Schools serving students in grades 7th & 8th can offer Computer Science & STEM Exploratory course. These courses can be delivered for a single quarter, two quarters, or a full-school year.
In the middle school Computer Science course, students learn concepts including coding, fundamentals of hardware, basics of cybersecurity, and exploring the impacts of technology developments on life. Through the use of digital and physical computing resources like the micro:bit and Sphero RVR, students apply their skills to real-world applications.
STEM exploratory courses integrate computer science alongside application of the engineering design process. Each campus offering STEM has VEX IQ robotics kits for STEM lab units.
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) provides students with opportunities to apply the design processes of invention and innovation. Students experience ways in which technological knowledge and processes contribute to effective designs, abilities, and skills. Brainstorming, visualizing, modeling, constructing, testing, and refining designs provide firsthand opportunities for students to understand the uses and impacts of innovations. Students apply problem-solving, collaboration, research, exploration, inquiry, evaluation, and engineering design to address real-world problems.