In 2016 the School Governance Council, comprised of community members, teachers, parents and the principal, created the goal of becoming a STEM certified school in the school’s original strategic plan. The community felt that having this certification would ensure a rigorous curriculum that exposed this rural community to STEM experiences and STEM careers. The community knew the importance of a strong neighborhood school and thought STEM certification would help E.C. West distinguish itself as a leading school in Fulton County and across the state.      
 
The foundation of the STEM program at Evoline C. West elementary school is Project Based Learning, which is teacher and student created. These lessons coincide with current units of study for science, math, and social studies in grades K-5. Teachers and students use the Engineering Design Model in each PBL. We are most proud that each PBL unit is composed of a social action component where students are pushed to think critically to determine how their project can make a difference and create real change.
 
Our MIST Team (Media, Instructional Technology, STEM, Teacher) is a unique framework that we implemented to grow our students in STEM. Through this program, we give students more hands-on time to work on their STEM projects and more resources for STEM instruction. We use the Media Center for student conducted research. The Instructional Technology class is where students use digital tools to communicate learning in the project presentations to share mastery of content and enhance the demonstration of knowledge. In the STEM Lab, students conduct labs, engineer and design solutions to problems, and grow in science content knowledge. These three areas, along with classroom teachers, work collaboratively to make strong connections for students and bring cohesiveness to content for learners.

​

In 2018, we earned out STEM certification.