Our vision is to create a community of students who love learning and are prepared for their future through innovation, collaboration, and problem solving. Our vision, developed by our teachers, is pervasive throughout our building.
Our motto is “Learn it, Love it, and Live it!” Our motto embodies our STEAM vision. We want the students to learn the AKS (Academic, Knowledge, and Skills), love learning through hands-on lessons, and then live it through real world application.
Our goal for EACH AND EVERY students is to provide an integrated approach to learning that is hands-on, relevant, challenging, and utilizes engaging experiences using an innovative mindset, STEAM-focused lessons and STEAM-focused projects. We believe this will equip students with critical thinking, problem solving, creative and collaborative skills; ultimately establishing connections between the school, work place, community and the global economy. STEAM also helps students understand and apply math and science content, which is the foundation for success in college and careers.
The integration of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math is part of our culture. We have continued implementing a schoolwide focus on making learning meaningful, rigorous, relevant, and integrated. It is evident in our classrooms, in our hallways, in our professional learning, and in Specials. Through collaboration, we hold each other accountable. We have continued our STEAM leadership team, who lead ongoing STEAM meetings and conversations. Finally, our culture extends into our community through our business partners, who help with STEAM integrated projects, community service projects, and STEAM-focused Project and Problem Based Learning.
As part of our journey, one of the main initiatives that has proven to be the framework for our success is being a Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support school (PBIS). PBIS and PBL work together to create our Lovin culture. As part of the Archer cluster, we are TIGERs, and have used TIGERs as an acronym to teach the traits of Trust, Integrity, Growth, Effort, and Respect, along with the skills students need to collaborate and work as a team. Through these TIGER Traits, Lovin’s students know through effort they can achieve their goals.
The STEM/STEAM curriculum at Lovin Elementary School is unique in a number of ways. Some of the key characteristics include:
Focus on community service: Here at Lovin, community service is at the heart of STEAM. Each and every student participates in cluster-wide community service projects. Participating in community service promotes empathy, self-confidence, social connections, and provides a sense of community. Students begin to gain a sense of what taking STEAM outside the classroom can do for others.
Integration of disciplines: Our STEM/STEAM curriculum integrates the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and the arts. This helps students to see how these disciplines are connected and how they can be used together to solve social justice problems.
Emphasis on critical thinking and creativity: Our STEM/STEAM curriculum emphasizes the importance of critical thinking and creativity. Students are encouraged to ask questions, come up with new ideas, and try different solutions to social justice problems.
Collaboration: Our STEM/STEAM curriculum often involves students working together in teams to solve social justice problems. This helps students to develop their collaboration skills and to learn from each other.
Here are some examples of unique characteristics of the STEM or STEAM curriculum at Lovin Elementary School:
Students in the first grade are currently designing a sensory garden for our special education preschool students and Autism Spectrum Disorder classes.
Students in the third grade are currently working on reducing the amount of food waste coming from our cafeteria through composting.
Students in the fifth grade are working on improving the lives of our school hens through their science units.
Students have the opportunity to join STEM extra-curricular activities such as Eco-Heroes and First Lego League.
Our school has a STEM night each year where students showcase their learning to the community.
At our school, we believe that process-based thinking is an essential skill for all students to learn. Process-based thinking is a way of approaching problems and solving them, by following a systematic process. This process can be applied to a wide range of problems, from designing a new product to planning a research project.
We use process-based thinking and Claim, Evidence, Reasoning in all of our classrooms at our school. For example, students in science might use the Engineering Design Process to design and build a model of a solar-powered car. Students in social studies might use Design Thinking to develop a plan for reducing pollution in their community. Students might use the Claim, Evidence, Reasoning framework to write an essay about the benefits of recycling.
We believe that process-based thinking and Claim, Evidence, Reasoning are essential skills for all students to learn. These skills will help students to be successful in school and in life.