Design Thinking
In Design Thinking, students turn ideas into reality through hands-on projects that blend art, engineering, and collaboration. Rooted in creativity and problem-solving, the program celebrates the strengths of neurodivergent thinkers—big-picture vision, spatial reasoning, and inventive problem-solving—showing students how their unique ways of thinking are powerful tools for innovation.
In Class, Students:
• Explore real-world problems that matter to them
• Brainstorm, prototype, test, and refine their designs
• Work collaboratively and share their creations with the community
Example Projects:
• Soapbox Cars – Fourth graders design and build full-size cars to race down the school driveway, creating brakes and steering systems.
• Flugtag – Third graders test and scale up paper airplanes into six-foot gliders, learning the science of flight through experimentation.
• Tech Arcade – Fifth graders use circuitry and robotics to design and build interactive arcade games for a community showcase.
Through every project, students practice creativity, collaboration, communication, and resilience—skills that help them recognize their strengths, value their ideas, and approach challenges with confidence and curiosity.
