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Rockford expands elementary STEAM to weekly special; grants and lending library support scale‑up
Summary
District leaders and STEAM teachers told the board the DK–5 STEAM program is now a weekly special across schools, built on five pillars (design thinking, collaboration, problem solving, resilience, technology competency). The program received grants for kits and is building a lending library for teachers.
Rockford Public Schools presented an update on the district’s elementary STEAM program, which administrators and teachers said now provides a weekly STEAM special for students in DK through fifth grade and is backed by grants, equipment purchases and a planned lending library for classroom use.
Presenters said the program is organized around five pillars — design thinking, collaboration, problem solving, resilience and technology competency — and that lessons spiral year to year so students revisit and deepen concepts from grade to grade. Teachers described unplugged coding, block coding, robotics and hands‑on engineering challenges as examples of the pathway from early concepts to technology use.
Sarah Brown, one of the STEAM teachers presenting, said the team “selected 5 pillars that we feel are important to our students” and described a double‑spiral curriculum that introduces a concept, builds knowledge and then dives deeper in later lessons and grades. The STEAM lead said teachers use tools such as Sphero Indi, Ozobots, micro:bit and 3‑D pens in age‑appropriate ways and noted a wind‑tunnel challenge and 3‑D design activities as classroom examples.
The district reported strong community response to a STEAM night that drew more than 1,200 attendees this year and said the Rockford Education Foundation provided grants for LEGO kits, coding tools and a new lending library of STEAM materials that will be available for teachers to check out school‑by‑school.
Administrators said STEAM programming also supports special education classrooms and the ASD program, and staff described plans to strengthen cross‑curricular connections with literacy and science. Board members praised the program’s growth and its role in exposing students to problem solving and possible career interests.
The district said the STEAM program will continue to expand its community partnerships and seek additional age‑appropriate robots and materials as the program scales.
