St. Jane Frances in Pasadena, a Catholic elementary and middle school in Anne Arundel County, has been awarded a $53,000 grant by the state of Maryland as part of the Maryland STEM Portfolio Project (MSPP) Ideal Classroom initiative.
The grant was awarded to St. Jane Frances, recently designated a STEM school by the Archdiocese of Baltimore, to develop an “ideal classroom” for project-based STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) learning utilizing multiple types of software and technology across curricula. The ideal classroom will include student laptops, flip video cameras, wireless printers, tablet PCs, and Labquest Interface/Sensor units, a science technology tool. While the grant provides for one ideal classroom, the entire school will benefit from the resources which can be shared among all grades, according to principal, Michelle Jones.
“This much-needed funding will help us to ensure that the students we serve continue to benefit from the best and most current technology and teaching tools available,” she said. “Because STEM learning is embedded in the curriculum at every grade level, every student will benefit from this grant.”
As a participant in the Maryland STEM Portfolio Project, St. Jane Frances was invited to participate in the Ideal Classroom initiative to request additional STEM-teaching and learning resources. The grant award evaluation included a review of how the ideal classroom solution would help students overcome project obstacles, enhance STEM learning, promote hands-on opportunities for students, and demonstrate how the use of the equipment will contribute to student learning in regular classroom instruction.
For more information, please call 410-255-4750 or visit www.stjaneschool.org.