Project Lead the Way named Bartlesville Public Schools a Distinguished District for their efforts in STEM in 2019.

During the BPS Foundation's State of the Schools virtual event on Wednesday, Superintendent Chuck McCauley said BPS was one of 24 school districts in the United States that received the Distinguished District recognition from Project Lead the Way in 2019. He said they were the only District to receive the honor in Oklahoma.

Bartlesville High School is the only comprehensive high school to be named a Distinguished School by Project Lead the Way. BHS received the recognition because of their computer science program. There are four levels of computer science at Bartlesville High School, including a cyber-security class.

Superintendent McCauley reminded the public that this STEM journey started when Phillips 66 donated $1.7 million to Bartlesville Public Schools in August 2014. That allowed BHS, and Madison and Central Middle Schools to develop brand new STEM Labs in 2016. Existing staff at the time went through extensive training to offer additional STEM electives to Bartlesville's students.

Bartlesville Public Schools showed off the STEM Labs in 2016. Here is the original report by Charlie Taraboletti.

The next phase was to expand the STEM program to Bartlesville's elementary schools. During 2016, Superintendent McCauley said Oklahoma schools were experiencing issues with the State's budget. As a result, Superintendent McCauley said the BPS Foundation stepped up and raised over $300,000.

The fundraising effort by the Foundation in 2016 allowed Bartlesville's faculty to have the materials and training they needed to implement the STEM modules into their classrooms. Superintendent McCauley said they no longer have to rely on the donations from the Foundation for STEM because the District has incorporated STEM needs into Bond Issue elections.

As a result of all the efforts from the past to present day, students involved in the Bartlesville Public Schools District can take STEM courses from kindergarten all the way through their senior year of high school. All six Bartlesville elementary schools were named as Distinguished Schools last school year as well. Superintendent McCauley said this was thanks to the implementation of STEM curriculum from kindergarten through the fifth grade.

There are two different modules. Superintendent McCauley said they add a module each year. He said it takes teachers time to have the professional development and time to collaborate with the instruction so they can incorporate the program in the classroom. Additional technology has also helped with this effort on the elementary level.

Lastly, both Madison and Central Middle Schools were named as Distinguished Schools for STEM for the third consecutive year. Only seven other middle schools received this recognition in 2019.