STEM Education at Brooke Charter Schools
STEM Education at Brooke Charter Schools
Developing Curiosity Through STEM
Today’s kindergarten engineering challenge charges Brooke Mattapan scholars with keeping their teddy bears cool during a hot afternoon nap outside. What knowledge will they need to build a shelter that keeps their teddies from cooking?
STEM education at Brooke is designed to grow our scholars’ curiosity about the world that surrounds them and to prepare them to pursue high-value fields, especially those where women and people of color have historically been underrepresented.
In every lesson starting in kindergarten and continuing through high school, our teachers put the thinking on scholars, encouraging them to refine their thinking about the way the natural world works through experimentation and analysis of evidence.
Putting the Thinking on Students
In science class, we consistently implement scientific practices. Students analyze evidence to answer questions and build understanding over time. Many science lessons incorporate an engineering challenge (like the teddy bear activity) where students use the design process to build a solution to a problem, using their newly acquired knowledge of a scientific principle.
Math classes begin with a rigorous, open-ended problem with multiple approaches. Our teachers reject the usual I do, we do, you do approach to teaching math in favor of a more conceptual model where class time emphasizes student discussion about how they struggled to solve new and difficult problems and found varied, effective solutions.
Computer science, and computational thinking, is an additional skill students develop beginning in first grade. Using a range of coding languages and technology platforms, scholars learn how to design, create, solve problems, and express themselves using computer technology.
Preparing for College and Career Success
Once they enter Brooke High School, scholars trade teddy bears for robots and take their skills to the next level. By the time they graduate from Brooke High, all scholars will have taken three years of math, science, and computer science, including Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science. Our scholars have already reached levels of achievement unmatched by their peers, and their rigorous course load ensures they will be prepared to excel in STEM college programs and careers.
Their skills are matched by their desire to learn more. This fall, nearly 40% of our rising seniors have selected to take not one but two non-mandatory science classes. Our scholars’ interest in science also extends beyond the classroom to career exploration and school clubs. In fact, the robotics team is one of the most popular clubs at Brooke High, with team members (half are girls and nearly all are students of color) committing over 120 hours every season to create a robot to compete in the FIRST Robotics Competition.
Get Involved!
There are many ways you can support STEM at Brooke:
- APPLY! We are actively recruiting STEM teachers for the upcoming school year. Read more about why teaching at Brooke is different or contact Nicole Grandinetti (ngrandinetti@ebrooke.org) to learn more.
- VOLUNTEER! Career exploration experiences are essential our students. If you can host a high school intern, volunteer to share your experience, or organize a job shadow contact Hagar Berlin (hberlin@ebrooke.org).
- CHECK OUT OUR RESOURCES! Our math, science, and computer science teaching videos, units plans and standards are available for other educators to use at RESOURCES.EBROOKE.ORG.