Marble Falls discusses relocating STEAM Academy
Contributed
Marble Falls ISD STEAM Academy students demonstrated one of their projects to their parents and peers at a December open house. The district is looking at moving the academy campus from Spicewood Elementary to Marble Falls Middle School.
By Nathan Hendrix
Staff Writer
The Marble Falls Independent School District school board last week weighed the benefits and drawbacks of relocating the newly-founded STEAM Academy to Marble Falls Middle School for the 2019-2020 school year.
The Academy is in its first year as part of the MFISD curriculum, and the administration expressed their satisfaction towards the accomplishments of the Academy in a short time.
“We've received a tremendous amount of feedback from parents, students and administration,” said Dr. Wes Cunningham, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction. “[Students are] learning and having a blast. That's the story I hear from countless parents.”
However, Dr. Chris Allen, superintendent of MFISD, said the Academy isn't expanding at the rate the district hoped it would. Part of the issue, he said, is the Spicewood location and the logistics involved in transporting the students to and from the Academy.
Another factor the district is considering is the STEAM students' ability to participate in other extracurricular activities, such as fine arts and athletics.
“We want to make certain our students have the opportunity to participate fully in every opportunity that middle school offers,” Cunningham said. “It felt like this would be the best way for us to get there.”
If the Academy is moved, the district will follow the “school within a school” model at the middle school. That means that although the Academy is located at MFMS, it would still be an autonomous entity that controls its own schedule and operations.
“It's in the best interest of the program to pull the relocation,” Allen said. “I was fully committed to the idea of leaving it in Spicewood, but in the name of sometimes trying to build a plane while flying it, we have noticed the wings are on fire.”
Allen said the move would also help with the goal of making STEAM “the core instructional curriculum model” at the middle school. The principles of the Academy are that “learning should be engaging and cross-curricular while focusing on real-world learning opportunities,” according to the Academy's page on the district website.
Board member Alex Payson expressed concern about the space available at the middle school when factoring in future student population growth.
“It's going to be tight at the middle school,” Allen said in response. “It's going to require using some portable (buildings) in a unique way to create space.”
Cunningham said the middle school already has one portable building that can be used as a STEAM classroom, and the district has the option of bringing another one over. He said the balance will be ensuring the classrooms remain within a contained area to retain the Academy's culture.
Due to the approaching registration deadline, Cunningham said he'd like to get the information out to parents and the Spicewood staff as soon as possible
“This may increase interest in the STEAM Academy,” he said. “We want to see additional enrollment across the district for this. We're excited about the future.”
The district will still cap enrollment at 75 students. This school year, the Academy has 73 students so it didn't have to deny any accepted students due to space. Cunningham said the district developed a lottery system for last year's registration, and it is prepared to use the same system should the Academy receive more than 75 applications.
The application process for the 2019-2020 school year begins the week of Feb. 25. MFISD will be releasing information on how parents or guardians interested in registering their child for the STEAM Academy can do so. For more information, visit the MFISD STEAM website at www.marblefallsisd.org/steam.
