Programs

STEM/Innovation

With the growing focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) as a national priority, Golda Och Academy is dedicated to providing its students with the tools and foundation of a solid STEM education to succeed in these disciplines.

Emily Gutowski '11

The math and science education I received in high school prepared me to succeed as a pre-med student.

Hands-On Approach

With our hands-on approach to learning, exceptional faculty and state-of-the-art facilities, students in all grades are exposed to STEM from exploration and discovery in our science labs and outdoor gardens to creating and designing projects in our Dr Lynne B Harrison STEM Center.

List of 4 items.

  • Facilities

    The Upper School opened a new three level, state-of-the-art Dr Lynne B Harrison STEM Center in Fall 2015. Two levels of the building are dedicated to STEM and offer space for a full competition field for the Robotics team, dedicated areas for project construction, additional 3D printers and a fully-stocked workshop with tools and instruments for students, including a laser cutter and CNC router.
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  • Lower School

    Every student has the opportunity to participate in Golda Och Academy's STEM clubs and enrichment programs, which meet during recess, lunch or after school. In the Lower School, 4th and 5th graders can join the STEM club,  which meets once a week to work on engineering projects. Club members primarily work in small groups to build, design, test and improve their solutions to a challenge.
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  • Upper School

    Our offerings at the Upper School include Math club, Robotics team, Science Enrichment club and Excellence 2000 (E2K) program. All Upper School students can participate in the Science Enrichment club, which meets on a weekly basis and competes in the New Jersey Science Olympiad, Toshiba ExploraVision and other competitions during the year. Our new observatory is fully computerized and students will be able to queue observations that will run autonomously at night. Featuring a 9.25” optical telescope and a sophisticated camera, our setup will be able to image planets and even distant galaxies. 
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  • High School STEM Program

    The Dr Lynne B Harrison High School STEM program is a three-and-a-half-year sequence of courses that students can elect to take in addition to the required science and mathematics coursework. Through collaborative group work and hands-on, project-based learning, students develop important problem-solving skills. They use the engineering design process to become innovative thinkers and self-confident in their ability to be independent learners. Students have access to the state-of-the-art tools and technology in our STEM center, including 3D printers, laser cutters, and a CNC router, and are encouraged to use every tool at their disposal to bring their ideas to life.
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STEM Curriculum

List of 5 items.

  • 9th Grade

    Year 1: Design and Fabrication
    Students learn how to use professional design software and cutting-edge fabrication technology such as 3D printing and laser cutting to create custom parts and multi-component assemblies that fulfill a specific purpose.

  • 10th Grade

    Year 2: Physical Computing
    Students learn to build and program electronic devices that interact with the world around them, sensing their environment, processing that information, and then performing some action.

  • 11th Grade

    Year 3: Entrepreneurship & Capstone Projects
    Students work in groups to research, design, and implement creative solutions to self-defined, real-world problems through the lens of tikkun olam (repair of the world). As they develop their ideas and build prototypes that attempt to solve the problem they chose to address, students also learn entrepreneurial skills such as branding, pitching their ideas, and marketing. These capstone projects are presented at CIJE Innovation Day in the Spring.

  • 12th Grade

    Senior STEMinar: Class Capstone Project
    Students work on a class capstone project for the GOA community using the engineering design process and the skills they have acquired throughout the program (i.e computer aided design, various fabrication techniques, computer programming, etc.)

  • Capstone Projects

    Working in teams of 2-3, students create a project which addresses a real-world need or problem. Students research their ideas, come up with a design proposal, build a prototype or fully functioning system, and put together a final report and presentation.

Faculty

List of 4 members.

  • Photo of Nina Bilmes

    Nina Bilmes 

    Math Coordinator and Math Faculty, Upper School
    Touro College - BS
    Adelphi University - MS
  • Photo of Shira Kelmanovich

    Dr. Shira Kelmanovich 

    Director of STEM Education, Upper School
    Union College - BS
    Stanford University - MS, PhD
  • Photo of Paul-Michael Huseman

    Paul-Michael Huseman 

    Schedule and Assessment Coordinator, 9th Grade Team Lead, and Science Faculty, Upper School
    Drew University - BA
    Pace University - MS
  • Photo of Andrew Mittleman

    Andrew Mittleman 

    Lower/Middle School STEAM Educator
    The College of New Jersey - BA
    The American Film Institute - MFA

History of The Dr Lynne B Harrison STEM Center

Wilf Lower School Campus

Eric F. Ross Upper School Campus