HADLEY — Sparking students’ imagination, challenging their thinking and enlarging their hearts in an environment that is fun to be in and offers cutting-edge learning tools remains the objective for education in Hadley’s public schools, says Superintendent Anne McKenzie.
While the schools will continue to have a consistency in the approach to how students are taught, McKenzie said this will be enhanced in the 2017-18 school year with a “makerspace” in what has long been a computer lab at Hadley Elementary School.
Primary students will get an opportunity to use this room for the educational focus known as STEAM, which stands for science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics.
“A great deal of equipment, including new computers, will be put into that space,” McKenzie said.
Other elements in the room will include a green screen with lighting and tripod, robotics and circuitry equipment, editing software and Lego tiles.
At Hopkins Academy, students will continue to have access to three-dimensional printers and new computers. There will also be a new course focused on financial literacy.