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Media Contact:
Sandy LoPiccolo Director of Communications
Bedtime Math Foundation
908-444-4532
[email protected]

Bay City Public Schools Partner with Bedtime Math in White House Early STEM Math Commitment

Expanding successful parent-teacher conference model to spread the benefits of Bedtime Math family engagement to over 2,000 local elementary children

SUMMIT, N.J. (October 18, 2016) – Elementary teachers from Bay City Public Schools will introduce Bedtime Math to families during parent-teacher conferences this month, reaching over 2,000 students. It is part of a new partnership to expand the reach of Bedtime Math’s innovative family engagement app.

Bedtime Math was recognized at the White House Early STEM Symposium in April for committing to expand this model to at least five school districts, tapping into the power of parent-teacher conferences to coax math-shy parents to enjoy number play with their kids. 19 school districts in six regions across the country are participating in the initiative this fall, reaching hundreds of thousands of children. Great Lakes Bay is one of the six regions, with Bay City Public Schools and the following school districts joining the effort: Birch Run Area Schools, Carrollton Public Schools, Midland Public Schools, and Mount Pleasant Public Schools.

“We are excited to support Bedtime Math in our schools,” said Mary Andres, Math Intervention Teacher at MacGregor Elementary School. “The math problems are written like a story to engage students even if they are not interested in math. It will be easy for families to now make math a part of their day. I can’t wait to use Bedtime Math with my own children as well. It may become their fun excuse to stay up late!”

Bedtime Math delivers quick, engaging math story problems every day for children and parents to solve together. A recent University of Chicago study found that within just one school year, children who did Bedtime Math improved their math achievement on average by three months more than children who didn’t use it. Most notably, children of the most mathanxious parents who chose to do Bedtime Math had gains of half a school year, narrowing the “math anxiety gap.”

“In a given year, kids spend three to four times as many hours outside school as in it, so their parents have a huge effect on their learning,” said Laura Overdeck, founder of Bedtime Math. “Parents are a child’s most important educators, and by using Bedtime Math, even the most math-anxious parents can add a little ‘math talk’ to their daily routine. We are so grateful for the support of Bay City Public Schools, and the partnership of the Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance who helped bring this program to the region. Thanks to their combined efforts, we’re hoping to help even more kids learn to love and embrace math.”

The parent-teacher conference model was piloted with families from six Newark, New Jersey elementary schools during the 2015-16 school year. Teachers learned about the Bedtime Math app, then shared the program with parents one-on-one during parent-teacher conferences. Initial results found 10-20% of parents at each school were using the app with their kids, with the strongest results among prekindergarten through second grade.

Based on these positive results, during the 2016-17 school year Bay City Public Schools will help evaluate the effectiveness of the parent-teacher conference model for introducing the Bedtime Math app to parents. In parallel, Bedtime Math provided in-person orientation for key district staff. Bedtime Math will also share periodic reports on usage by parents at the school and district level.

Building on President Obama’s early learning and “Educate to Innovate” initiatives, the White House, the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services, and Invest in US partnered to host the White House Early STEM Symposium to further the focus on early STEM education. Bedtime Math’s commitment was selected from over 200 submissions received by the White House. Collectively, these commitments have the potential to bring new active STEM content for young children to millions of households across the country.

For more information about Bedtime Math’s White House Early STEM Math Commitment, or to speak with Bedtime Math founder Laura Overdeck, contact Sandy LoPiccolo at 908-444- 4532 or [email protected].

About Bedtime Math Foundation:
Bedtime Math Foundation is a nonprofit organization that seeks to put the fun and discovery back into learning math. Its core product is a zany online math problem that parents can do with their kids every day; a recent study from the University of Chicago showed that when families do Bedtime Math together, kids’ math skills improve by months. Bedtime Math is also the creator of Crazy 8s, a lively, hands-on after-school math club that has donated more than 5,000 club kits nationwide, serving tens of thousands of children. For more information, visit www.bedtimemath.org.