Gill St. Bernard’s School in Gladstone Launched a Specialized Science Program (STREAMS)

Place-Based Science Teaches Next-Gen Skills

Gill St. Bernard’s School in Gladstone recently launched a specialized science program that captures the natural curiosity of middle school minds. The new STREAMS program for fifth-grade students will kick-off this September. STREAMS is a yearlong course of study that brings together work in sustain-ability, technology, research, engineering, agriculture, math and service. The new program represents an extraordinary opportunity for the school’s middle school students to develop and practice crucial 21st Century Skills, including critical thinking, creativ-ity, collaboration and flexibility. The class of 2025 will be the first to take part in this cutting-edge program. “Building on Gill’s existing core academic program, which is broad-based, balanced and strong in humanities and writing, STREAMS provides enriched learning through technology, engineering and sustainability,” said Middle School Director Kyle Armstrong.

The school’s 208-acre campus, including the Home Winds Farm, will serve as an outdoor classroom for students on a weekly basis where they will take part in an 80-minute lab period to collect, date and analyze data as they learn proper laboratory skills. Armstrong says these research-based skills will provide a solid foundation for these young students throughout middle and high school.

“Next-Generation Science Standards are central to instruction and practice for our faculty and students. Emphasizing “crosscutting concepts” and a broad investigation of the natural world, our students receive the kind of training and education to prepare them for a rapidly changing world that increasingly requires individuals to be thoughtful, innovative and quick to adapt,” Armstrong added.

Teachers Noreen Syed and Montana Vasquez-Grinnell will serve as lead faculty for STREAMS. Syed was recently recognized by the New Jersey State Department of Education for her excellence in the classroom. Syed, who simultaneously earned her Masters of Teaching at Drew University while teach-ing full-time, was one of 15 to receive a Distinguished Clinical Intern Award, which is conferred annually on the top students in graduate educator preparation programs in New Jersey’s colleges and universities.

Gill St. Bernard’s School is an independent, nonsectarian, coeducational, college preparatory school for students from preschool through grade 12. The school’s dynamic liberal arts curriculum offers students a well-rounded program of academics, award-winning arts and athletics programs. Upon graduation, Gill students are articulate, goal-oriented, engaging young people poised for leadership and success in higher education and beyond. The 85 graduates of the Class of 2017 were accepted at some of the country’s most prestigious colleges and universities including Berkeley, Brown, Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Cornell, Northwestern, Princeton, University of Michigan and the University of Penn-sylvania. Gill St. Bernard’s is home to approximately 650 students each year. The average class size is between 14 to 16 students, depending on grade and subject level.

To learn more about Gill St. Bernard’s School, please visit us at our upcoming open house events on Sunday, October 22 and Sunday, November 19, 2017.