STEM SCHOOL HIGHLANDS RANCH

STEM School Highlands Ranch is a FREE, public charter school in Highlands Ranch that is located in Douglas County, and is the agship school of the KOSON Network of Schools.

Since our inception in 2011, we have set innovation standards and led the way in pushing the boundaries of what students can achieve. Our mission of Never Stop Innovating is in everything we do. We push the limits to continuously improve and achieve new heights. Don’t just take our word for it. Let our students tell you and show you what they can achieve.

“STEM Schol Highlands Ranch has taught me not only about theoretical concepts that you would typically learn in class but also a lot about myself as a learner, as someone who is a creative and always looking at ways to improve society for the better,” said Gitanjali Rao, a STEM senior and the rst-ever TIME Magazine Kid of the Year.

Rao joined STEM in middle school and has accomplished amazing things, including being an inventor, author, patent holder, and more.

“You never nd yourself feeling bored,” Rao said. “You never nd yourself with repetitive content in front of you. You always have this opportunity to learn within the classroom or even outside of one. You are never alone at STEM. Regardless of what you’re interested in, what opportunities you have, there’s always a friend, there’s always another group of people, there’s always another class, and there’s always a teacher waiting to help you out and make you grow.”

While we serve students in kindergarten through 12th grade inside our main school building, our campus has an innovative approach to learning that exceeds our classroom walls. Students utilize all areas of the building, including our play elds, playgrounds, and parking lots, to explore, learn and innovate.

Our innovative instructional approach, called the KOSON ProblemBased Learning Model, is what we call our secret sauce. It is what inspires our students and our sta every day.

What is it? It is Problem-Based Learning done the KOSON way. at means it is a teaching methodology where learning is student-centered and driven by relevant, realworld problems. roughout their instruction, students learn about a problem, ask questions, research, brainstorm solutions, test, analyze and take action, all while learning the state standards.

Students access background knowledge and investigate standards, which are aligned concepts that might help solve the problem. Our KOSON Instructional Model encourages peer collaboration, critical thinking and creativity, all while learning responsible use of technology.

Working with industry leaders through our Career Discovery Program, students nd new ways to collaborate and seek new solutions. Students are in the driver’s seat of their education through meaningful learning opportunities that allow them to constantly seek new answers and push themselves even further. e Career Discovery program is the rst of its kind for students in Colorado. e program aims to leverage the power of collaboration between STEM students (K-12) and industry professionals to forge pathways of discovery and nurture unlimited human potential. ese connections allow students to learn alongside experts as they solve realworld problems, explore their personal interests, and build relationships that can potentially lead to an internship/ apprenticeship or full- or part-time job placement after graduation and during college.

Part of our Career Discovery Program is opportunities for High School students to push past the limitations of their grade and age to experience real-world scenarios through internships and career pathways that will set them up for unlimited success. We are one of only a few schools in the state of Colorado approved as a P-TECH School (Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools). STEM currently o ers Robotics and Automation (formerly mechatronics) and Cybersecurity pathways, and is on the path to adding additional pathways next year. e current pathways allow students to earn an Associate of Applied Science in Robotics and Automation degree or an Associate of Applied Science in Cybersecurity from Arapahoe Community College.

Additionally, students at STEM can take advantage of the Innovative Learning Opportunities Pilot Program (ILOP), which enables us to o er students in 9-12 grade a variety of learning experiences designed to enrich student’s education and support them in successfully transitioning from high school to postsecondary education and/or the workforce. is means that students who complete an internship can receive internship credits on their transcripts for college.

We o er access to a range of unique learning opportunities that produce students who are ready to compete at the highest levels. Our classrooms are not like the traditional classrooms of the past. Teachers and students work in a collaborative environment to solve real-world problems.

Our school is one of the few STEM schools that infuse science, technology, engineering and mathematics learning into all aspects of education. In addition to integrated, problem-based learning across all STEM subjects, the school o ers rigorous humanities courses, arts, world languages, as well as theater and music programs that were selected as one of the most innovative by the Entertainment Industry Foundation.

Elementary School students are provided with a rigorous and relevant core education that taps into the innate curiosity of each student while integrating essential STEM skills and concepts within literacy, mathematics, social studies and science. Our classrooms come alive with relevant, problem-based learning where 21st Century Skills are embedded through the use of technology, critical thinking, and collaboration to engage the heads, hearts and hands of students in authentic and real-world issues. All elementary students will participate in specials classes that include art, music, physical education, technology, engineering, and world language.

Middle School students are provided with an engaging and empowering education that incorporates essential skills and character development, with rigorous real-world education. Our students are thinkers, doers, change-makers and innovators. ey develop the skills of critical thinking, collaboration, safe failure and applied innovation through an exciting and challenging integrated STEM curriculum.

High School students are challenged to develop the essential soft skills necessary to be productive and valued members of the 21st Century workforce. We o er a variety of technology and computer science classes focused on programming in a variety of languages, creative applications like 3D animation/ modeling and designing, and building games. Additionally, our students can earn industry-level IT certi cates by taking classes in A+, Net+, and Security+. In our engineering labs, students ne-tune their problemsolving and creative skills as they take classes in manufacturing, robotics, Computer-Aided Design (CAD), digital electronics, and transportation technologies.

We also o er a myriad of Advanced Placement classes, as well as the most Concurrent Enrollment (CE) o erings in Douglas County, enabling students to take classes both on and o -campus for college credit, while still enrolled in High School. e success does not stop there, as 98% of our seniors applied and were accepted to two-year and four-year Colleges and Universities following the 2021-22 school year.

Since our inception, we have earned Colorados’ highest academic award, the John Irwin Award, ve times, and have consistently placed among the top-performing Elementary, Middle and High Schools by Niche, US News and World Reports, State-Mandated Testing and more.

Learning with us does not stop at the classroom walls. Our students have a full range of Enrichment programming at their ngertips, as well as opportunities to compete on CHSAA Athletic Teams.

Technology Student Association (TSA) is a national organization that gives our students the opportunity to explore science, technology, engineering, and math elds through exciting competitive events and leadership opportunities. ere are a wide variety of events to prepare and compete in, including Underwater ROV to Biotechnology to Catapult Design to Fashion Design to Forensic Technology to Career Prep.

Our BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology) Robotics Team empowers students to use their creativity and intelligence to build a robot from scratch. Cyber Patriots is a defensive cyber security competition, where students work in teams to discover vulnerabilities and develop remedies in an operating system that has been compromised.

Our campus is also undergoing major renovations as we are in the nal stages of adding a CHSAA-sized gymnasium that will be the future home of our Basketball and Volleyball teams, as well as a competition space for our top-ranked Robotics teams, our ever-growing Enrichment programs and so much more.

e events of May 7 will forever leave an imprint on our school, students, families and community. However, the spirit and legacy of all the heroes from that day provide a light of resiliency for us all as we walk through the stages of recovery. Our heroes embodied what it means to be a STEM Spartan: Honesty, Integrity, Empathy, Respect and Responsibility.

We invite families to take part in our Prospective Parent Building Tours on Wednesdays from 10-11 a.m. (on days we are in session) by checking in at our Secondary Entrance at 8776 Ridgeline Blvd. If you’d like to nd out more, please email info@stemk12.org. For more information about our school, please visit our website at stemk12.org or call us at 303-683-STEM (7836).