STEAM Week, Kinetic Sculptures!

Note from the Principal: This was one of the most amazing weeks at Monument Valley. It was Science Week at MV supported by the STEM Week initiative through the i2 Program, launched at MIT several years ago. This program aligns with the declaration of this week as STEM Week by Governor Charlie Baker. We suspended all classes for the week and did integrated units in project based learning for all students. i2 trained half of our teachers as lead educators, and the half of our teachers were collaborating educators. Each grade did a week long study in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, aligned with history and language arts. It was a fully immersive program with awesome materials and fabulous curriculum. The fifth grade studied Loon Lake, an ecosystem investigation. The sixth grade designed a Lunar Colony. The seventh grade created Kinetic Sculptures. And the eighth grade learned about Surgical Techniques. This will be a week we repeat every year, and a model for other initiatives we are looking to implement, as the school moves towards integrated, project based units in heterogeneous groupings for instruction. Thanks to all the families who joined us for the Student Showcase this morning. It was fabulous to see so many family members around, peeking into classrooms, hearing explanations, asking questions and engaging with the student creations.