St. Matthias School brings Robotics with Artificial Intelligence

With the re-opening of its doors on August 24, St. Matthias School students in kindergarten through eighth grade will develop real-world skills to solve real-world problems through the school’s new STEAM program this fall. Once again at the forefront of education innovation, St. Matthias School will be implementing UBTECH Education’s robotics which includes a curriculum that incorporates Next Generation Science Standards-aligned curriculum featuring hands-on units of study involving concepts like artificial intelligence (AI), coding, and robotics.

Through this curriculum, students will use the Engineering Design Process to invent, design, and iterate upon a new invention that helps solve a local or global problem. Students will present their inventions to a panel of experts at Chicago’s Invention Convention as well as the National Invention Convention. This is a great opportunity for students to implement artificial intelligence in their inventions where they see fit and give them an enhanced experience with communication skills,” shares St. Matthias Director of Technology and Design, Julie Tuten.
Students will work through the engineering design process as they learn the fundamental concepts of AI including computational thinking, flowcharts, algorithms, sensors, and microcontrollers, along with more advanced concepts of machine learning, decision trees and models, neural networks, and data sets. Then, pairing this learning with coding and robotics, students will develop creations to address real-world situations.

“Students today are growing up with artificial intelligence all around them from facial recognition on mobile devices to voice recognition using Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa, and more. But, do students know how the technology works or in some instances, fails to work? Our new curriculum will teach them this but, perhaps more importantly, it will teach them to question the ethical implications of AI creation and how to be critical, educated consumers of it,” states Tuten.
“The life skills students will learn through this new curriculum — things like teamwork, leadership and delegation, persistence, endurance, patience, and problem-solving — are brilliantly aligned with the traits of an IB learner. At St. Matthias, we nurture a childs’ natural curiosity. This AI curriculum brings new opportunities for students to showcase independence in their learning and we expect our students’ inquiring minds will flourish as a result,” shares St. Matthias School Principal, Katie Carden. She continues, “the world is changing and we are preparing students for the future with global citizenship, entrepreneurship, creativity, analysis of information and problem-solving all within a society where AI, technology and creativity can converge into skills a student needs to be a successful and responsible future leader.

About St. Matthias School
In the City of Chicago, families have a wide variety of school choices. St. Matthias School, nestled in the beautiful Lincoln Square neighborhood, is a diverse, community-oriented, Catholic School. We are the only wall to wall, Catholic International Baccalaureate (IB) elementary school in the state of Illinois, and one of only seven in the United States. We were authorized to provide the IB Middle Years Programme for grades 6-8 in 2013 and authorized to provide the IB Primary Years Programme for grades PreK-5 in the spring of 2020.

Additionally, St. Matthias offers an inclusive environment, able to assist a range of diverse learners. We provide all students with instruction in Spanish, Physical Education, Technology (K-8), Music, Art, Religion, and Library (K-5). St. Matthias students benefit from a kind, caring community while taking advantage of a rigorous, socially-conscious curriculum.

Our graduates enjoy acceptance to the most prestigious high schools in the area, including North Side College Prep, Loyola Academy, Lane Tech, St. Ignatius, DePaul College Prep, Von Steuben Scholars Program, Walter Payton College Prep, Amundsen IB Programme, Jones College Prep, Resurrection High School, Trinity High School, Notre Dame College Prep, Regina Dominican, St. Patrick High School, and many others.

For more information, visit www.stmatthiasschool.org/.