Deepening and Expanding Focus on STEAM Learning Opportunities
Bentley Academy Innovation School has seen recent success with its science education program and was one of six Salem schools to improve its MCAS percentile rank in 2024 and 2025. Additionally, grades 5-8 science students saw a 3 percent increase in proficiency, from 30 percent to 33 percent.
STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math. Students go to the lab once a week to integrate science concepts with other focus areas. They explore creative and hands-on projects that support and connect concepts that extend what they are learning in their other classes. Students use investigations to explore their creativity and curiosity as they learn how to design, build, and test various solutions to real-world problems. They learn how to collect, record, and share data. They also learn the design process and coding. Our new composter and worm farm provide rich soil for our outdoor spring garden.
Here are a few examples of projects across grade levels:
- 1st Grade Students are learning about slope and velocity by creating ramps with lego for their milk cap “ski jumpers”.
- The Fourth Grade Dual Language Students completing an engineering challenge to build a boat from straws that can float while holding 25 pennies. They are testing their ingenuity to create a load bearing design using limited materials and only 3 inches of tape!
