The staff at Springmill STEM Elementary School includes front, from left, kindergarten teachers Cindy Rice and Nancy Niedermier; math coach Meg Strong and intervention specialist Lori Brumenshenkel. In the back are Principal Gabe Costa, secretary Mechella Hairston and paraprofessional Michelle Hamrick.
When kindergarten students start classes at Springmill STEM Elementary School next week they will begin a hands-on exploration of the basics of science, technology, engineering and math.
“We have an experienced, highly qualified teaching staff. Our students will follow the same core curriculum as our other elementary schools, which meets Ohio’s academic standards,” said Principal Gabe Costa, who will divide his time between Springmill and the Spanish Immersion School.
“But here there will be an integration of STEM into the curriculum.”
Approximately 30 children are registered to attend the two kindergarten classes at Springmill which will be taught by experienced teachers Nancy Niedermier and Cindy Rice. That leaves room for 10 more.
The district’s plan is to have two kindergarten classes of 20 each this year, then add one additional grade each year until Springmill is a K-3 building.
The school’s initial staff also includes intervention specialist Lori Brumenshenkel, math coach Meg Strong and paraprofessional Michelle Hamrick. Mechella Hairston will be the fulltime secretary.
“There will be two adults in each classroom, which will allow an excellent student-teacher ratio,” Costa said.
Like other elementary schools, Springmill will be served by rotating art, music and physical education teachers and a psychologist. Breakfasts and hot lunches will be prepared in the adjacent Sherman Elementary kitchen and delivered to Springmill.
The Springmill staff is planning ways to incorporate STEM activities into the core curriculum. For example, Brumenshenkel said, literacy and math learning can emphasize science.
Niedermier earned a grant to pay for a hermit crab aquarium which will be combined with a terrarium and a fish aquarium to create life science areas.
Each of the classrooms will have interactive projection equipment and Costa said a cart will be stocked with laptop computers for use by students as needed.
Two or three times a week the kindergartners will visit the state-of-the-art math and science galleries in the Springmill Learning Center wing. They also will utilize the bird study area near the main entrance.
Former Sherman principal Stephen Rizzo, now the district’s director of curriculum, said there is still time for parents to apply to send their children to Springmill.
“Enrollment is open to all Mansfield City Schools families and to those outside the district through our open-enrollment policy,” Rizzo said. “Bus transportation is provided within the district. Those outside the district would have to provide their own transportation.”
To apply or for more information, contact Springmill at 419-525-6348 or the district’s State and Federal Programs office at 419-525-6400, ext. 56440.