Executive Summary

North Elementary has developed a comprehensive STEM program offered to all students. This program seeks to inspire our students to be problem-solvers and teach them the skills they need to be successful and thrive in a changing world through STEM opportunities. Our STEM program includes professional development for staff, curriculum developed or purchased for students, a STEM Lab available to all students, and a daily designated STEM block built into each classroom’s schedule. Our community is invited to be a part of our STEM program through feedback and community events. Over the last few years, we have implemented several elements to our STEM program. We are proud of the strides we have made thus far and are excited to continue to improve our program each year.

North Elementary administration and staff recognize that in order for any program to be successful, a culture of importance and excitement must be built around it. This is a focus for our STEM program. We strive to inspire our students through inviting STEM signage posted throughout our building and common language used in all classrooms about our STEM program. Staff is included in decision making to help build buy-in and excitement. This excitement will carry over into the delivery of instruction. Teachers are excited to include STEM activities in their classrooms. They attend professional development and are eager to learn. They leave each session excited to implement. Each of our classroom teachers will be certified as a PLTW Launch teacher by the end of the 20/21 school year. North Elementary is committed to providing teachers with the tools necessary to provide students with the STEM instruction necessary to produce problem solvers. Our schedule is built around providing teachers with common grade level planning time. STEM career exploration is incorporated into every classroom. We offer an annual career fair, presentations from community partners, and career exploration activities and discussions built into our curriculum.

Assessing student learning has always been an integral part of the overall curriculum at North Elementary. Formative and summative assessments are used to drive instruction in every classroom. Nothing less is expected in our STEM program. Lessons are developed to build on prior knowledge and provide a deep understanding of concepts. A problem based learning approach fosters independent thinking and problem solving skills needed for a student to be successful in a 21st century career. Equity is of the utmost importance in all aspects of a students day at North Elementary. North Elementary is a Title I school, therefore has a significant population of impoverished students. These students along with the students receiving services from our special education department are included in all activities. The staff at North Elementary recognizes that no student should be excluded from any curriculum that will benefit their academic or social emotional growth. In fact, students in underrepresented groups such as these often need programs like our STEM program the most. It is often an area in which they excel when they sometimes struggle in other traditional academic areas. Not only does each classroom have a STEM block built in to their schedule, each student also attends two weekly STEM oriented specials classes. Our Innovate specials class includes computer science, grade level science and employability skills. Our Media Literacy specials class includes more computer science and media literacy skills.

MSD of North Posey introduced PLTW to both elementary schools in 2019. A third grade teacher at both buildings was trained as a Launch classroom teacher. These two teachers implemented the Launch program with our third grade classrooms at the start of the school year. By December of 2019, these two teachers had completed training as Launch Lead Teachers. Second, third, and fourth grade teachers were trained by these Lead teachers second semester. A summer session was offered for all remaining teachers. By December 2020, all classroom teachers will be certified PLTW Launch classroom teachers. We are proud and excited to be able to offer this training for our teachers and curriculum for our students. The PLTW Launch curriculum provides problem based learning opportunities for all students. Teachers are trained to facilitate the design process and support students as they collaborate with peers to attack the problem.

All teachers at North Elementary use common language to assign collaboration roles to students during collaborative activities. Students are assigned a role of Leader, Recorder, Reporter, or Cheerleader. These roles are rotated so each student has the opportunity to participate in each role. This language is posted in classrooms to facilitate common language. Collaborative and individual work is completed with a variety of technologies. Every student at North Elementary is assigned a chromebook for daily use. Teachers us Canvas and Google Classroom as learning management systems to provide virtual access to all lessons. Students use different programs such as Flipgrid, Seesaw, Quizizz, Kahoot, Loom, Google Sites, etc. on a daily basis to create and complete assignments. Teachers are expected to implement at least one engineering lesson each quarter.

Career exploration is a significant focus at North Elementary. An annual Career Day is held for our entire student body. Community members are invited to represent different careers. Community members talk with students about their career and what steps are taken to begin each career. Employability skill standards are included in all curriculum areas. Signage is posted throughout our building to build excitement in students and make connections in the classroom. North Elementary partners with the Purdue Extension to offer robotics club. North Posey Junior High School and North Posey High School offer an established Robotics Team. These robotics teams are advertised and shared with our students to build excitement leading to the seventh and eighth grade. The MSD of North Posey holds an annual Science Extravaganza. This is an exciting event for our entire district. Sixth grade students participate in our Science Fair with individual and collaborative projects. Projects are displayed and judged by chosen community partners at the district event. The event offers fun stations for families that showcase STEM classes and projects in all buildings.

In conclusion, North Elementary has made great strides over the past few years in developing and implementing our STEM program. Our staff have already seen great benefits for our students from our STEM program. We will continue to develop and improve our program each year. Our administration and staff are committed to our mission to inspire students to be problem solvers and to prepare them to thrive in an ever changing world.