STEM
The STEM program cultivates students’ abilities in systems thinking, inquiry, data analysis, communication and collaboration by engaging them in meaningful, hands-on challenges rooted in real-world contexts.
Across all four years, students develop the ability to use models to understand, explain and predict the structure and function of complex systems. They begin with basic physical models (e.g., geometrocity, earth’s layers) and progress to accurately scaled and functional representations, including models of energy transfer, organ systems, atomic structures and genetic inheritance. By Grade 8, students create, interpret and analyze models to demonstrate how systems function and interact at molecular, organismal and environmental scales.
Students advance from formulating simple questions and conducting guided experiments to independently designing and carrying out multi-variable investigations. Early guided explorations focus on properties of matter and engineering challenges. By Grades 7 and 8, students engage in more sophisticated, open-ended and independently conducted investigations involving energy, motion, chemical reactions and genetics. Across all grades, they learn to define real-world problems and apply iterative engineering design to develop, test and refine solutions.
Students learn to collect, analyze and interpret data to support claims and solve problems. Beginning with accurate measurement tools and graphing in Grade 5, students then expand their use of mathematics to include ratios, conversions, efficiency calculations and interpreting graphs of energy and motion. Computational tools evolve from simple graphing and calculations to more sophisticated, multi-step data collection, conversions, visualization and analysis within the metric system in Grades 7 and 8. This equips them to solve authentic STEM problems in a universal language and enables them to access scientific formulas more quickly.
Throughout the program, students develop the ability to communicate scientific ideas effectively through diverse media. Depending on the content, students showcase their research through posters and presentations, and throughout middle school, progress to digital media, technical reports, data visualizations, models and scientific arguments supported by evidence.
STEM learning emphasizes teamwork, with students working in diverse groups to solve problems, conduct investigations and complete engineering challenges. Across the grades, students increasingly connect their STEM learning to real-world contexts, such as environmental systems, human impact, stewardship, ethical dilemmas in science and technological innovation. Career exploration is embedded throughout, with students making explicit links between classroom experiences and future opportunities in STEM fields.
