STANDARD ONE: High-Quality STEM Learning

We believe in interdisciplinary learning to engage students in high-quality STEM Learning: Standard One. As our strategic plan says, SMART Goal #1 is to increase cohesion in instructional approaches. Therefore, we have implemented weekly PLCs, STEM events to engage students and stakeholders, and interdisciplinary lessons.

To support our ability to provide high-quality, critical thinking STEM education we are in the process of getting all of our staff Gifted certified. We started the journey to certify our teaching staff (grade-level, connections, and support teachers) as gifted and talented endorsed teachers this year. We have a GATE cohort of teachers working diligently to increase their knowledge and implementation of critical thinking strategies. Through 36 learning sessions and many job-embedded interdisciplinary units, these teachers have shown determination in their willingness to learn and implement STEM strategies.

Even during the times of virtual learning, our students had the opportunity to have normalcy in their lives through STEM experiences. The STEM leadership team worked to identify, organize, pack and distribute quarterly STEM Kits to all families. Parents volunteers went above and beyond to collect and organize materials for distribution outside of these quarterly pick-ups.

Through our focus on providing equitable opportunities for all students, we are able to provide all students with hands-on, standards-based inquiry. In addition to our school year programming, during the summer, we host the Atlanta Public School’s Power Up STEM program at SPARK. We recognize that this interdisciplinary learning structure and hands-on belief system is the best to prepare our students for their future STEM careers. We are continually evaluating our extracurricular programs and using the data to encourage all populations to participate in STEM activities.

We wrote and received a grant to build a STEM Lab to provide the resources for the staff to embed high-quality STEM learning. This is a place where teachers can grab materials for their classroom, sign up for labs, or conduct labs.