St. Joseph Elementary School Expands STREAM Curriculum

St. Joseph Elementary School's STREAM program is a favorite at the school. In the newly renovated STREAMworks Lab, students solve real-world problems and are given the opportunity to build their critical thinking skills. Within this hands-on creative environment, they are able to make connections among school, community, and the world. The school is also expanding its curriculum and is participating in two pilot programs. The St. Joe’s STREAM team faculty will also be presenting their students’ projects and collaborating with other teachers in the field.

Two of its faculty, Miss Powers and Ms. Federico, have been invited to present at WPI's AweSTEM! Event in March. The STEM Education Center at WPI recognizes and appreciates educators and education leaders dedicated to engaging and inspiring students in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields for the hard work they do every day. Their annual event - AweSTEM! - is designed to celebrate these individuals. Additionally, it joins this community of educators, together to share with each other, and those at WPI the latest STEM education materials. This year's theme will be "Growing STEM in Our Communities." The SJES presentation will be on its First Grade Blooms Garden.

Also, Miss Powers will be participating in WPI's STEM certificate pilot program this upcoming summer. The course will be made up of STEM educators and is based around designing high quality STEM units for students in an elementary setting. The course will consist of designing standards-based STREAM units and receiving feedback from fellow STEM educators, as well as WPI professors. These units will then be implemented in the classroom in the fall, with two follow-up Professional Development days to review and reflect on the units taught. Miss Powers looks forward to using these skills in St. Joe's STREAM program.

Finally, St. Joe's is thrilled to be piloting the WPI Seeds of STEM Pre-K program this spring and then using the entire 8-unit program from September to June beginning in the fall of 2019 with our Pre-K students. This Seeds program is aligned with the Massachusetts Pre-K science standards and it also uses the Engineering Design Process adapted to fit into the school’s STREAM language. It is an academically rigorous program which is standards-based, has cross-curricular ties, and will give our teachers an opportunity to develop even more curriculum connections. This program sets St. Joe's apart as having a research based WPI created and endorsed program that builds children's higher order thinking skills.