This is a message to all fifth-graders: if you want to get into the upcoming high school focused on science, tech, engineering, arts and math -– you better prepare now.
The regional STEAM school is set to open in the fall of 2025, but entry requires proof of a student’s interest in one of the school’s planned pathways. This, planning STEAM school principal Jody Manning said, can be demonstrated through a portfolio of work, compiled over the course of a student’s middle school years.
“We're looking for interest and showing us,” Manning told school board members during a recent special presentation that provided an update on the school. “We actually call it ‘show us your stuff.’”
To apply, students will complete an online application and then be interviewed in person where they can showcase their passion with samples of their past work. For example, if a student participated in a robotics club, they can bring in their creation, or choose to show off a science project, Manning said.
But Board of Education Commissioner Mark Muhammad said the expectation of a portfolio raises issues around equity.
“The people that have to show and prove what they have, probably already have the resources to do so,” Muhammad said.
Manning said to support students, efforts are underway with outside organizations, such as the Redhouse Arts Center. The organization is planning to offer free summer programs starting in fifth grade to help students build their portfolio
“If you don't have the resources, we're going to make it available for you in the summer, at no charge," Manning said.
Exploring career pathways in middle school is a new trend seen across the country, said Stephanie Simpson, CEO of the Association for Middle Level Education, a nonprofit that supports middle school educators. She said research supports such exploration between the ages of 10 to 15 years old because, other than during a child’s first few years, this is when growth cognitively, physically, emotionally and socially is seen at an exponential rate.
“There's a lot of new interest in career exploration in the middle grades, because people are starting to recognize that it's a bit too late when they get to high school,” Simpson said. “We definitely agree that the middle grades are the right time for students to start thinking about their interests in their futures. But in a way, that's very low pressure and exploratory.”
Many schools across the country, she added, support this exploration within the school day through electives or even four- to five-week units focused on different career paths.
During the special school board presentation, Manning discussed additional STEAM updates around construction, how students will earn “stackable credentials” and highlighted local business and nonprofit partners.
Construction, he said, is planned in three phases. The first will begin with work on the roof, the masonry and the windows at the former Syracuse Central High School, located on South Warren Street in downtown.
The school will have a capacity of 1,000 students with 250 in each of the four grades. Manning said the school is aiming for enrollment to be 60% of kids from the city and the remaining 40% of the student body will be comprised of suburban students.
