Our award-winning STEM program is designed to engage students in a relevant and exciting curriculum that breaks down the walls between science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The topics and content are presented through a project-based and hands-on approach with a purposeful sequence of lessons and skill development. Students are encouraged to take risks, persevere, adapt, create, and innovate in each class.
WES received the Strategic Ed Tech (SET) Gold Certification in recognition for our work in educational technology and innovation through SET’s Framework for K-12 Edtech and Innovation.
Students explore science both in the classroom and the Early Childhood science center. Units of exploration include the study of weather, plants, animals, the earth, human growth, wellness, light, color, five senses, seasons/weather, human growth, animals, nutrition, plants, sea life, insects, sinking and floating, ecology, caring for the environment, balancing and weight, magnets, electricity, and the rock cycle. Students also gain a general technological awareness in their science class and through the purposeful use of iPads and SMARTboards during the school day.
Students participate in three STEM program units taught by our Science, Technology, and Innovation Teachers throughout the year. The faculty coordinates and collaborates to provide a robust learning environment that reinforces STEM concepts across all of the rotations.
Science-Focused Unit
The curriculum used in this unit is created and developed by the Smithsonian Institute and the National Science Resources Center and focuses on the following areas: comparing, measuring, solids and liquids. Students gather for class in the science lab.
Innovation-Focus Unit
This section of the rotation takes an interdisciplinary approach to STEM with a focus towards entrepreneurship and innovation. The curriculum includes selections from:
Technology-Focused Unit
This section of the rotation focuses on developing students’ digital skills which will serve them through their time in school and beyond and learn the responsible use of technology. The curriculum includes iPad coding, digital citizenship, digital storytelling. Students meet in the technology lab for class.
