Entering the classrooms at the Waukesha STEM Academy, it is immediately clear that something groundbreaking is happening inside.
Within the school's walls, students can be seen milling about, getting their hands dirty, and expressing their creativity — in ways meant to shake the foundation of how students can better learn.
When the Waukesha STEM Academy opened in 2010, school district officials immediately saw the demand for their non-traditional setting as more than double the applications they anticipated came in the first year. Today, the school is nearly at capacity.
"We saw a lot of great things happening in education and a lot of pockets of innovation. We really tried to harness that environment," Principal James Murray explained about the decision to open the school.
Chartering a new course
The two-campus academy — the kindergarten-through-fifth grade Randall Campus and the sixth-through-eighth grade Saratoga Campus — was founded on the desire to offer not just classes, but to make the most of a student's day through engagement, open-ended project learning, student choice, and student voice, Murray said.
The school has a charter status, but still works with the Waukesha School District on some levels.
Students are selected strictly on a lottery basis — there is no grade, behavioral or other qualifications that students must meet. The only stipulation for admittance is that prospective students are required to visit the school while in session to see if the school seems to be a good fit for them.
"At a technology school, we use a bingo hopper to pick students," Murray said, laughing.
While many schools plan student learning year by year, STEM Academy looks at education as a journey of several hundred learning days — in other words, their entire duration at the school. This structure allows students to work at their level of achievement in all subject matters. For example, a second-grader may be taking fourth-grade-level math and second-grade-level science.
"We look at the what you learn, not the how you learn," said Murray.
Students are allowed to demonstrate their learning in a way that is fitting to their style of learning and interest.
Amid the flexibility, the school still monitors students' learning targets. By the end of their third year, students are expected to be at their grade level in all subjects. Additionally, kids are taught what the school calls the essential eight skills, which includes innovating, collaborating, and technology.
"We really try to teach 21st century skills."
Alongside the tech skills, "Literacy runs strong in these halls," added Murray.
Artistic touch
STEM traditionally stands for science, technology, engineering and math. Such emphasis is clearly present at the Waukesha STEM Academy. But, the school leans more toward what is called STEaM, the basic components of STEM but with more of an arts emphasis.
"Art is integrated through every class," Murray said.
Students do not attend a regularly slated art class. Instead, art teachers work with all of the other teachers to evoke creativity in everything students do, he explained.
"We are starting to see the lines really blur between the classes," said Murray, adding that, each year, the school finds itself chopping down the amount of periods students have and are instead creating daylong or weeklong experiences for them.
There are no bells at the Waukesha STEM Academy, nor are there any transition times between classes.
When it's all boiled down, "students don't learn unless they're given an opportunity to participate in something that they care about," explained Murray. "Students are engaged when it's relevant to them."
Lessons learned
Many kids don't learn in traditional ways, and the environment Waukesha STEM Academy allows kids to pick the way that they find to be the best way to demonstrate their learning and knowledge.
As the saying goes around the school, "just because I did it some way doesn't mean it's the best way for you."
Murray added: "We just tried to mimic as much as we could what reality will look like for these students," so that they realize in life you won't be at the mercy of a bell or be glued to a desk. That life offers flexibility, and choice.
Looking ahead, the school is planning to expand perhaps higher grades down the road.