Through the utilization of Rubicon Atlas—a tool for mapping curriculum across the content and grade levels—New Dawn Academy will provide students with an integrated STEM education, further enhancing students’ realms of knowledge.

Rubicon Atlas gives teachers ready-access to all curriculum outlines, abstracts, resources, standards, and more.

Its collaboration tools enable educators to easily work together on the curriculum, school improvement projects, track meeting procedures, and more.

It is also horizontally and vertically aligned to all of the State of Michigan Common Core curriculum, allowing for optimal knowledge intake within the classroom.

Rubicon Atlas is designed to electronically provide curriculum enhancement in support of faculty, administrators and the greater school community.

It is not static in nature, and is instead customizable to reflect New Dawn Academy's pedagogy, academic standards and unique curricular needs. Rubicon Atlas: also provides a powerful lens by which each teacher can follow their students’ journeys to ensure academic success.

The STEM education at New Dawn Academy will occupy a multidimensional space for all students.

STEM lessons are not single experiments or assignments, but a range of learning experiences with some degree of connection.

The framework for the integrated STEM education at New Dawn Academy has four specific features:

• 1. educational goals for both staff and students,
• 2. positive outcomes for staff and students,
• 3. the nature and scope of STEM integration, and
• 4. classroom implementation.

The goals for the students attending New Dawn Academy include STEM literacy, 21st century competencies, and workforce readiness. The goals for staff include increased STEM content knowledge and increased pedagogical content knowledge.

Outcomes for students include STEM related employment, STEM interest, and the development of a STEM identity in addition to overall learning and achievement.

Meanwhile, the outcomes for staff include changes in practice as they adapt to integrating STEM ideas in a cross-curricular modality.

Implementation requires adjustments to the learning environment, and the provision of educator support for a well thought out instructional design. Two high level goals that are associated with integrated STEM education include STEM literacy and 21st century competencies; both of which often lead to collegiate and career success.

STEM literacy includes an awareness of the roles that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics play in our global society, and at least a basic level of application fluency. 21st century competencies are a blend of "cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal characteristics that may support deeper learning and knowledge transfer" (Schweingruber, Pearson, Honey, 2014).

The STEM focus of the curriculum will be woven throughout all the subject areas that will include English, Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Art, Health & Physical Education, Nutrition, Technology and World Languages.

Within most integrated STEM educations, one subject may often have a dominant role with the goal being to develop the students' knowledge or skill in one content area. For New Dawn however, the inclusion of concepts or practices from other subjects is used to support or deepen learning and understanding in multiple subject areas.

The use of Rubicon Atlas will ensure continuous alignment with the Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards and Michigan's World Language Standards.