Scientific or graphing calculator?

Scientific or graphing calculator? What calculator should students purchase?

As your kids grow older your school supply list could become shorter, but it's not always cheaper.

One thing that could cause sticker shock to parents of middle and high school students is an specialized calculator. A majority of schools prefer that students are provided with their own personal scientific calculator. In the most rigorous math courses, such as Advanced Calculus, a graphing calculator may be required.

What is the difference? Scientific calculators perform functions beyond addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The most common scientific calculators have buttons that are specifically for parentheses, trigonometric functions, exponents reverses, and pi as well as other functions.

A graphing calculator does even more. It will have a larger screen, allowing you to type in a function, then look at a graph of it.

The Best Buy's Geek Squad agent Derek Meister states that scientific calculatorscan run anywhere between $10 and $60. Graphing calculators typically cost more, ranging from $100 and $150.Should the students returning to school buy technological or graphing calculators? (KOMO News)

However, Best Buy says you aren't required to purchase a device and recommends seeking advice from your school before you buy.

Harmony Weinberg, Edmonds School District's public relations and media supervisor she tells KOMO News each individual school sets its own policy.

"For higher level classes, like AP Calculus, it is often expected that students have a handheld graphing calculator, such as TI-83, TI-84 or TI-89."

These kinds of calculators can be used for AP tests. Weinberg adds that schools have a system for students to check out calculators, like they do text books if they can't or prefer not to purchase their own.

In the Edmonds school district the calculators are handled in the same way as textbooks, in the sense of damages or losses, however, they do not have a fee to make use of.

One other option may already be in their school-issued laptop. Weinberg says that in Edmonds "all students have access to scientific and graphing calculators through their district-issued Chromebook." The district also encourages teachers to utilize Desmos online calculators, since they are used for state exams and also on state assessments.

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West Seattle family says school rules on quarantine bias against people who aren't vaccinated

By Joel Moreno, KOMO News reporterSaturday, September 18th 2021

https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.485.1_en.html#goog_1206168445Volume 90% Denny International Middle School.

SEATTLE A family from West Seattle say their young son was instructed to stay at home after the boy came in contact with people who had been tested positive for COVID-19. This led family members to claim that he was targeted and was treated differently by school district officials since the boy was not vaccinated..

Last week, the 12-year-old student attending Denny International Middle School was exposed to a classmate who was diagnosed with COVID-19.

Officials at his school instructed that he should stay home for two weeks because there was no vaccination.

The family said that they've discovered that, had he was vaccinated, the seventh grade student would not be forced to miss school as in the event that he was not showing signs of the disease.

"My kid has no symptoms," said Jeremy Gollyhorn, the boy's father. "He's completely healthy. Why is it that he doesn't get positive COVID results and come back to school?"

Gollyhorn said his son is being kept to a higher standard than students who have had their shots, and even should he fail a COVID-19 test, he wouldn't be allowed back to school after the two week quarantine has been completed.

But close friends that are fully immunized and have no signs of illness do not have to be quarantined and are able to return to school, but they are urged to get tested every three to five days in order to be certain.

Gollyhorn said it makes no sense.

"Vaccinated people can still spread COVID too so what's the difference there?" said Dr. A. said.

A spokesperson confirmed that Seattle Public Schools is following the health guidelines of public schools set for the school by the state.

Gollyhorn said the policy strips individuals of the freedom to choose. Gollyhorn also stated that his family doesn't believe in vaccines , and incidents like this are what make him want challenge the government.

Since Seattle Public Schools started the school year on Sept. 1st, the district has confirmed 117 positive cases of COVID-19 and Denny International Middle School has had four positive cases reported in this time.

It's not known how many staff and students were told to remain in quarantine because of exposures. However, absences from school are considered to be excused.