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COURTESY OF CHADWICK HAIKU
Above: An example of a Haiku class page this year. Each page has different tabs, such as a tab for the homework calendar and a drop box where students can turn in their homework.
Early Returns for Chadwick’s new Haiku: It’s Not Working
by ROBERT MACK
Haiku, Chadwick’s replacement for the student portal, was
met with widespread negative reactions from students.
Chadwick is testing a new system this year, a replacement of the
retired Chadwick Portal.
Last year, the Chadwick administration made the decision to
improve venues for students to get
their homework.
“We kept hearing feedback
from all parts of our community,
students, parents and teachers,
and we found that the portal just
wasn’t cutting it, that it was too
clunky to work around, that it
wasn’t meeting their needs, and
it was inconsistent how teachers
were using it,” said Deborah Levy,
Technology Integration Specialist
who worked on the transition.
So Chadwick decided to partner with Haiku Learning, a young,
Indiana-based education com- ing; they listen to their customers.
pany that, since its inception, has Like if you have a feature you want
gained a variety of clients and local to suggest…you put it online and
state awards, to replace the portal they pay attention to it. They email
you back and say, ‘That’s a great
this year.
Levy said that
the main difference
between Haiku and
the portal was usThey’re definitely a customer
ability and that
service-driven organization, and
“everybody’s doing
an education-driven organization.
it.”
They care about what they’re doing;
Haiku,
like
they listen to their customers.”
Chadwick, remains
Deborah Levy
committed to a set
Technology Specialist
of core values: harmony, simplicity
and community.
While being a notable fiscal idea, look for that coming out in
success, Haiku believes in a strong our next release,’” she said.
connection to the clients it serves, Although the intention for
switching to Haiku was to improve
according to Levy.
“They’re definitely a customer student usability, the first few
service-driven organization, and weeks of the new system at Chadan education-driven organization. wick were characterized by failure
They care about what they’re do- and massive breakdowns.
Owning to its reputation for
reliability, “We were shocked when
the beginning of the year hit and
it was almost always down,” Levy
said.
Turns out the start of the
school year had been too much
for the company’s system.
“They weren’t expecting that
kind of traffic,” Levy said. “It
was their bad. But the good
news is that for the past week
or so, it’s been up way more
than it’s been down.”
Although breakdowns largely
stopped around the third or
fourth week of school, students
continue to hold largely negative views of Haiku.
A recent unofficial classroom
poll showed that all but two students expressed dislike for Haiku.
Miles Williams, a junior, was one
of the two who didn’t mind, claiming he doesn’t use Haiku.
“I just prefer my planner,” Wil-
liams said.
Sophomore Jonah Storr said
he likes that teachers have to use
Haiku in the same way.
“Also the pages are a lot nicer, because you don’t have to go
through Chadwick,” Storr said.
“It’s not very reliable.”
“I think that although this
new technology provides a useful
set of tools, changing to this platform at this point in time causes
more confusion and difficulty than
usefulness,” said junior Alex Dean.
Said Levy: “We hope this’ll be
the year of bumps and bruises and
figuring it out like you do with any
new system, and that we continue
working with them and that it just
gets better and better.
“When you have a new program like this, it’s hard to test it
unless you do a full-scale roll-out.
The hope is that we go with it, but
we don’t have to if it’s not working.”
Class changes bring more choices for students in Upper School
by ARIANNA MENZELOS
The new Chadwick school year
has brought many changes to the
classes in the Upper School curriculum.
This year’s sophomore class
will be the last to experience the
history elective system, where students can choose to take a semester-long course in Middle Eastern
history, “Issues in Contemporary
Asia,” or African history. Instead,
a new two-year course has been
implemented, which the current
freshmen will be the first to experience.
English teacher Erin Nordlund and history teacher Natalie
Johnson have been developing the
curriculum for the last few years.
1:1 iPads expand
throughout Chadwick
see NEWS p. 3
Their goal is to better connect history and English through assignments and discussions drawn from
both disciplines.
The history portion will cover
Early Modern through Modern
World History, focusing on larger
global themes, and the English
portion will connect its curriculum
to the history topics but still pro-
Matt and Austin discuss
Beezin’
see OPINIONS p. 10
vide a solid foundation in reading,
writing and discussion skills. In an effort to improve the
ethical decision-making of each
student, there will be larger emphasis put on global citizenship
and on the understanding of current events.
“Our end goal is to prepare
critical and creative thinkers who
Liz Haile, Chadwick’s
female role model
see FEATURES p. 13
make informed, ethical decisions
and take courageous action in the
face of personal and social issues.
By understanding the factors that
shape individual, national and
global identities, we want our students to be able to embrace and respect cultural differences and multiple perspectives,” Nordlund says.
(Cont. on p. 2)
New water polo coach brings
winning culture
see SPORTS p. 15