WRITTEN BY JULIA LYON
At Magna STEAM Academy, it feels like almost anything is possible this school year.
Light streams into the art room where “I can” statements on the white board describe the learning activities for the day. From engineering circuits to creating a 3-D habitat, students are setting academic and attendance goals — and achieving them.
“Everyone feels a little more hopeful this year,” said Erin Huber, the school’s Beverley Taylor Sorenson Visual Arts Educator.
After years of declining test scores and attendance at Magna Elementary, Granite School District announced a reorganization and rebranding of the school as a STEAM (science technology engineering arts mathematics) program last year. Teachers who wanted to stay had to reapply for their positions. New academic coaches would support teachers.
The school had a new name and new direction, but the students and families didn’t change, stressed Principal Benjamin Peters. It remains a Title I school, which means the majority of its roughly 450 K-5 students come from low-income families. Many students don’t attend preschool and have little experience with school before kindergarten.
“With arts integration and a focus on STEAM across the school, the idea is to help students see why learning matters in real life,” he said.
A NEW CHAPTER
At the end of January, Principal Peters had good news: the school reported a two percent increase in attendance compared to the prior school year. Kindergarten math and reading scores were the highest they’d been in five years.
The arts are playing a role in that success, he said.
Along with the school’s new focus comes a new partnership with the University of Utah’s College of Fine Arts. The U’s BTS Arts Program is tracking data as part of a broader study on how arts integrated planning and curriculum design impacts student learning and community engagement at multiple schools.
After Huber emphasized geometric shapes through arts-integrated learning in her kindergarten classes last fall, the U’s BTS Arts team examined student learning data from October to December and saw double-digit gains.
“It’s proof that what I’m doing is valuable,” Huber said. “Arts integration is helping our students learn and gain skills.”
LEARNING BY DOING
Over the winter, students across the school prepared for their next STEAM night, inspired by the movie “Night at the Museum.”
They researched and built habitats out of cardboard and clay. Using syringes and tubes, older students added a hydraulic system to move an animal across the scene. Younger students used magnets.
“Fourth grade really got into it today,” Huber said one morning in February. When students struggled, they had to experiment and figure out how to make the hydraulic system work.
“They seemed to enjoy the challenge,” she said.
The school’s STEAM night last fall had been a huge success with nearly triple the attendance of family nights in prior school years. Parents, including many fathers who had not typically attended, participated in the designing, decorating and racing of cars with their child — learning about art and engineering together.
“The arts are playing an essential role in supporting the school’s academic, student attendance and family engagement goals,” observed Kelby McIntyre-Martinez, Associate Dean for Arts Education and Community Engagement. “That’s the impact we are striving to sustain.”
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
The College of Fine Arts hopes to continue the partnership over three years so student data can be tracked long-term. This collaboration provides U Arts Education students an opportunity to participate in the Magna school’s community nights, allowing these future arts educators to learn while supporting the event, too.
The U is also working with Granite School District.
The support from McIntyre-Martinez and the U BTS team has been “truly impactful,” said Noelle Converse, PhD, Granite’s Director of Curriculum and Instruction. “From our first conversation, she and her team fully committed to our Magna STEAM vision, helping us launch an authentic plan for the fall. We’ve been better equipped to meet the unique needs of our students due to the partnership.”
Funding from the legislature and the Sorenson Family’s Art Works for Kids Foundation helped make it all possible, she explained.
With more students in the building on a regular basis and more families participating in community STEAM nights, Magna STEAM Academy is poised for long-term success.
“We have to have something exciting and make learning real, so they want to come back every day,” Principal Peters said. “We have some great things to celebrate.”
Additional Links:
KSL’s “New STEAM focus boosts attendance at Magna school”
Deseret News: “How arts and sense of community improve Utah elementary test scores”
