Gifted and High Ability STEAM Magnet

Bancroft Middle School is proud to offer the Gifted STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, & Mathematics) Magnet program on the Bancroft MS campus. This is a criteria magnet for gifted and high achieving students who are interested in pursuing an in-depth education in the fields of mathematics, science, engineering, and technology.  Learning is facilitated through an array of thematic International Baccalaureate units, emphasizing depth, complexity, acceleration, and novelty to address the learning needs of GATE students.  Students in our STEAM Magnet take the following 8 classes:

Honors English, Honors Math, Honors History, Honors Science, Project Lead the Way Engineering/Design Elective, Visual Art, PE and Mandarin Language (Chinese).

Our honors classes in the STEAM magnet are comprised of gifted identified/SAS verified students.  All students will be participating in accelerated coursework which will require mastery of content standards from previous years.  Students will follow an accelerated math program in 6th ang 7th grades giving them access to Algebra 1 in middle school (if they place at this level.)  

The PLTW Design elective allows students to investigate engineering and design from multiple perspectives.  Each year, students will engage with different units of study to allow them to see the multitude of real word applications/careers in design fields.  Students will learn to develop prototypes and models, programming skills,  and app development. They will also explore green architecture and robotics design.  Our engineering students are given the opportunity to create marketing proposals and presentations for their creations allowing them a glimpse into future career paths in the industry. 

The design cycle is reinforced through Science class as students participate in labs, simulations, model constructions and dissections.