Standard 9

Standard 9 - School/program provides within-school and extra-curricular opportunities for students to extend STEAM learning. 

Warren T. Jackson provides many opportunities for students to extend their STEAM learning beyond the classroom setting. In addition to daily transdisciplinary, STEAM inquiry in the classroom at Main Campus, students utilize the Makerspace, Collaboratory, Science Lab, and Labitat to extend their learning. At Primary Campus, students have access to the STEAM lab and Smile Center. In these settings, teachers are able to provide STEAM-focused learning and as well as many times collaboratively co-teach with our STEAM lead teacher, Mrs. Dostie. 

Students also attend a multitude of STEAM field trips to extend their learning beyond the classroom and provide real-life STEAM experiences. In school and out of school field trips include: Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Chattahoochee Nature Center, Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Fernbank Planetarium, Chattahoochee National Park, Alliance Theater, and Georgia Aquarium.

All of 4th and 5th grade students have the opportunity to participate in two overnight STEAM-focused experiences. Through our partners and PTO’s support, we are able to provide scholarships so that any student who wishes to participate is able to join. Our 4th grade stays overnight at Rock Eagle 4-H Center where they have the opportunity to work with ecologists to monitor the health of Rock Eagle’s lake. They also practice hands-on skills such as orienteering, ornithology, and experiencing a pioneer lifestyle. 5th grade travels to Jekyll Island for a two-night stay at Camp Jekyll 4-H Center. Here we have the opportunity to study and compare the ecology of the beach, maritime forest, and salt marsh. Students work with marine biologists to catch and study organisms in the intracoastal waterway. During our stay, we also visited the Georgia Sea Turtle Center to learn from marine biologists about rehabilitation and conservation efforts of sea turtles. 

In addition to in-school experiences, students are provided a multitude of afterschool STEAM experiences. Robotics Club, STEAM Kids, Math Club, Trout Patrol, Chorus, and the 5th grade musical. Students also have the opportunity to participate in the STEAM district and state competitions. During summer of 2019 (2020 cancelled due to COVID), our school hosted for the North Atlanta cluster a STEAM Camp. The program provided students in grades 3rd-5th a unique summer experience that is centered around the project based learning framework and exposes students to authentic learning experiences that require students to think critically, problem solve, and be creative.

An area for improvement would be able to provide after school opportunities for students who need transportation assistance. Another area for improvement is to extend more after school opportunities for our Primary Campus students.