As of the 2024-25 school year, the whole of Summit Public Schools in California and Washington switched from the Summit Learning Platform (SLP) to Canvas.
Summit is built on the foundation that we are better equipped to manage students’ learning and success, and that our school system is different. With these beliefs in mind, why would the Summit board switch to Canvas, a platform widely used in many high schools and institutes of higher education across the U.S? Canvas has many issues that are making students unable to learn, and that need to be addressed in order to get Summit back to its goal.
One of the main benefits of the SLP was that it was simple to organize and understand when schoolwork was due. However, many Summit students have expressed their frustration with Canvas, stating that it is harder to understand and manage their assignments. In an interview with 10th Grader Morteza N, he stated “It is harder to navigate around my assignments, everything is unorganized.” With a platform that students cannot understand and navigate, Summit is not setting every student up for success.
Visuals are also a major pitfall of Canvas. In the SLP, there were clear color visuals and a timeline that allowed students to easily understand when work was due, and how they were doing in their classes. Without visuals, students have a more difficult time managing their work and building their time management skills.
Some teachers have shared their praises for Canvas, stating that it is easier to use. Spanish 2 teacher Mr. Chavez shared that he uses it as both a teacher at K2 and a student in college and finds it easier to navigate. However, he also brought light to the disrepaired Spanish curriculum. Both Mr. Chavez and Spanish 1 teacher Ms. Mendez shared in an interview that the Canvas Spanish curriculum is unusable to the point where they must make their own.
The head office and the committee in charge of the platform change have claimed that they would prepare students for Canvas, stating in an email that they were “planning on creating sessions in the spring and at the start of next school year to help students get comfortable with the new system and to troubleshoot any issues”. However, they have fallen short of these claims, providing little and ineffective support in helping the transition.
Teachers have also received little help transitioning to canvas. When asked if she was provided support on learning how to teach with Canvas, Summit K2 teacher Ms. Yungai stated “No, we were just told to watch the videos and figure it out on our own.” This difficulty in understanding the platform leaves teachers scrambling to manage their classes and students struggling and confused.
In order to realign Summit to its core values, the head office needs to either reinstate a version of the SLP or, more realistically, make Canvas as usable and easy to understand as possible. This means providing proper training to students and teachers, allowing students to succeed in their classes, and teachers to teach effectively.
Overall, the new Summit learning platform, Canvas, needs major changes to set students up for success and realign Summit with its main goals.
(Cover Photo Credit: Gianni Gutierrez Valencia)
