STEM School Initiative Advances
As word filters around the Huntington School District community that officials are studying the feasibility of creating a STEM magnet program at Jack Abrams School, parental interest in learning more continues to abound.
As of late last week, nearly 240 parents had contacted the district to express their desire to learn more about the STEM magnet program now under consideration. Superintendent James W. Polansky updated the Huntington School Board about the process during the trustees' last public meeting on January 28.
The district has reached out to several entities regarding possible grant funding to help get the program off the ground should the district move forward with it. Mr. Polansky told trustees there has been at least one "nibble" in the search for seed money.
The STEM school would have a heightened focus on science, technology, engineering and math inquiry-based instruction and related activities. Instruction would also include English, social studies and other areas of traditional education commonly found in the district's elementary classrooms.
Unlike the district's other primary schools, the STEM school would operate as a magnet school and be open to students across the district, regardless of their primary school attendance zone. The program would initially enroll several elementary grade levels before expanding in later years to include additional grades, if interest warrants such growth.
District parents would be given the choice of keeping their child at their regularly assigned school building or placing them in the STEM school should the initiative move forward.
If trustees decided to establish the STEM school, it would open in either September 2013 or September 2014. Mr. Polansky has been meeting with faculty members to discuss the concept of STEM education and various aspects of the program. STEM school teachers would need specialized training in instructional strategies and techniques as well as safety education for lab sessions.
The district is also interested in establishing one or more partnerships with local colleges and research labs and even corporations. Determining the costs associated with establishing and operating the STEM school is part of the process now underway.
Mr. Polansky plans to begin meeting with parent groups soon as he reaches out into the community to share information about the STEM initiative and the district's vision for the program.
The district would need to gain state approval to operate a magnet school without attendance zones. That process would include providing State Education Department officials with a comprehensive plan for the STEM school.
Parents and guardians of a student currently enrolled in grades 1-4 who might be interested in the STEM program for their respective child are invited to express such interest by sending an e-mail to HUFSDStemMagnet@hufsd.edu. Interested parties should include their name and their child's name, school and current grade level.