About the STEAM Lab Initiatives

Why? 

Mission: Addressing LCAP Goal 1: Action 15 

Promoting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Opportunities

All school sites will provide STEM-related activities and programs (e.g., Project Lead the Way, robotics, gaming, coding, etc.) for our low-income, minority students, who are often underrepresented in STEM. Our low-income students often lack the resources, appropriate devices, and good internet connectivity. These programs will be offered before, during, and after school, and will contribute to mitigating gaps in homework quality, digital inequality, and developmental disparities that often lead to fewer post-secondary graduates from low-income households, especially in STEM programs. STEM opportunities will also help increase student engagement and connectedness to school, while creating critical thinkers, increasing science literacy, and enabling our next generation of innovators.

Vision

Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, and Creativity are all skills needed to succeed in the 21st Century.  Students have many formal and informal learning opportunities outside the classroom, especially with technology.  Unfortunately, many teachers do not have the same access to these new technologies nor the skills needed to implement them in the classroom.  The STEAM Innovation Center will offer a hands-on engaging environment explicitly designed to provide students and staff with the skills required to be a successful part of the workforce of tomorrow.  This center will serve to articulate these skills from outside the classroom into the classroom.  Students will not only be learners but will be instructional leaders teaching side by side with industry leaders and CUSD educators. 

Example Spaces

Coding & Robotics (Computer Science Lab)

Makerspace/3D Printing Lab

Digital Art Lab

Video/Production Studio

Model + Virtual Classrooms

Large Seminar/Training Spaces

Esports/Game Design

Students Success

Students Experience Hands-On Labs With Latest Technology

Students Earn Certificates

Students Are Exposed To Career Pathways 

CTE Course Could Be Hosted In Labs

All Students Have Access To The Same Tools (Equity Focused)

Teacher Success

Teachers Experience Hands-On Labs With Latest Technology

Teachers Are Shown By Content Specialists How To Properly Use Equipment/Labs

Teachers Work In Labs To Develop Lessons With Specialists

Professional Development (Content Specialists)

Content Specialists Use Labs As Training Spaces To Conduct Professional Development and 1 to 1 Coaching. 

Content Specialists Use Media Studio/Equipment To Create Instructional Content To Be Accessed By Teachers as Blended PD and Project Based Learning. 

Content Specialists Use Spaces To Develop Sample Lessons and Model Implementation of the latest CCSS and NGSS Standards.