Executive Summary

Madison Primary Center officially became Madison STEAM Academy in the 2018-2019 academic year, however the transformation began in the 2014-2015 academic year. Our school-wide leadership team visited Lake Hills STEM School, a school equivalent to Madison, and had an aha moment. We instantly recognized that our students would profit from the STEM curriculum not only now, but further in their academic years. The students engagement centered around an integrated curriculum, allows for independent thinking, innovation, collaboration, and an overall upgrade for our students 21st Century skill sets. These were all qualities of learning we wanted to consistently entwine in our daily instruction.

Madison STEAM Academy is a fully accredited urban school in South Bend Community School Corporation that serves a diverse group of approximately 600 students in grades kindergarten through fifth grade. Furthermore, 96.2% of our students are economically disadvantaged, 15.5% of our students are English Learners, and 18% of our students qualify for special education services.

As an urban school, Madison STEAM Academy confronts many barriers that hinder our students' learning, specifically lack of opportunities to connect academic experiences to the real world. To chisel away at the barriers that our students face and provide them with real-world experiences, the staff at Madison STEAM Academy provides students with opportunities that allow them to engage in discovery, collaboration, and creativity. Additionally, the staff utilizes an integrated STEAM curriculum and Visible Thinking (VTS) as a framework and philosophy. The STEAM instructional practices actively engage students in the learning process, as well as provide opportunities for them to apply acquired knowledge and skills to real-world situations.

STEAM has expanded our use of community resources.

The South Bend Community Parks Department has been a driving force in assisting Madison STEAM Academy fulfill it's needs as a highly sought after STEM school. Through key partnerships, Madison STEAM Academy has constructed outdoor learning spaces in the city park, a MakerSpace Lab, Innovation Lab, multiple school gardens, lavender labyrinth, mini amphitheater, and the magnificent mile walkway around an adjoining city park. With the additional learning spaces and additional learning opportunities, we are able to stimulate students’ curiosity, encourage them to think carefully, make predictions, make careful observations, and thoughtful interpretations. These methods assist in developing metaphoric thinking, multiple perspectives, technological literacy, scientific note-taking skills, and identifying similarities and differences that will transfer to an increase in overall academic performance.

Madison is located on a very high traffic corner and as mentioned above our students use the adjoining park as an outdoor learning area. It became apparent very quickly that our high traffic crosswalk was going to be a safety concern for students crossing into the park. Our fourth grade students teamed up with the Mayor's Office and the city engineer to redesign the corner crosswalks. As a result, speed bumps were placed in the street to slow traffic down, bump outs were added to redirect traffic away from the corner, crosswalks and paw prints were painted to show students exactly the safest path to cross the street.

We know and understand the teachers and their instruction make the largest impact on student success. Therefore, professional developments, before and throughout the school year, were created to ensure our staff was current and prepared with relevant and high interest material. For example we participated in Dinah Zikes Foldable workshop by one of her master trainers. In addition, the staff engaged in Picture Perfect Science professional development with Karen Ansberry and Emily Morgan. VTS (Visual Thinking Skills), Project-Based Learning, and Project Lead the Way (PLTW) trainings were all led by district administration for our staff.