SAN ANTONIO – Students at Edgewood Independent School District now have an option to focus on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics after a $1.2 million investment.
"We are hoping to really inspire kids that want to go into cybersecurity, want to go into robotics," said Eva Reyna, principal of the Brentwood STEAM School of Innovation.
Construction crews have been working this summer to have the new school ready for the first day of classes.
The new middle school will first enroll sixth-grade students for the 2019-20 school year and then in two years, Brentwood STEAM School of Innovation will have all three grade levels.
Reyna said teachers are already hard at work after coming back in July to begin training.
"So, our students are able to have choice in what they want to learn. We also have choice in how they learn, so that we can help them. We're really more specific to the students and their needs," Reyna said.
Reyna said students will explore, invent, collaborate and create in state-of-the-art classrooms.
"We're going to be using Android app tablets or Android tablets so the kids can learn how to create apps and in the other class, kids are going to be using something called a micro:bit, which is produced by Samsung," Reyna said. "The kids learn to program it and it has a bunch of projects that they can do, remote control to Android telephones or Apple telephones."
Reyna said that, once students finish at Brentwood STEAM School of Innovation, the district hopes they are aligned for success when they go to John F. Kennedy High School.
As of now, the Brentwood STEAM School of Innovation said it has over 300 sixth-grade students enrolled and 14 teachers.
Edgewood ISD officials said approximately $1.2 million was invested, which includes investments in technology, upgrades, furniture, campus renovations and heating, ventilation and air conditioning. It is part of the district's five-year plan to create five innovation zones.
Enrollment is open to students who live in and outside the Edgewood ISD boundaries.