Nevada Community School District staff on Feb. 3 briefed the Board of Education on the district’s new elementary computer science curriculum, describing grade-by-grade lessons, a $14,000 start-up grant and a partnership with Iowa State University to supply materials.

The presentation outlined hands-on lessons for students from early kindergarten through fourth grade, using tools such as LEGO Coding Express, Code.org, Osmo, Cubetto, BeBot and Dash robots, and platforms including ScratchJr. Staff described a mix of unplugged activities (sequencing and algorithms) and device-based coding exercises intended to teach problem solving, collaboration and debugging as students advance through grade levels.

District staff said the program started experimentally in earlier years with individual teachers offering lessons and has expanded this year with a dedicated instructor in the elementary special rotation. Presenters said the grant funds and Iowa State partnership paid for materials and that the program team visited other schools and attended trainings while building curriculum aligned to Iowa’s computer science standards.

Staff emphasized that the program reaches students who may struggle in conventional classroom settings. The presentation included examples of student projects — including an 8-bit–style video game a third-grader designed — and the team said teachers have seen reduced classroom behavior issues for students participating in the lab. Board members noted the social and academic benefits presenters described and praised the work.

Presenters asked the board to consider how to maintain students’ momentum after they leave the elementary school. The district currently offers computer science at the high school but not at the middle school, and staff and board members discussed options to bridge that gap — for example, embedding computer-science concepts into middle-school science classes, offering summer teacher training with Iowa State, or restarting extracurricular programs such as robotics. Staff reported that Josh at Iowa State indicated willingness to work with middle-school teachers during a summer program.

Board members asked whether middle-school staff had been engaged; presenters and other staff said that discussion had not yet occurred and that coordinating with the middle school would be a next step. The board also discussed related extracurricular pathways — including past robotics teams and regional programs — that could provide continuity for motivated students.

The board thanked the presenters and invited continued coordination with other buildings and community partners to sustain and grow the program.