More than half-a-million dollars worth of high-tech math help is coming to the elementary school on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
In a bid to boost the skills of military kids, who sometimes fall behind because of frequent moves and deployment stress, the Defense Department recently awarded a $525,000 grant to Borman Elementary School.
The money will pay for new math textbooks and curriculum, teaching aids and teacher training, and more than 100 new computers that can analyze each student's math abilities and custom-design interactive exercises to boost skills.
The state-of-the-art setup could make Borman's math offerings among the most advanced in local elementary schools.
"This is definitely high end," said Borman principal Chad Knippen, who wrote the grant after the Defense Department invited school districts to apply at the end of last school year.
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While some other Tucson schools have begun to incorporate similar advances, Borman will be one of the few that has a a complete package of upgrades in place, Knippen said.
Borman, which is run by Tucson Unified School District and located on the Air Force base, qualified for the cash because most of its 470 or so students are military dependents whose parents are subject to frequent or sustained deployment.
Student turnover at school, which serves kindergarten through fifth grade, ranges from 40 to 50 percent. In any given year, up to half of Borman's pupils leave when their parents are sent to war or are reassigned to other bases.
The improvements at Borman will be phased in over three years. It's expected that much of the new technology will be up and running by January.
Lt. Col. Lara Brinson, 355th Force Support squadron commander at D-M, said the new program is a big plus for military kids — and their parents.
Research has shown that students who get a solid grounding in math in younger years do better in the subject at higher grade levels, Brinson said.
"Our military families have a lot on their minds with the current operations tempo," she said in a news release. "Now these parents can feel confident knowing their children have a better opportunity for a technological foundation to prepare them for the future."
