Our Current STEM Focus
What STEM means at Valley Grove Elementary
At Valley Grove Elementary School, STEM learning reflects our shared commitment within Anderson Community Schools to inspire, encourage, and support every student in reaching their full potential. Guided by the district’s mission and vision, STEM at Valley Grove provides meaningful learning experiences that promote academic achievement, curiosity, and responsible citizenship in a safe and supportive environment.
Our STEM direction emphasizes foundational skill building, problem-solving, and collaboration. Through hands-on, developmentally appropriate learning experiences, students explore ideas, ask questions, and begin making connections between their learning and the world around them. STEM learning encourages critical thinking, creativity, and perseverance while helping students develop confidence in their abilities as learners.
Valley Grove Elementary values a caring and inclusive school community where all students are supported socially, emotionally, and academically. STEM experiences reinforce teamwork, respectful communication, and adaptability as students learn to work together and appreciate diverse perspectives. These skills help students grow as both learners and individuals.
Continuous improvement and student focus guide our approach to STEM learning. Instruction is designed to be engaging, relevant, and responsive to student needs, ensuring all learners have access to high-quality educational experiences. Students are encouraged to take ownership of their learning and develop a mindset of lifelong growth.
By building strong foundations in curiosity, collaboration, and critical thinking, Valley Grove Elementary School’s STEM direction prepares students for continued success throughout their educational journey. Students leave Valley Grove confident, capable, and ready to grow as learners and responsible members of their school and community.
Valley Grove Elementary School is part of Anderson Community Schools in Anderson, Indiana. The school serves approximately 485 students in grades K through 5, fostering a supportive and inclusive educational environment. Valley Grove Elementary is committed to helping students develop strong academic skills, confidence, and a passion for learning.
Valley Grove Elementary School
What makes our STEM program stand out
STEM Implementation K-12-to-Career
STEM is a pillar to the WD approach to education and preparing students as functioning members of the community by being exposed to the increasingly technology driven world. Between the three STEM labs, every student is exposed to the career opportunities available with STEM.
STEM Promotion
STEM Day and other events throughout the year expose students on what is to come as
their educational journey in the building continues. Elementary students are exposed to
opportunities at the high school, and high school students are exposed to industry
employers looking for talent or mentorship opportunities.
Diversified Options for all Secondary Ed Students, College and Workforce Bound
WD hosts several different NLPS pathways that allow students to explore their interests in
engineering, digital media, cybersecurity, information technology, business operations, and more. There is not another school of this size offering such a vast array of career exploration
opportunities.
VEX GO Robotics
Valley Grove Elementary participates in the Anderson Community Schools VEX GO competitive robotics league, in which the robotics team meets regularly after school to build, redesign, modify, drive, and program a VEX GO robot through a series of timed challenges to score points. The top competitors from each school progress to a district-wide VEX GO tournament in the spring, where they compete for prizes and trophies.
Engineering Design Process
Students at Valley Grove Elementary receive regular hands-on STEM education in the form of design projects and challenges. Modeled around the research-based 5E model of STEM education, students investigate a phenomenon, design a solution, test their solution, and iterate their solution design based on results and feedback. In addition to providing solid context for understanding of scientific concepts, these projects help reinforce the Engineering Design Process in our students.
STEM Engagement
Individual teachers use their own personal passions to infuse STEM into lessons at an additional level. Students take engaging field trips to farms, zoos, orchards, Mounds State Park, and other STEM related destinations. Other teachers have pets in their classrooms, create extra STEM related units such as learning about the Iditarod dog sledding races to calculate distance and performance, and often create STEM related experiences that integrate and enhance our ELA and Math curriculum. Grade levels often have end-of-unit practice related to their ELA/ STEM study where students partake in mock surgeries, science experiments pertaining to volcanic eruptions and mountain creation via tectonic plate movements, and raise live chicks to learn about the life cycle.
Across these courses, students engage in authentic, industry-aligned experiences: designing and testing prototypes, conducting biomedical investigations, modeling in 3D design software, analyzing complex systems, problem-solving as engineering teams, and applying the Engineering Design Process to real-world challenges. Each course includes resume-ready technical skills such as CAD modeling, biomedical diagnostics, aerospace system analysis, circuitry, data analysis, and scientific communication, just as STEM professionals use every day.
