9 Cutting-Edge STEM & STEAM Programs

Over the last couple decades, the United States has placed increasing emphasis on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. In recent years, some programs have added Art (STEAM), generally placing a greater focus on creativity and design thinking. Regardless of the exact composition of the program, the objective is the same: to provide students with the skills necessary to not only be successful in the modern world, but also to shape the future.

As an educational technology company, Test Innovators is particularly interested in furthering the efforts of these innovative programs.

Check out nine of the most inspiring and unique STEM and STEAM programs below:

1. Thriving in a changing world:

Charlotte Country Day School, Charlotte, NC

Charlotte Country Day School in Charlotte, North Carolina seeks to “prepare the next generation of leaders, thinkers, and doers”. As a pillar of this mission, they prepare students to “lead and thrive in a changing world,” which ties directly into the school’s STEAM curriculum. The program includes a four-week unit for seventh graders on engineering design and development during which they develop therapeutic game ideas. Over the summers, Upper School students participate in real-world science research at college and university labs. And STEAM is not only for older students: the introduction to the curriculum begins as early as kindergarten, where students participate in design activities such as building simple machines, laying the foundation for the skills they will continue to develop as they tackle ever-more-complex learning.

2. Deep STEM learning for K-8:

The Acera School, Winchester, MA

The Acera School in Winchester, Massachusetts, a K-8 school, similarly challenges its students to achieve deep STEM learning in the early grades. The school creates an environment in which Acera students are unintimidated by difficult subjects and fearless when learning new things quickly. Students are introduced to computer science and coding as early as age 5, and become intimately familiar with using all kinds of technology throughout their 9 years. This includes lab classes, engineering, wood shop, electronic arts, and various programs developed by curriculum collaborators from places like MIT and Boston University, who bring projects like the Amino BioLab microbiology platform and CRISPR gene editing to campus.

3. Ability-based STEM learning:

Nysmith School, Herndon, VA

The award winning Nysmith School was founded in 1984 and currently serves 550 students from 3 years old through 8th grade on campus in Herndon, Virginia. Nysmith is designed specifically for students who love to learn, creating an environment where students’ individual talents are nurtured, and the school has consistently scored in the top 1% of all categories in the IOWA Standardized Test for over a decade. In terms of STEM curriculum, Nysmith’s program is no less impressive. The school teaches math up to four grade levels above the student’s grade level, as students are placed in appropriate courses where they will be both challenged and successful. Students also have daily lab and computer science classes, spending 3.75 hours on science and 2.5 hours on computer technology per week.

4. STEM to benefit society:

Maine School of Science and Mathematics, Limestone, ME

The Maine School of Science and Mathematics, a public residential magnet school located in Limestone, Maine, brings together a group of Maine’s most academically motivated high school students to “become innovative, well-rounded scholars with the ability to develop, investigate, and communicate critical ideas that improve the human condition and benefit the people of Maine.” This approach is testament to what the STEM movement seeks to do: to prepare students to create holistic solutions to real-world problems. Beyond the rigorous curriculum in both the sciences and the humanities, students at MSSM also have access to opportunities in STEM such as math competitions, a biomedical summer camp, and other opportunities in Maine and beyond. All students live on campus in order to fully participate in a scholastic program of excellence with students who share similar interests.

5. Project-based design and engineering:

The Urban School, San Francisco, CA

The Urban School in San Francisco, California, offers UrbanX Labs, an interdisciplinary program that integrates design and engineering into project-based courses. The program addresses the design, technology, and engineering needs of the 21st century. Students participate in courses and co-curricular opportunities such as applied physics with motion and machines, electronics and robotics, or electricity and magnetism. There are also courses for advanced computer science topics, industrial and graphic design, and research and development. UrbanX courses teach students the fundamentals of discovery, innovation, creativity and problem-solving, all deeply rooted in Urban’s highly academic and supportive teaching environment.

6. The art and science of making:

The Athenian School, Danville, CA

At The Athenian School in Danville, California, a focus on engineering and design is founded on the idea that creating and making are crucial skills. The school’s making programs began in the early 2000’s with the “Spirit of Athenian” airplane project, where students assemble a fully functional, FAA approved two-seat plane by hand, and with the school’s robotics program, where Athenian students compete in the FIRST Robotics Competition annually. Through the process of design, students learn how to tackle challenging problems, think creatively, persevere through failure, collaborate, and work independently. This prepares them for standard academic challenges as well as dynamic, creative, and technological problems and projects. Some of the core classes offered in the areas of engineering & design are Project-Based Introduction to Computer Programming, The Art & Science of Making, CAD Programming, and Applied Science. The school is also in the process of building the Carter Innovation studio, which will be nearly three times the size of Athenian’s existing Maker Studio. Athenian also hosts The Diamond Challenge, an international entrepreneurship competition out of the University of Delaware. This year’s competition will be on February 25th and features 38 teams from high schools all over California, 14 of which include Athenian students. The projects range from a child-propelled self-directed scooter for kids with motor disabilities, a machine-learning cybersecurity system, software and data modeling to improve the success of corrective spinal surgeries, and a wall mount system that converts a standard projector into an entertainment system.

7. Invention and innovation:

Graland Country Day School, Denver, CO

Graland Country Day School in Denver, Colorado gives students the opportunity to participate in real design in the school’s Gates Invention and Innovation Program, where students in grades 5 through 8 have the opportunity to solve real-world problems through the invention of original products, possibly earning themselves U.S. patents in the process. Since the birth of the Gates program in 1998, the school has also hired a Charles C. Gates Director of Innovative Learning and developed an entire Innovation department, which finds ways to collaborate with teachers and develop innovative teaching methods. Through the Gates Program and other programs in innovation, students learn to rely on themselves, to take risks, and to learn the value of failure, which can oftentimes be the quickest way to success.

8. Women in STEM:

The Girls’ Middle School, Palo Alto, CA

All too often, as girls enter adolescence they begin to turn away from predominantly male fields such as science, technology, and math. At an all-girls’ school, however, girls are the only ones in the classroom, which means that they have the opportunity to fully engage in these subjects. The Girls’ Middle School in Palo Alto, California takes girls’ STEM education seriously. The three-year curriculum at GMS includes Computer Science as a required course for all three years, and eighth graders complete high school-level algebra. Additionally, technology is integrated into all aspects of the curriculum and arts programs, and students in the science program practice the skills that professional scientists use every day, engaging in multiple hands-on explorations, inquiries, and projects as they explore the natural world. The majority of STEM classes at the school are taught by women who are experts in their fields, solidifying for students the fact that they can be successful at anything, including being scientists, mathematicians, and engineers.

9. STEM for students of color:

Phillips Academy, Andover, MA

The lack of diversity in STEM fields is not only a gender divide. Phillips Academy’s (MS)² program (standing for Mathematics & Science for Minority Students) was created in 1977 by Head of School Theodore Sizer in order to advance diversity in the STEM fields by developing the competencies and self-confidence of outstanding students of color. The result is a truly transformative outreach program, which takes 35-37 high-potential students of color from public schools in targeted cities every year and provides a STEM-based three-summer program to challenge them intellectually and expose them to peers and educators with diverse backgrounds, life experiences, and aspirations. Many of the students go on to study at Ivy League schools and get jobs working for major tech companies.

Find out your chances of getting into these and other schools with a full length ISEE practice test or a full-length SSAT practice test from Test Innovators.