The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Covenant Christian blends the classical with computers
sical” are graders tian What But it’s School bring at not does the learning the to in Covenant the mind? image Smyrna, word Latin. Chances of Chris- “clas- third education classical the focus with approach for a 44 distinctively years. has been
difference,” “We call it said the Headmas- Covenant ter Bob Barber, now in his third year at the helm of the 160-student school. “Our first priority is making disciples; we believe Jesus gave us one job to do, and our goal is to have students who can do it with eloquence and wisdom.”
served lum, That Barber by foundation a classic explained. curricu- is best
“When we think of something ‘classical,’ be it music, literature or architecture, we think of something that’s not easily conquered by culture or changed by fads. So our instruction is based on grammar, logic and rhetoric,” he said.
cation Students as 4-year-old start that kinder- edugartners and can continue through eighth grade. And yes, third graders take Latin just as they’re also learning the rudiments of English grammar.
“We found teaching Latin at that level reinforces the language and grammar rules of dents in that posed And English,” their may have to as classical the seem of a said last core new a Barber. year, bit element curricu- classes juxta- stulum: idea tion to about computer incorporate how science. computers informa- The work son, who came holds from a Amos Ph.D. John- from Georgia Tech, teaches computer science at Morehouse College and has two daugh- ters enrolled at Covenant.
“I see a lot of kids com- ing into Morehouse who still don’t have computer science knowledge, and even though high to bring schools it into are the now curricu- starting lum, it’s spotty,” said Johnson. “I’ve always thought it should happen earlier than that. We start teaching people to read and write in ele- mentary school, and coding is like learning to read and write with a computer. Getting started earlier means we can have kids coming out of eighth grade knowing the fundamentals.” Kids are already familiar with computers, so why not teach them about what makes them tick, Johnson said. “The software they’re learning is the fundamen- tal language that powers every game and app they use; it’s not magic,” he said. “Learning how to code also teaches you to problem solve: In order to put code together, you have to figure out sequences and then write the code. Even if these students don’t go into computer science as a career, they’ll be great problem solvers.”
Barber admitted he had doubts. “Honestly, classical educators despise computers. We do have notebooks for our seventh and eighth graders to use for projects, but time spent in front of them takes away from critical thinking.”
Johnson won over the headmaster by pointing out that music and art are not restricted to middle school classes.
“I was very conflicted at first, but he really hooked me,” said Barber. “He and another parent who is a professor at Kennesaw State and another who works for a software company got together and came up with a curriculum and a design for a science lab.
“L ast year, we started teaching the science of computers in first grade. This year, we’ve added a course for upper school students around computer security, the right and wrong ways to use them, and how to program them. And everyone has access to a PC. And it’s been great.”
Visitors are welcome to learn more about all of Covenant’s programs during an open house Thursday, starting at 7 p.m.