Big change at elementary site. See why this Modesto school is adding 7th-, 8th-graders
The Modesto City Schools board has embraced a plan to make Tuolumne Elementary a TK-8 campus to strengthen the STEAM pathway for students up through high school.
Trustees approved adding seventh grade to the south Modesto school next academic year, and then eighth grade in the 2022-23 year. That means immediate plans include looking at staffing needs, adding two seventh-grade classrooms and purchasing STEAM-related materials.
Board members including John Ervin III observed that building on the school’s STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) focus could have powerful impacts beyond what kids learn in the classroom.
Ervin noted the transitory nature of some communities, recalling that he himself attended four elementary schools and thus has no lifelong friends from those early years. “Having that type of educational environment in the community, there would be an incentive for for parents to keep their children there,” he said of the TK-8 pathway at Tuolumne. And if more children stay at Tuolumne, “they can develop those relationships that will happen and carry on into life after school.”
Assistant Superintendent Heather Contreras, who made the Tuolumne presentation to the board, said the district has heard from the school’s community that “dedication to remaining in the program” probably will reduce mobility among families.
Parents of current sixth-graders were asked if they would commit to having their children stay at Tuolumne for seventh grade, Contreras said. Of the 76 sixth-grade families, 59 said they would. Five families already have children at other middle schools and want their sixth-graders to join their older siblings. Twelve families didn’t respond.
Better engagement with parents
Trustee Homero Mejia said he is “super thrilled” about the plan and sees it as an opportunity for more meaningful engagement with parents of students. Contreras said a “maker space” that’s included in the proposed Tuolumne master plan would facilitate that engagement.
Though it really hasn’t been explored yet, Contreras said, the maker space would be a place for families “to come in and work side by side with each other” on hands-on activities. “That is one of the visions and the goals of the school.”
Trustee Chad Brown praised the “equitable opportunity” the plan offers Tuolumne students to excel in STEAM. And he suggested the district seek a partnership with Modesto Junior College for a satellite campus of sorts.
That would allow parents who can’t get to MJC “to excel right alongside their children,” he said. “MJC would love to have an opportunity like that and it would create an opportunity for us to really showcase that campus and make that a destination school.”
Ervin said Tuolumne also should draw on the wealth of knowledge and expertise already within Modesto City Schools, including Dave Menshew’s forensic biotechnology program at Enochs High and the robotics program at Beyer.
As for being a destination school as Brown suggested, Noonan said Modesto City Schools welcomes students to join the school. Parents should follow the interdistrict/intradistrict transfer request process detailed on the MCS website.
Though the application window has passed, she said, “we are still open to looking at these requests on a case-by-case basis as space allows on the Tuolumne campus.” Families may call Child Welfare and Attendance at 209-574-1595 for more information.
Adding to sense of community
Board Vice President Adolfo Lopez, in whose district Tuolumne Elementary is located, said Modesto City Schools is the only agency that’s visible to residents who often feel they live in a no man’s land. Having the campus become TK-8, allowing students to stay longer and feel ownership of the school, having parents feel a stronger sense of community through the school, “is a great opportunity all around,” he said.
Modesto City Schools has STEM/STEAM curriculum pathways at several schools.
“Our two elementary schools with STEM/STEAM programs are Beard and Tuolumne, which then feed into Hanshaw Middle School (for Tuolumne) and Roosevelt Junior High (for Beard), followed by high school at Beyer (for Beard) and Johansen (for Tuolumne),” district spokeswoman Krista Noonan told The Bee in an email prior to Monday night’s board meeting. “All of these sites have extensive STEM/STEAM activities, as well as computer science and robotics classes, to take students from TK/kindergarten all the way through 12th grade with the STEM/STEAM and computer science pathways.”
Contreras told trustees that adding seventh and eighth grades at Tuolumne is not expected to affect staffing at Hanshaw. Noonan said the south Modesto middle school will continue offering its science program and through bond Measure D and E funds is getting updated science classrooms and labs.
Project Lead the Way
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of Tuolumne Elementary teachers and site leaders visited STEAM schools and attended Project Lead The Way training in San Antonio and Anaheim. Project Lead the Way, Contreras said, is a nationally recognized program focused on hands-on use of science and experimentation to solve real-world problems and to develop critical thinking skills in our youth.
The Tuolumne staff’s work didn’t stop when COVID hit, Noonan said. “Teachers at the site continued their training virtually on Tuesday evenings from March through May 2020 so they could be prepared to roll out the curriculum. The lead teachers at Tuolumne have already begun teaching STEAM modules this spring in the hybrid model using Project Lead the Way curriculum.
Additionally, 26 educators from both Tuolumne and Beard Elementary schools are currently being trained to become Project Lead the Way STEAM certified teachers.
All Tuolumne students will have access to one project-based module this spring as a kickoff to the 2021-22 school year of implementation, Noonan said. They will begin with learning activities focused on engineering.
“In these activities, students will work on hands-on, project-based activities that include robotics and automation, science of flight, exploring design, light and sound, and energy: collisions and conversions,” she said by email.
Contreras’ slide presentation on the Tuolumne TK-8 plan is an attachment in this week’s board agenda, at bit.ly/3tLslMA. Video of the board meeting can be viewed on the MCS Board of Education channel at YouTube.
This story was originally published May 13, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
