West Aurora District 129 Introduces STEM Course, Library Flex Time to Elementary Schools

Young girls learning science is one reason that STEM courses in schools are encouraged. West Aurora School District 129 is adding a STEM course in elementary schools this year and updating its LMC model.

All 10 elementary schools in West Aurora School District 129 are offering a new STEM course to first through fifth grade students when school resumes mid-August.

The STEM course, designed by district leaders and teachers, will be a 50 minute “special” each week. The course in its first year will be graded as an effort grade, as specials currently are, but that could change in the future.

“We’ll evaluate the curriculum for a year,” said Nick Baughman, director of elementary teaching and learning for District 129. Baughman added that the District will assess the course after the first year to determine if and how it should be graded.

Baughman said the STEM course allows students to apply critical thinking skills to what they are already learning in English Language Arts, Reading, and Science. The course is a way of “bringing it all together” and reinforcing skills, he said.

The STEM course revolves around problem-based curriculum that is intended to enhance a variety of topics currently being taught in classrooms.

“It’s a way to get our kids to do inquiry based learning,” said District 129 Assistant Superintendent Brent Raby.

Raby said that each elementary school hired one STEM teacher, and the 10 positions were filled by current teachers in District 129 earlier this year.

STEM classrooms will be fitted with a set of iPads for use by each student. Baughman said the technology can assist students in designing experiments and collecting data.

For example, if students are studying weather systems in science, then they can go to STEM and design an experiment related to weather. Maybe they want to discover how hurricanes develop, and in STEM, they can come up with a claim and provide evidence using iPads to take photos, research, and work collaboratively with other students.

Baughman and Raby said the STEM course along with a new, district-wide LMC (Library Media Center) model is also a way to bring standardization to the district and what is offered to each student.

“All of the kids have access to equitable resources,” Baughman said. He outlined that elementary schools district-wide will have four LMC directors and each school will have one full time paraprofessional working in the LMC.

LMC directors are assigned two or three schools and will act as coaches and work one on one with teachers. The model allows for the LMC to be more integrated in the current curriculum.

Kindergarten LMC time will remain unchanged and stay as a weekly special. LMC time for first through fifth grades will be on a “flex time” schedule that allows students to visit the LMC as needed.

Both Baughman and Raby said that several other area districts use a flex schedule for the LMC, and District 129 students are familiar with the freedom of visiting the library upon request during the school day.

As it was, District 129 LMCs all operated differently, according to Raby. The hope is that LMC directors working at more than one school and coaching teachers will allow for the LMC to be a more effective learning environment.

No district libraries will be closing, and alternatively, six elementary schools are receiving library improvements due to the referendum that voters passed last year.

Raby and Baughman responded to what they called “misinformation” about libraries closing and teachers losing their jobs by updating the district website with a Q&A for parents. They added that teachers will have more collaborative time, and the district is becoming more of a state model with other districts taking note.

When asked to respond to parent criticism of the changes in the LMC, both Raby and Baughman emphasized the positive aspects of both the addition of STEM and the new LMC model.

Parents were first alerted to the changes in a letter emailed home in March, according to Tony Martinez, district spokesperson. The district was criticized by some parents as not being transparent about the changes and not communicating effectively before adding the new curriculum.

Baughman, who has young daughters of his own, said he would absolutely be in favor of what the district is providing to elementary students. “It’s an opportunity to express creativity. It’s creating the type of learners that I want my girls to be,” he said.

Raby agreed.

“We are tailoring a model for the district,” Raby said.

Raby said the district is being more progressive in connecting elementary students with the real world.

“We’re giving students the opportunity to apply learning,” he said.

For more information on the STEM course and the new LMC model, visit the district website here.