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.
Once students reach Middle School, the hands-on learning continues with focused units in and content knowledge acquisition about biology, chemistry, engineering, geology, physics, and more. Students continue to develop their skills and knowledge about digital citizenship, word processing, multimedia production, electronic presentation, desktop publishing, and use of databases and spreadsheets.
Grade 6
The curriculum is based on a hands-on approach that focuses on three major units of study: Magnets and motors; geology; and life science and plants.
Emphasis is placed on developing the scientific reasoning skills of observing, measuring, and identifying properties. Students are required to conduct an independent science fair project on a topic of their choosing. A comprehensive Geology unit prepares students for a one-week study trip to the Desert Southwest. Students have science three times a week.
Grade 7
The curriculum focuses on Life Science topics which include the origins of life, evolution, characteristics and classification of organisms, ecology, behavior, immunity and disease, animal body systems, heredity and genetics, and botany. These topics are reinforced with extensive laboratory work, which is evaluated with a comprehensive practical exam at the end of the year. Methods include hands-on experiential learning employing scientific laboratory skills as well as learning from discussions and textbooks, emphasizing that science is a way of understanding the world. A major goal is preparation for high school biology courses. Classes are daily.
Grade 8
Physical Science serves as a serious introduction to the study of physics and chemistry. Topics covered include laws of motion, forms and uses of energy (heat, mechanical, nuclear, electrical, etc.), wave motion (sound and light), classification of matter (elements, compounds, mixtures), atomic structure and the periodic table, chemical bonding and reactions, and solutions of acids, bases, and salts. Laboratory work forms an integral part of Physical Science, as chemistry and especially physics are well suited to an inductive approach to learning. Emphasis is placed on quantitative analysis of data, especially graphing. Classes are daily.
