Many recent articles and studies have called for the end of phones in school. At Rock Creek, students with cell phones or other smart devices must store them in a secure location for the entirety of the school day. We want to free kids from the temptation, distraction, and pressure of notifications & social media, and we want students to be present for their peers and teachers. We also want students to build cognitive endurance–the ability to stick with a task, even when it gets hard or boring. Maintaining a phone-free school environment supports students’ mental health and enables them to form better friendships and learn more in class.

In general, we do not like to use ed-tech. We believe that computer programs do not replace good teaching. Learning through ed-tech tools tends to be passive, surface level, and often trains students to work for false incentives, instead of for the sake of learning. Students find ways to click through online lessons to get the end as fast as possible, or to get the computer say the answer for them. Ed tech tools have trouble actually meeting students where they are or keeping their interest, and ed-tech tools essentially cannot challenge students. There is more to be gained through discussion, collaboration, and teacher-led seminars, than through an educational program. At Rock Creek, we have excellent teachers who are experts in their fields, passionate about sharing this enthusiasm with our students. As a result, our bar for using edtech products is very high, and we use a lot fewer than other schools.

Our goal at Rock Creek is to use computers intentionally, where they provide a net benefit to all. It’s become a norm that computers can be open for “note-taking” in just about any academic space. But what starts from a solid rationale quickly becomes a distraction. Research shows that even if you do not have a computer out, nearby distracted users impact your learning. 

We don’t pretend to have all the answers on when and how to use computers, but we are starting from a default ‘off’ position that we switch to ‘on’ when we have a strong use case–whether that’s creating and editing stories, analyzing data in spreadsheets, or interfacing with AI to build mastery of a topic. We are also committed to revisiting our norms as technology and culture evolve and we see firsthand where our norms are falling short vs. working for us.

Up to this point, it might seem like we are generally anti-tech. But when it comes to professional grade tools, we are way more pro-tech than most schools. If it’s a powerful tool widely used by real world professionals, we want students to have the opportunity to learn to use it. By teaching students how to do more with tech, we are investing in student agency; the more students are capable of doing and feel confident in doing, the more they’ll be able to accomplish throughout their lives! In English, students use tools like Audacity, FinalCut Pro, and Riverside for content creation; in math, students use computational software like Wolfram Alpha for approaching more complex real-world problems. In Social Science and Science, our data science program enables students to conduct quantitative research using spreadsheets and NotebookLM. By introducing students to these tools now, we set them up for a lifetime of creativity, resourcefulness, and problem solving.

AI is here to stay. Learning how to effectively use AI is a key step in preparing students for a life of work and creativity. As such, students learn how to how to wield powerful AI tools, not as a substitute for their own thinking and creating, but as a lever for their learning and doing. Much like the internet when it first emerged, AI is revolutionizing how we interact with information. With the right instruction, middle schoolers can use AI to engage with complex texts and perform advanced quantitative analyses that were once beyond their reach. We are particularly excited to see what students are able to learn and create with the help of AI in our Badging program, where students have time and support to pursue their own interests, 

AI is evolving rapidly, and so the ways we teach students to use AI will be sure to change as well. As a new school, our promise is to stay at the forefront of technology. More than two years ago, our school founder Sarah Dillard wrote the first education oped on ChatGPT, and we remain dedicated to monitoring and integrating new AI developments into our curriculum.

Starting in 5th grade, students are introduced to spreadsheets and descriptive statistics. Over their time at Rock Creek, students learn how to source and clean data themselves, frame problems, and build predictive models. Although a data science program means more screen time, we believe it to be an invaluable investment in our students. Analyzing data has become an invaluable skill across nearly all industries, helping leaders make informed decisions, solve problems, and drive innovation. 

AI tools are emerging that can analyze data for the user based on queries in plain text. This puts complex data analysis within reach of those who otherwise couldn’t otherwise analyze data. Still, without the principles of data science and statistics, one won’t know the right questions to ask, or the many statistical pitfalls to lookout for. Our data science sequence unlocks these ideas for students and gives them practice using these new AI capabilities, so that they secure another tool in their toolbelt before graduation.

Read more about our data science program here.