CtRCS Earns National Certificate for STEM Excellence

Christ the Redeemer Catholic School is the most recent school in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston and 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.

“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 further strengthen STEM practices and the campus’ overall STEM culture.

As part of earning the NCSE - Campus Certification, eight educators also earned the National Certificate for STEM Teaching (NCST), further contributing to the school’s collective STEM expertise.

"As a lifelong learner, I’m always looking for ways to enhance and grow my skills," said Gloria Bowring, a fourth-grade English language arts teacher at CtRCS. "I particularly wanted to learn ways to implement STEM teaching in an English language arts classroom."

About Christ the Redeemer Catholic School
CtRCS was founded in 2014 and serves Pre-K 3 through 8th-grade students. Our purpose is to foster academic excellence with a love of God and neighbor that inspires and challenges our children to become leaders who proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in word and action.

About the National Institute for STEM Education
NISE is a research-based support system for campuses and teachers seeking to strengthen STEM instruction and outcomes. Based on 15 STEM Teacher Actions that evolved from STEM professional development originally created at Rice University, NISE’s Campus and Teacher Certificates help school leaders and teachers understand and apply research and best practices in STEM, 21st-century learning, and professional development. For information, visit http://nise.institute.