Brookwood Elementary School takes immense pride in being a Georgia Department of Education STEM Certified School, a distinction we earned in 2014 as the 12th school in the state to achieve this honor.

STEM—an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics—represents an innovative approach to education that encourages students to explore, problem-solve, and think critically about the world around them.

Long before our certification, the dedicated teachers and administrators at Brookwood were inspired to expand learning beyond the traditional classroom. By leveraging our school's green spaces and connecting students with both local and global environmental issues, we witnessed a remarkable boost in student engagement and achievement across all subject areas. The impact of these early STEM lessons was undeniable, igniting a passion for learning in our students and leading us to fully embrace STEM education as the future of Brookwood.

Supported by our district, we embarked on a rigorous journey toward STEM certification, developing a robust curriculum that includes grade-level research questions and a framework for ongoing data collection. This dedication and commitment to excellence were recognized by the state when Brookwood earned its STEM certification. Since then, our staff has continued to grow as life-long learners and experts in STEM education, nurturing students who are not only academically strong but also nature-literate and environmentally conscious—a legacy that will benefit generations to come.

At Brookwood, we have implemented a place-based learning model which connects students of all grades (Pre K - 5) to the environment that surrounds them. Our focus on environmental sustainability is developmentally present in every grade level, but within each grade level, students address a specific STEM research question that encourages them to dive deeper and think beyond the traditional academic standards. Using research, problem solving, data collection, and fundamental partnerships, our students become experienced scientists that instinctively wonder about the world around them. From trapping turtles for hands-on analysis at the local park beside our school in collaboration with Dalton State College to partnering with the University of Georgia to study and track migration patterns of monarch butterflies, the regularly occurring STEM integrated lessons at Brookwood continue to take our students and staff on journeys they could have never imagined possible.

Want to know more? Please, visit our STEM website!