Parkview Elementary Schooltitle

STEM Mission:

To provide Parkview S.T.E.M. School students with an engaging curriculum for a world that is increasingly dependent upon science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. 

STEM Vision: 

Children are inherently curious about the natural world (the sciences) and how things are put together and work (engineering).  Based on these intuitive inclinations, it is our vision at Parkview S.T.E.M. School to incorporate these ways of knowing into the daily experiences of our students so that they come to see themselves as budding scientists and engineers.

Through hands-on science experiences in our classrooms, our on-site lab, and through a variety of tailored field experiences, students will be exposed to the scientific concepts and processes appropriate to their level of understanding based on grade-level science standards.  In orchestration with the science content, our students will receive instruction in the "Engineering Design Process" using site-adopted engineering curriculum that dovetails with the concepts taught in life, earth, and physical science. 

It is the application of the Language Arts skills and English Language Development- that is reading, writing, listening, and speaking that provides coherence to this content learning.  Reading of course is a critical skill for understanding all content subjects.  Parkview S.T.E.M. students will read various literary genres as well as expository text in science and engineering. Scientific note-booking or journaling is an integral component of communication for a scientist, as it is for our students.  Parkview S.T.E.M. students will begin to keep a science / engineering journal as early as Kindergarten.

The use of technological tools is progressively more important to scientists and students for the creation, communication, storage, and presentation of ideas and understandings.  Parkview S.T.E.M. teachers and students will utilize a variety of technology tools including computers, probes, digital media, and notepads. Our intent is for students to select and utilize appropriate technology tools for the task at hand, much as they utilize a pencil sharpener or a key to a door.

Mathematics is one of the "languages" of science and engineering.  Through hands-on activities, students will develop a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts.  They will also develop skills in communicating their thinking with others.  The organization and manipulation of numbers in data charts, graphs, and notes is one of many important mathematical skills needed to communicate clearly the observations and findings gathered during science and engineering experiences.  Parkview S.T.E.M. School students will use these math skills to clarify and justify their findings during science and engineering experiences as well as connect mathematical concepts and numbers to real things in our world.