Standard 9

School/program provides within-school and extra-curricular opportunities for students to extend STEM learning

All students at Somerset Gables are provided with opportunities to engage in STEM learning activities both in and out of the classroom. As briefly mentioned before, our students interact with age-appropriate STEM specific extracurricular activities through clubs, such as coding, Lego, art, and iPlay.
Through KidTec, a company that has been working with our school since the 2014-2015 school year, our students are provided with STEM-specific learning opportunities in the coding and Lego activities. In coding, students are provided with instruction to help them create and program their games. They are given the skills necessary to problem-solve, think critically, and create. In Lego, based on the age group, students are given the freedom to create and utilize STEM-related skills learned in class, outside of the typical classroom setting. The instructors guide students to develop their motor skills further, if needed, while also helping them think creatively and innovatively. Through art, students are presented with opportunities to utilize their creativity and imagination in different ways. These high-quality, dynamic classes expose students to another way of developing critical-thinking skills and problem-solving methods through innovative ways. They work with all types of materials, such as watercolor, tempera, acrylic paint, and oil pastels. Lastly, a club started in the 2019-2020 school year, iPlay, utilizes board games and puzzles to develop students’ critical-thinking and problem-solving skills.