled in the program at Dodd school and she isn't enjoying it. I don't like too much screen time.
Kiki, I totally agree with you, this is ridiculous! Heather
Children need human interaction, not to be spending hours staring at the blue light of a computer screen, which harms their eyes and undoubtedly does, yet to be confirmed damage, to their developing brains.
Our children need the teacher - student interaction. People need human interaction. Enough of the computer based learning. Bring back books and keep our teachers...teaching!
My daughter’s future is based on the foundation of her primary, secondary, and high school education. I grew up in this town as did my parents and aunts and uncles. My daughter will be the 11th family member to graduate from town. Cheshire has always been know as a fantastic town to have your children educated in. I DO NOT, AND WILL NOT sit idly by and watch her and her classmates be Guinea pigs and loose precious learning time. It is apparent that not enough time was put into preparing our teachers for this program. I fully agree with this petition, and hope it will be heard and understood by those it is addressed to.
More teacher training and the hiring of more teachers please. People need people...