By Marie Perry
Communications Director for the School District of Belleville
The School District of Belleville is proud (as a small rural school district) to be providing state of the art programming in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) education for its student body. To that end, it offers Project Lead the Way (PLTW) curriculum for its students beginning in elementary school all the way through high school. Exposing students to these educational opportunities early on in their educational journey allows them to have a breadth of knowledge and career choices as they advance as learners. Early exposure to STEAM curriculum helps shape interests in learners and is needed as technology continues to advance at a rapid rate. To be prepared for college and career opportunities, even the smallest school districts need to keep their eyes on the future and teach to it. PLTW curriculum helps keep pace and bridge the gap between what is going on in our schools and what students need to be competitive as they graduate high school.
In early May, Project Lead the Way (PLTW) notified the School District of Belleville that both the Belleville Elementary School and Belleville Middle School were once again named “Distinguished Schools.” The elementary school joins 14 other Wisconsin schools as Distinguished Launch schools. The middle school is also one of just 15 Distinguished Gateway schools in the state. Project Lead the Way notes that just 492 elementary schools and 212 middle schools across the United States received this honor “for providing broad access to transformative learning experiences for students through PLTW.”
To be eligible for the designation at the elementary level, more than 75 percent of the student body participated in the program. The school also offered at least one PLTW Launch module at each grade level during the school year. At the middle school level, Belleville qualified under three requirements:
Having more than 50 percent of the student body participate in PLTW units during the 2021-22 school year.
Offering at least one PLTW Gateway unit at each grade level.
Having strategies in place that support proportional representation with regard to race, ethnicity, poverty, and/or gender.
District Administrator Nate Perry is proud of the PLTW instruction going on in the School District of Belleville. He notes, “The district has invested heavily into Project Lead the Way, with curriculum, training, equipment, and facilities. It is satisfying to see this effort recognized at the state and national levels. It is even more exciting to see students who have progressed through these courses furthering their education or finding jobs in STEAM.”
Repeatedly achieving the title of “Distinguished Schools” is both reassuring and reinvigorating as educators in the School District of Belleville plan for the 2023-2024 school year and where they want to go from here. Educators know what they are doing is working for their students and preparing them for a strong future, but it also provides the educational “fodder” to go back to the “cookbook,” learn from what worked and start again and do it even better. Project Lead the Way is a future-based curriculum that not only intrigues students at whatever point they are in their educational journey, but it also provides a creative platform to bring the best out in the educators who are involved in the program. With these awards as the 2022-2023 school year concludes, Belleville’s learning community is even more excited to get going in the fall!
