Here’s how kids will learn science at new Pioneer MS

Parents and future students of the new Pioneer Elementary School will get a taste of the kind of hands-on learning in store for them at a science-and-technology open house next week.

The open house, built around a single environmental question, has been designed to model the kind of learning experience students can expect at Gig Harbor’s newest school, said Principal Stephanie Strader.

The open house, set for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29 at Henderson Bay High School, will be sort of a symposium on keeping local waterways healthy. Participants will include Harbor Wildwatch, Harbor History Museum, the city of Gig Harbor, and others.

Strader wants the experience to give parents and students a brief glimpse into how the new school aims not just teach a subject, but apply it.

“They will learn, and then they will go create a product,” Strader said. “They can go create a podcast, we have some video-making, we have a person who is making rain gardens. We want to apply the learning.”’

“We’ve designed a bunch of different activities with community partners to get children to have experiences around these ideas,” Strader said.

Some examples of activities include a core member leading students through oil spills and how they affect the sea life, using vegetable oil, water, and fake sea animals. Harbor Wildwatch will be displaying a watershed model, using different ingredients to see how water moves throughout the land.

The open house will mirror the curriculum at Pioneer, which will be built around a STEAM core — Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math.

“It will be a balance between being a foundational program where kids are learning to read and do their basic math skills, but embedding that with a strong deep-science concepts around technology and engineering, and how the arts get to that creative aspect in kids as well,” Strader said.

She added there will be standards-based assessments and state tests, but Pioneer hopes to also focus on problem-solving, critical thinking, and communication and collaboration with others.

Pioneer Elementary has partnered with Altitude Learning, a California-based consulting company, to create a student-centered learning environment in which students select their own best mode of learning.

“When it comes time to making a product, some might want to write a report while others might want to make a video, or do a podcast,” Strader said. “It’s really getting to know the individual student, who they are, what are their strength, interests, and capitalize on that to get the best out of them.”

Student-centered learning is “a bug, and people are catching onto the bug,” she said.

Pioneer Elementary is the newest addition to the Peninsula School District. Set to open in fall of 2020, it will be open to any student in the district, including home-schooled students. It will enroll students from every kindergarten from the district.

The district’s tenth elementary school, Pioneer was created to help handle the huge influx of kindergartners in the Peninsula School District. In 2019, the district enrolled more than 700 kindergartners — the highest number in its history.

To house the new school, the district purchased the former Boys and Girls Club building for $12.8 million. Its conversion is being financed by a $198 million bond passed in February of 2019.

Strader has already hired five core faculty, including a counselor, fourth grade teacher, second grade teacher, specialists teacher, and special education teacher. They are:

▪ Shea Sullivan, Counselor from Harbor Heights

▪ Cheryl Mikkelborg, 4th grade teacher from Harbor Heights

▪ Jen Wisner, 2nd grade teacher from Discovery

▪ Rachel Paxton, specialists teacher from Artondale

▪ Betsy Roberson, special education teacher from Artondale

“The staff I hired share the same goals that I have for our students,” Strader said.

“Pioneer is not meant to be something better than anybody else, but we want to be different,” Strader said. “We want to create a culture where we look at success differently.”

By spring break Strader hopes to have hired 20 to 22 more teachers. Once the school is fully build, Strader said, there will be 30 classrooms and 550 students.

Strader, a graduate of Peninsula High School, said she is honored to be the principal of this brand new school.

“A huge draw was the challenge, but more than anything was the inspirational aspect of designing a school from the ground up in a community that raised me, and getting that lasting impression on how I feel education should be,” Strader said.

The STEAM open house will be from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Jan. 29 at Henderson Bay High School, 8402 Skansie Ave. Visitors are encouraged to drop in at any time during the two hours. A Q and A room will be open for parents who have questions about the new school.

This story was originally published January 22, 2020 at 12:00 AM.