Interest-Based Electives: Engaging Students With STEAM Explorations

Educators at Walter Bracken STEAM Academy engage students by letting them choose outside-the-box enrichment classes, like toy making, drones, and candy chemistry.

February 16, 2016

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Schools That Work

Walter Bracken STEAM Academy Elementary School

Public, Urban

Grades PK-5

Las Vegas, NV

Walter Bracken STEAM Academy, a Title 1, PK-5 public magnet school in Las Vegas, Nevada, converted a janitor’s closet into a financial center for student banking; transformed the entire school into a library; overhauled 32,000 square feet of dry grass into student-centered learning gardens; and revolutionized enrichment curriculum teaching math with drones and science with candy.

2013 National Blue Ribbon School
Five Star rating on the Nevada School Performance Framework
Outperforms both state and county proficiency rates in science and writing by more than 20 percentage points