Students at Beethoven Street Elementary School are learning to program computers — starting as early as kindergarten
By Gary Walker
Josh Taylor (left) and Ryan Baber of 9 Dots help students with a coding exercise.
Photo by Jorge M. Vargas Jr.
The students’ tiny fingers navigate the keys of laptop computers as they try to make a digital frog jump with varying degrees of success. It’s the last week of school and they’re eager to try something new before summer vacation begins.
These students at Beethoven Street Elementary School in Mar Vista are playing a computer game, but in the process they are learning a skill that economists say may be crucial for their future: computer programming.
Beethoven is only the second public school in the Los Angeles Unified School District and the first on the Westside where children are learning how to code at the elementary level.
9 Dots, a Hollywood nonprofit that develops science and technology projects for students, has been advising Beethoven instructors since last year on how to implement coding into their curriculum.
“In the tech and engineering community, we saw that there were many communities that were underrepresented in tech fields due to the lack of early access to STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics] programs. We decided to start working with elementary schools with after-school programs first, and then we decided that we wanted to take a coding focus, so we started working with LAUSD schools last year,” said Josh Taylor, a computer science engineer and executive director of 9 Dots.
LAUSD Board member Steve Zimmer contacted Taylor and connected him with Beethoven Principal Althea Ford in 2013.
Students in third, fourth and fifth grade received lessons on coding this year, and 9 Dots plans to pass the reins to their teachers in August.
Kindergartners, first graders and second graders will begin to learn computer programming next year, albeit on a more limited basis.
On a recent visit to Beethoven, 22 second and third graders paid rapt attention as Ryan Baber, the director of Beethoven’s “Get Coding” initiative, took them through an exercise in which students employed previously learned functions in order to move digital frogs from one lily pad to another.
The students are learning Java script because it is compatible with most if not all computers, said Baber, who also works with 9 Dots.
Their regular teacher, Cordy Arthur, has seen the students grow more confident since they began learning how to code in January.
“I’ve noticed that they’re more willing to take certain kinds of risks — good risks — as they test their theories and ideas on how to find the answer. The kinds of questions that are being asked can be very complex and very confusing, so sometimes you have to take a risk and try to guess the answer,” Arthur said.
First grade teacher Angie Evans already has a variety of ideas for her students when school starts again in August. She plans to use games as well as interactive play that doesn’t always involve computers as a foundation for future coding activities.
One would be similar to the older class that moved the frogs, but the first graders would use pictures of animals and learn to move them manually using the same coding concepts.
“When they’re four to six years old, it’s a lot easier for them to see and understand concepts that are concrete,” Evans said.
Both Evans and Arthur see coding as an activity to help build critical thinking skills.
“I don’t think the way that we were going about critical thinking was always effective,” Evans said. “A lot of what they’re learning is through trial and error. [Coding] is a very active way of learning.”
Taylor says that training students to code helps to prepare them for high-wage jobs.
“That’s especially true in computer science. There’s a shortage of computer science majors right now, so there’s huge opportunity for someone with that kind of background to come in and have access to amazing high-paying and creative jobs,” he said.
Students aren’t the only ones that are looking forward to more coding fun next year.
“I’m excited. Coding is a lot more engaging than just teaching addition and subtraction,” Evans said.
gary@argonautnews.com
Beethoven is an amazing school! My son was very excited to learn coding this year and his teacher, Corby Arthur, was just beyond amazing! I
I hope I’m not too late to ad my two cents here. Children 4-6 years old are just learning to tie there own shoes, and grasp little things like what is push, vs. pull. Beethoven is not a good school. My kids have been going there for 5 years and trust me on this: I hope a charter takes over it. I don’t like charters but Beethoven has been pressing our kids too much lately. A charter has been coming to try and take up space. I hope they do as Beethoven has been grooming my kids to be workaholics.
I was a perspective parent when I took the school tour after friends told me how awesome this school is. I looked on the school website and found this link about coding. I also know from friends that many of the children at Beethoven have behavioral issues, and many are in Share and Care counseling. From what I’ve learned is that the school does over work the children so maybe this adds stress on them which makes them act out in negative ways. They are competing with Charters so now most public schools have tryed to stay academically advanced. This is having a negative impact on the children at Beethoven. They may fair well with test scores but emotionally they are also just kids. In my opinion I think Beethoven is a bad school. Whatever takes over the school would do it some justice. This school should be dubbed school for advanced emotionally challenged children.
I just clicked on the news link on the Beethoven School site and read about the coding program at this school. I am also a Beethoven parent. I am concerned Beethoven has gone too far in competing with Charters. I also see Mark Twain Middle School taking the same path. The children at Beethoven are emotionally challenged. I know about 20 parents at Beethoven who send their kids to Share and Care. The school is half to blame for these kids problems, and in some cases mostly to blame for the causes of their emotional instability. Treating our kids like commodities will eventually lead to the downfall of all public schools in Los Angeles. I also don’t like charter schools but if Beethoven is already treating our kids like future IPO investments I’d rather have a Charter school.
My daughter started in the fall at Beethoven Elementary. Her kindergarten teacher is not very engaging, and picks and chooses who she wants to get friendly with. My friend is sending her kids to Beethoven and she expresses the same disappointment with some of her daughters teachers in the past. The school is over run by the booster club and star program. I won’t name names but the guy who runs the booster club seems to be the real principal at Beethoven Elementary. I tend to notice favoritism at Beethoven between parents and teachers. The teachers will not engage you at all. I think it’s protocol to break down the students character somehow since they treat the students the same way. Now you know why so many kids at Beethoven are in share and care. Most parents at Beethoven don’t like Charters and I for one have a great distaste for the charter school system. The downfall of Beethoven is coming soon since Charters have been eyeing that school for a long time. The district has to start to teach the teachers about respect, and how to be more engaging. This year we are $40,000 short in our fundraising. Beethoven has had a negative impact on the moral of our student population which is under cutting funds needed to support our school.
I have three grandchildren who go to Beethoven. Beethoven has actually become too entrenched with political ideologies that in my opinion is part of brainwashing scheme set up in all Lausd schools. Forget about “coding” for these kids. These kids are lacking emotional support from parents, teachers, and the community. My children went to Broadway Elementary, then to Mark Twain back in the days before gentrification. Compare them to the kids of today at those same schools including Beethoven and I’d say emotionally there is no difference. I’d also say that parents back then were more respectful towards each other. We didn’t schedule “play dates” or worry about “coding”.
I would have to agree with Jenny Galvan on Broadway Elementary and Mark Twain Middle School. What is odd is that the children at Beethoven are exhibiting post traumatic stress disorder. In the Broadway Elementary school days when Oakwood was full of gangs, and Lincoln Blvd full of prostitutes we all had post traumatic stress disorder some more than others. The thing is we knew how to deal with it. And yes, we did go to counseling too. Coding and computers is the new crack in Venice. There is no difference emotionally speaking in these childrens development whether they came from old school Venice or Gentrified Venice. Going back in time I’d say these children of today are suffering much more because they don’t know how to deal with trauma. They are also much more unhealthier, lower self esteem, and more prone to emotional outbursts. The adults of today are going to loose Lausd for our childrens future because they’ve treated children like a brain hacking experiment. In retrospect we were just as bad as the kids of today. We just knew how to deal with our emotions, and our struggles. Lausd is not offering that to our children. Lausd is bad. Beethoven is bad. Charters are bad. What good do we have left if we find ourselves more divided as each day goes by.
This message is from a parent on the inside of Beethoven. One of the main problems is also that principal. She started assuming we are all rich. We are a title 1 school. There is favoritism going on at that school. Also, there is a struggle for control over the booster club. The gentrifiers have gotten a hold of our school and want it for a charter. I don’t favor charters at all. I also don’t like Lausd anymore. Coding is code for: Gentrified.
Coding in my opinion is helping to destroy our community. There are plenty of firefighting jobs available but you don’t see them preying on our neighborhood schools the way coding hacks do. The community is fed up of Snap and Google already so why make things worse by teaching children about how to get rich quick and gentrify a community. Parents do need to fight back at Snap, and Google and make this community a place where everyone can live. Not just the rich and wealthy.
As a parent of two kids at Beethoven, I could not disagree with you more “Jay Dee”. Beethoven is an exceptional school that focuses on giving its students a well-rounded education. The arts are emphasized, as well as both social and emotional awareness, gardening, coding, and of course academics in the core subject areas. The students are happy, thriving, and nurtured by a talented group of teachers and administration. I am so saddened that you would like to see a charter school take over such a special place. I wonder why you have been there for 5 years and not sent your kids to a charter school considering your strong feelings about Beethoven?
Beethoven is wonderful. I am honored to send my kids there.
In spite of your own protest my kids are doing well at Beethoven because we treat the school like the law says here: Title IX
Each student and employee has a right to learn and work in an environment that is free from unlawful discrimination. No District student or employee shall be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived sex, sexual orientation, gender, or gender identity or expression.
Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 is one of several federal and state anti-discrimination laws that ensure equality in education. Title IX prohibits discrimination, harassment, exclusion, denial, limitation or separation based on sex or gender. Title IX applies to both male and female students in any educational institution receiving federal funding.
I also have a right to protest. My opinion matters just as much as yours does. What you see as defamation is not that, it’s the truth.
You need to wake up Brooke and look all around you. These developments aren’t stopping anytime soon. These newcomers don’t want traditional Lausd schools. They want Charters. The fact I was able to get Beethoven to erase a link to this page says so much about what you’re trying to hide.
Someone notified me about an on going rant that has nothing to do with coding. I am no political expert or some educator but when you start seeing children with muscular atrophy in children it makes you wonder where were headed in the future. I don’t keep my children incubated in a work slavery mindset. I did hear about Broadway Elementary Schools mandarin program. It’s been cited in the newspaper for discriminating against latino and black children. They need to get off their rear end and stop wining and complaining about everything they don’t have and start being thankful. I would think that after two years this thread would die down. I never had coding when I grew up and thankful I didn’t. I used my hands for waving at people and for creating beautiful things. Once you’re all exhausted from griping, and wining perhaps you’ll all throw in the towel and be thankful for what you got. You’re all in a frenzy, you need to slow down. I’ve never seen such spoiled little winers my whole life. Since were all in this together someone contact Mike Bonin for me and tell him I said he needs to take back Market Street down by the boardwalk. Security needs to stop harassing people there. Also, add the lane back you had stripped from Inglewood Blvd to Beethoven st. We need that lane back. In terms of political ideologies someone brought up: It’s true, we can change them anytime. I just proved it.
And like I said, it’s been two years since this article was put in The Argonaut. Who would want to comment on an old article. Wining, complaining, and major grudges aren’t good for your health. Some parent was just telling me about this on going rant. Put it to rest already. Put your hands in service to others, get your hands off the keyboard.
To be honest this thread is a pure example of grudge holding, and getting even. The parents on here could have left it alone, and not replied. Take Brooke S. for example. She could have minded her own business and let her rage float away with the clouds. Instead, she needed to show boat Beethoven Elementary as the gem of Venice. I happen to go to Broadway Elementary School when it was a run down neighborhood with drugs, gangs, thugs, prostitutes. I saw my school Broadway as a gem. My neighborhood was a gem. I survived countless drive by’s and I’m here to tell you the story that Broadway Elementary School was the gem of Venice. I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. That’s what makes Venice so great. I don’t personally like what is happening to Lausd. It is true, it is competing too much with Charters. I see Lausd as a charter system now. You may not realize it but our own school Beethoven is being run like a Charter. Mimicry is the key to survival of the fittest and Beethoven does it best. You want to be a gem. You got to get ruffed up like a jagged stone being tossed around at The Venice Shoreline. You got to do your time, pay your do’s. You have to suffer the storms thrown at you, brave the strong tides, have courage during crippling blow after blow of the strong waves that pound at you day and night. Only then will you become a gem. I see coding going extinct very soon. It can’t survive and thrive the way humans were meant to evolve. I see Snap Chat and Google collapsing under pressure, and I had a vision of Amazon robots being thrown to the recycle bin. I see the gem called Venice coming to fruition very soon. I will be there standing at the shoreline when my jagged edges are smoothed away and saying to myself with pride: I’m from Venice.
The problem really is with Google, and those other tech people moving into the area and driving up costs just to live our life here in peace. I don’t understand why parents put up with letting their kids do coding. I know people who are Ceo’s who don’t even need coding. The tech sector is saturated enough. I am barely making ends meet trying to pay the rent in Venice so my family can live in peace. Get to the core of the problem: Google, Amazon, Snap, Facebook, and rest of the tech companies who are wreaking havoc on our childrens well being.
Google and Snap is the problem, and I can agree with that. I hear it on the news all the time. Snap bullying locals, Google cheating on taxes, even Uber drivers getting in trouble all the time. These “coders” aren’t the best role models.
Brooke S. in my opinion the principals of Mark Twain and Beethoven Elementary need to be fired. This school and neighborhood will be taken over soon. It’s not a guess, it’s a promise. What they say Brooke, what goes around comes around.
That is not true at all. Most parents at Beethoven are avoiding the coding program altogether and opting for something else. Snap has everything to do with it. We need to stop Snap from bullying locals.
My daughter has been going to Beethoven since Kinder and we love the school but my family disagrees with 9 dots explanation that coding is an effective way to develop critical thinking skills. There are my many ways to develop critical thinking skills. It just seems to me that ever since Google, and so called Silicon Beach has taken over the city, and exploited the land and it’s resources, there has been a mad fever to try and influence children about computing. The last thing on my families mind is whether or not we are great at Java Script. It’s just like when the television was invented, people got by just fine. Not everyone wants to learn computers. Some people would rather be working on their garden then being on Facebook or any kind of social media. We would rather re-seed or lawns, keep them green and healthy for our children to have a picnic on. I am sure that the seeds that 9 dots sows will not grow exactly as planned. Not as long as families like ours are around taking out what they’ve sown, and begin to grow a beautiful world for all families to live in. Computers are not the answer to a healthier pay check. Money can’t buy love or happiness.
I totally agree with Gabriel Martinez. I am also a Beethoven parent and I’m not to thrilled for my kids to learn “coding”. I just heard on the news that less people are using the internet than ever before. I was like, what, how did that happen? I wasn’t too surprised though. I think more parents are aware of the consequences the internet is having on their families and literally pulling the plug. I feel google, and the computer giants that have gained a foot hold in our schools is trying to convert our children into greedy “thinking” work slaves. I noticed their is a shortage of computer science majors. I think it has everything to do with parents fighting back, and getting their kids to focus on what’s important in life. And what we are seeing is more people using the internet much less these days. There is a nursing shortage, but I don’t see grade schools clamoring over nursing programs. Not everyone is going gaga over coding. I am one parent that pulls the plug. Good going Gabriel Martinez, haven’t met you yet, but I am sure your daughter is doing just fine without computers dominating her life.
I totally agree with Gabriel Martinez. I am also a Beethoven parent and I’m not to thrilled for my kids to learn “coding”. I just heard on the news that less people are using the internet than ever before. I was like, what, how did that happen? I wasn’t too surprised though. I think more parents are aware of the consequences the internet is having on their families and literally pulling the plug. I feel google, and the computer giants that have gained a foot hold in our schools is trying to convert our children into greedy “thinking” work slaves. I noticed their is a shortage of computer science majors. I think it has everything to do with parents fighting back, and getting their kids to focus on what’s important in life. And what we are seeing is more people using the internet much less these days. There is a nursing shortage, but I don’t see grade schools clamoring over nursing programs. Not everyone is going gaga over coding. I am one parent that pulls the plug. Good going Gabriel Martinez, haven’t met you yet, but I am sure your daughter is doing just fine without computers dominating her life.
Someone just told me that I received positive feedback regarding my post. I am happy to hear I moved at least one person. I truly do believe that if families don’t start fighting back against corporate giants, including tech giants like google, we soon will find ourselves totally dependent upon these greedy monsters. I don’t want my children or my great great grandchildren turned into greedy thinking globalist work slaves implanted with a computer chip in their head that brainwashes them. I think it is a human trait that we try our hardest to try and make life easier. I don’t pull out an app to find love, happiness, and peace of mind. You can’t make an app like that. The greedy forces at work here are saying Machine is better than the human spirit. And this is why my family fights back. The only thing this machine is doing is gentrifying Venice and Mar Vista, including surrounding areas, and putting more people out of work and creating more homelessness. I just think it’s silicon beach’s way of saying get with the apps, or get lost. Guess what, not everyone is getting all wired up as according to silicon worlds plan. Not everyone wants a digital stamp. I just fight for each day like it’s my last day on earth, and if you don’t know how that feels, then you must have to much free time in that big box house.
Has anyone voiced their opinions to the principal ? I’m sure the school is under the impression that coding is desired!
I am appalled at the slander and defamation that is going on here. Post traumatic stress disorder? Emotional abuse? Who are you people? You are using fake names to say such horrible things about a truly wonderful place.
These hurtful and malicious allegations could not be farther from the truth. Beethoven is a gem. Our community is lucky to have this school.
One has every right to protest even if it’s online, in person, or in print. Stop using children as commodities. A charter should take over Beethoven because Lausd is failing our children even more than the days before gentrification. The days when I would feel gun shots wiz past my ears from all the gang violence. I continue to send my kids to Beethoven because the Mandarin Program at Broadway took over it. I would never send my kids to the communist regime of Broadway. It’s a free country, just deal with it while I’m there at Beethoven. It’s a Title 1 school and that will never change.
I am appalled that you ignore the truth. I am also appalled that you expect us to pay $400 per child when this is a title 1 school. Beethoven is not a gem. I have every right to disagree with you’re political ideologies and to change them as I see fit. It’s a free country. Nobody is fake on here. Your’e the pulling the fakery by denying the fact you treat children like commodities.
The coding program along with all the other opportunities that each child is afforded is quite astounding at Beethoven. I applaud the staff, faculty and parents that participate and make it work each day at Beethoven. To all who think otherwise, you can also get involved and make a change. But my guess is that it is way easier to just type a negative post. See you all the next PTA & FOB meeting!
I accidentally typed the wrong email address that is not me in that Gravatar. There is 20,000-$40,000 deficet in our funding raising. Stop spending so much money on dog tags for the kids and stand by your commitment.
There is nothing negative about the truth. Falling $20,000-$40,000 short is proof that you’re misleading the parents at Beethoven. Then sending letters home to parents demanding more money like were just made of it. We are a title 1 school not a private school. I’d rather have the t.a.’s than dog tags for kids. You misusing the funds at the school for things the kids don’t need. Our kids are not commodities.
The children at Beethoven have the opportunity to experience learning in many ways. Coding is just one of them. My daughter gets 30 minutes of coding per week. Hardly enough to stress her out. The teachers and staff work hard to ensure that all the students have a great learning experience every day. Have any of these concerns been brought directly to the principal? If you truly want to advocate for your children, please consider volunteering. And not just in your child’s class, but become an active parent volunteer that helps a program run that every child benefits from. Attend the PTA meetings, the ELAC meetings, the SCC meetings, come to Monday morning assembly and stay for a few minutes on the yard to talk to other parents about what is going on and how you can be a positive influence at school. Be a part of the solution, not the problem. My oldest child is entering high school next year with a 4.0 GPA and a strong foundation of community spirit, involvement and awareness; all things she learned from her teachers and experiences at Beethoven.
You are part of the problem, and that is the problem. Just because you volunteer your time, stay a few minutes in the yard after assembly, and are part of pta, and attend various meetings it doesn’t make you any better than me. Misappropriation of the funds that hard working parents have given in trust is one of the main issues. A battle for power over the Booster Club is another problem. Threatening to take away teacher assistant hours if we don’t pay out to the funds is another. Making it harder for parents to donate is a huge problem. We can’t afford $400 per child. This is not a private school, and we will not pay out to fund for things that most of our kids don’t even really need. Our federal funds and our charity are being spent on things to fulfill your own political ideologies. Beethoven just got a real lesson in respect.