STREAM School

In December 2021, Christ the Redeemer Catholic School became the third Catholic grade school in the United States to earn the National Certificate for STEM Excellence (NCSE) - Campus Certification from the National Institute for STEM Education (NISE). The NCSE recognizes individual school campuses for their commitment to and systematic support of teachers’ understanding and use of high-impact, evidence-based STEM instructional strategies.

Since its initial certification in 2021, CtRCS is actively pursuing re-certification through the National Institute of STEM Education. This self-reflective process involves observing all teachers and documenting the school-wide strengths and areas for growth. The re-certification will take place every three years. Currently, CtRCS is in its third year of certification, with an anticipated completion date in Spring 2025.

“Through this certification process, we learned that STEM is about so much more than robotics and coding,” said CtRCS Principal Dan Courtney. “Our teachers strive to inspire critical thinkers who are eager to solve real-world problems in creative ways across disciplines. We learned to value the power of collaboration, communication, and the redesign process as vital components to STEM learning. 

“As a Catholic school with an amazing fine arts department and a belief that our Catholicity runs through the fabric of all we do, adding the arts and religion to our STEM program makes us a true STREAM learning environment.”

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, NISE evolved from STEM professional development and curriculum created at Rice University and was conceived by seasoned, practicing educators and is based on thousands of hours of research, professional development, curriculum design, and educational leadership. Using an online platform and supported by a dedicated NISE STEM leadership coach, educators and instructional leaders work together to refine school operations and instruction to strengthen further STEM practices and the campus’ overall STEM culture.

As part of earning the NCSE - Campus Certification, CtRCS educators have the opportunity to achieve individual STEM certification. Various faculty and staff members work toward this goal every year.