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STEAM

Creating flexible and innovative problem-solvers

By incorporating science, technology, engineering, art, and math – known as STEAM – into Langley’s classrooms throughout the day, our students become creative, innovative thinkers and problem-solvers. This integrated, inquiry-based approach to learning helps students of all ages think more broadly about real-world problems and build critical-thinking skills, perseverance, and confidence as they develop creative solutions.

Our youngest students in preschool and junior kindergarten are introduced to STEAM through thematic units that incorporate a number of subjects under a specific theme, allowing them to make meaningful connections and begin building problem-solving skills. 

Students in kindergarten through grade 2 spend time with a STEAM specialist in Langley’s STEAM Lab, providing them with opportunities to work collaboratively to design solutions to problems, analyze data, and make informed decisions along the way. Whether making glue, adding more shade to the playground, coding robots to perform tasks, or designing a recording booth for their classroom, students participate in inquiry-based projects designed to demonstrate how STEAM connects to the world around them.      

In grades 3-8, students learn from specialists in STEAM subject areas as they take part in collaborative, interdisciplinary projects that are scaffolded across grade levels to foster valuable design-thinking skills. Whether writing, designing, and coding their own interactive story book in fourth grade or researching, developing, and presenting an independent science project in seventh grade, students develop increasingly sophisticated methods and skills for analyzing and solving problems. 

Age-appropriate technology is fully embedded into the STEAM curriculum at all levels and is used as a tool to enhance understanding, communication, and collaboration. All students learn to become responsible digital leaders who are agile, flexible, and versatile. 

To support Langley’s commitment to STEAM, the school began hosting an annual STEAM Fair in 2016. This popular event – which is open to our entire community of students, parents, faculty, and staff – fosters innovation, creativity, and design thinking through a series of fun STEAM-based challenges and activities.

Langley's Technology & Innovation

Boys in STEAM class at Langley

Langley’s STEAM Philosophy

STEAM is a multidisciplinary approach to learning that integrates science, technology, engineering, arts, and math, and where students are immersed in hands-on learning that fosters innovation, develops higher-order thinking, and addresses real-world issues. We intentionally integrate inquiry-based learning, design, and social-emotional learning so that students are able to answer meaningful questions and solve complex problems in a global society.

girl in STEAM class at Langley

Our Curriculum & Skill Development 

Starting in junior kindergarten, students are exposed to age-appropriate digital tools. Teachers facilitate a student-centered, inquiry-based process that inspires creativity, discovery, problem-solving, and risk-taking. To support this, students have access to materials and consumables to maximize idea creation and prototype building. And, to ensure they are facile across platforms, they are exposed to multiple devices and programs.

Importantly, to ensure responsible digital citizens, Langley has developed a unique digital leadership program that is directly aligned with the school’s core values and provides a common language and expectations for students, parents, and teachers. Students learn what it means to be a digital citizen starting in junior kindergarten and build upon safe digital behaviors as they expand their digital footprint (e.g., copy- rights, evaluating the credibility of sources) by sixth grade.

Leveraging the standards from the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), we continually evaluate, pilot, and implement innovative technology tools that amplify and accelerate teaching and learning. Our goal is to help students de- velop essential technology skills, knowledge, confidence, and thought processes that will fuel their future academic and career success.


Sampling of Platforms & Tools

Learning Programs & Devices:

  • Amplified Science (Science)
  • Discovery Education Techbook (Social Studies)
  • Dreambox (Math)
  • G Suite for Education
  • Lexia Core5 (Language Arts)
  • Multiple Devices: iPads, Macbook Airs, Microsoft
  • Surfaces, and Google Chromebooks
  • Noodle Tools (Research)
  • Seesaw
  • ThinkCentral (Math)
  • TypingClub

Coding & Engineering:

  • Arduino Boards and Electronic Components • Beebot
  • Google CS FIRST
  • iWonder Dashbot
  • LEGO Mindstorms EV3 Robotics
  • LEGO Wedo 2.0 Robots
  • MakerBot Replicator+ (3D printers) • OSMO Coding
  • Scratch
  • Scratch Jr.

Langley's STEAM Fair