Walter Bracken STEAM Academy Elementary School

Schools That Work

Walter Bracken STEAM Academy Elementary School

Public, Urban

Grades PK-5

Las Vegas, NV

Walter Bracken STEAM Academy, a Title 1, PK-5 public magnet school in Las Vegas, Nevada, converted a janitor’s closet into a financial center for student banking; transformed the entire school into a library; overhauled 32,000 square feet of dry grass into student-centered learning gardens; and revolutionized enrichment curriculum teaching math with drones and science with candy.

2013 National Blue Ribbon School
Five Star rating on the Nevada School Performance Framework
Outperforms both state and county proficiency rates in science and writing by more than 20 percentage points

Administration & Leadership
Transforming Unused School Spaces Into Something Amazing
With staff vision and student and community engagement, turn the unused or under-used areas of your school buildings or grounds into gardens, labs, and makerspaces.
Kathleen Decker
Financial Literacy
Piggy-Bank Friday: Life Skills Through Financial Literacy
Through the Piggy-Bank Friday program, K-5 students at Walter Bracken STEAM Academy have saved over $30,000 in one year.
Interest-Based Learning
Interest-Based Electives: Engaging Students With STEAM Explorations
Educators at Walter Bracken STEAM Academy engage students by letting them choose outside-the-box enrichment classes, like toy making, drones, and candy chemistry.
Environmental Education
Garden-Based Learning: Engaging Students in Their Environment
From fairy gardens to garden towers, Walter Bracken STEAM Academy transformed its school grounds into a student-centered, garden-learning wonderland.
Literacy
Series Reading Program: Creating a Culture of Reading
At Walter Bracken STEAM Academy, 100 percent of the fifth-grade students are meeting grade-level fluency standards in reading.
Administration & Leadership
Franchising Success Across a District
Franchising allows a single principal to lead multiple campuses concurrently. These individuals must be proven, trusted leaders given the flexibility to focus on the best results.
Mike Barton
Interest-Based Learning
Firing Up Student Engagement With STEAM Electives
Enrichment classes like toy making and candy chemistry combine fun with serious content in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math.
Emelina Minero
Parent Partnership
“Welcome to School, Parents!”
Attract parent volunteers by giving them their own space and appointing a coordinator whose job it is to make them feel welcome, comfortable, and needed.
Anna M. Hurst
Environmental Education
Standards-Based Learning in a Garden
Flower and vegetable beds around school can serve as a multidisciplinary classroom.
Emelina Minero
Literacy
A School-Wide Culture of Reading
Having kids in all grades read multivolume book series pays off in student fluency and engagement with reading.
Emelina Minero
Financial Literacy
Financial Literacy From Age 5 On
Elementary students study saving, spending, and sharing on the way to putting a collective $30,000 in the bank in a year.
Emelina Minero
Community Partnerships
Growing a Community to Build a Garden
Tapping your community for funds, resources, and labor isn't easy, but with planning, persistence, and good will, rallying local support for a major school project benefits everyone.
Kathleen Decker
School Culture
Inspiring Learning Through Incentives
Layering incentives at classroom, grade, and schoolwide levels creates a culture of positivity and achievement where students celebrate milestones in their individual and shared learning.
Kathleen Decker