STEM FAQ

- Apply to be a student at Shoreland Lutheran High School. mytads.com/a/shoreland
- Complete the STEM Academy Application Form.
- Obtain the most recent MAP Testing Progress Report from your current school.
- You will need to contact your current teacher/principal to do this.
- Obtain the most recent report card IEP (if necessary).
- You will need to contact your current teacher/principal to do this.
- Submit a check (or cash) to pay the $25 STEM Academy Application Fee.
- Make checks payable to: SLHS STEM Academy
- On the Memo line please write: STEM Academy Application Fee
- (OPTIONAL) If applying for a scholarship, submit the appropriate scholarship application along with the other remaining documents.
- Review the Application Checklist
- Submit items by sending them to:
- Please contact Mr. Tim Mielke - STEM Academy Director (mielket@slhs.us, 262-859-2595 x 114) with additional questions regarding the program, the application process, or the application status.
Inform your Guidance Counselor that you are applying to be in the STEM Academy and they will add that class into your schedule. If you decide not to be in the STEM Academy or are not accepted that class will be removed.
The current STEM Academy budget plans for up to 24 students per class.
We are looking for evidence from those who have worked with your child that they are willing and capable of completing the STEM Academy program. As always, specific examples are better than general descriptions. Examples may include the following:
- Interest in science, math, and/or technology
- Background or experience in STEM activities in or outside of school
- Willingness to learn and be creative
- Self-motivated to complete assignments and projects
- Capable of working with others on group projects
- A talent for problem solving
- Interest in building or taking things apart to explore their functionality
- General computer skills
- Academic ability (although this doesn’t always make a good candidate
- Other seemingly relevant information
College credit through PLTW is based upon a student’s End of Course Exam Score. The STEM Academy Instructors contact each individual student if they have achieved a score that is eligible for college credit. It is then the responsibility of the student to apply for credit and pay the required fee. The PLTW affiliate in the state of Wisconsin is MSOE. Families should visit PLTW’s Student Opportunities page to learn more. You can also download MSOE’s Undergraduate Application for Credit - PLTW to begin the process.
Three specific benefits:
- The Project-Based Learning style of the STEM Academy courses is designed to replicate real work experiences in engineering.
- Students get to explore the world of engineering and medicine and science and upper level math before college. They get to see if this is something they would like to spend $10,000 worth of tuition on after they graduate SLHS.
- Students taking PLTW STEM classes are eligible for college credits on their transcript. While this won’t get them out of college earlier, or allow them to skip college courses, it does give them preference in post secondary scheduling of courses, and may be the difference with acceptance into college programs.

- November 1st – Application process opens for SLHS STEM Academy 2023-24
- March 31st – Application process closes
- April 27-May 18 – Selection process takes place
- May 18th-May 31st – Families notified of acceptance, decline, or waiting list to STEM Academy
- May 15th – Scholarship Applications due
- July 1 – $500 (per class) STEM Academy fee billed (if accepted)
PLTW ENGINEERING
Foundation Courses
Introduction to Engineering Design (IED)
Designed for 9th and 10th grade students to expose students to the design process, analysis, engineering standards, and technical documentation. Students will also be introduced to 3D modeling software to design proposed solutions to problems and learn how to communicate their solutions to peers and members of the professional community.
Principles of Engineering (POE)
This survey course of engineering exposes students to major concepts they will encounter in a postsecondary education course of study. Students have design problems proposed to them and they employ engineering and scientific concepts to the challenges and communicate the solutions to peers and members of the professional community.
Computer Science Principles (CSP)
Using Python® as a primary tool and incorporating multiple platforms and languages for computation, this course aims to develop computational thinking, generate excitement about career paths that utilize computing, and introduce professional tools that foster creativity and collaboration. Computer Science Principles helps students develop programming expertise and explore the workings of the Internet. Projects and problems include app development, visualization of data, cybersecurity, and simulation.
Specialized Courses
Aerospace Engineering (AE)
This course propels students’ learning in the fundamentals of atmospheric and space flight. As they explore the physics of flight, students bring the concepts to life by designing an airfoil, propulsion system, and rockets. They learn basic orbital mechanics using industry-standard software. They also explore robot systems through projects such as remotely operated vehicles.
Capstone Course
Engineering Design & Development (EDD)
Students will perform research to select, define, and justify a problem. After carefully defining the design requirements and creating multiple solution approaches, teams of students select an approach, create, and test their solution prototype. Student teams will present and defend their original solution to an outside panel. While progressing through the engineering design process, students will work closely with experts and will continually hone their organizational, communication and interpersonal skills, their creative and problem solving abilities, and their understanding of the design process. Engineering Design and Development is a high school level course that is appropriate for 12th grade students. Since the projects on which students work can vary with student interest and the curriculum focuses on problem solving, EDD is appropriate for students who are interested in any technical career path. EDD should be taken as the final capstone PLTW course since it requires application of the knowledge and skills introduced during the PLTW foundation courses.
PLTW BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE
Foundation Courses
Principles of Biomedical Science (PBS)
In the introductory course of the PLTW Biomedical Science program, students explore concepts of biology and medicine to determine factors that led to the death of a fictional person. While investigating the case, students examine autopsy reports, investigate medical history, and explore medical treatments that might have prolonged the person’s life. The activities and projects introduce students to human physiology, basic biology, medicine, and research processes while allowing them to design their own experiments to solve problems.
Human Body Systems (PBS)
In the Human Body Systems (HBS) course, students examine the interactions of body systems as they explore identity, communication, power, movement, protection, and homeostasis. Students design experiments, investigate the structures and functions of the human body, and use data acquisition software to monitor body functions such as muscle movement, reflex and voluntary action, and respiration. Exploring science in action, students build organs and tissues on a skeletal manikin, work through interesting real world cases, and often play the role of biomedical professionals to solve medical mysteries.
Specialized Course
Medical Interventions (MI)
Students follow the life of a fictitious family as they investigate how to prevent, diagnose, and treat disease. Students explore how to detect and fight infection; screen and evaluate the code in human DNA; evaluate cancer treatment options; and prevail when the organs of the body begin to fail. Through real-world cases, students are exposed to a range of interventions related to immunology, surgery, genetics, pharmacology, medical devices, and diagnostics.
Capstone Course
Biomedical Innovation (BI)
Students build on the knowledge and skills gained from previous courses to design innovative solutions for the most pressing health challenges of the 21st century. Students address topics ranging from public health and biomedical engineering to clinical medicine and physiology. They have the opportunity to work on an independent project with a mentor or advisor from a university, medical facility, or research institution.
PLTW COMPUTER SCIENCE
Foundation Courses
Computer Science Essentials (CSE)
CS Essentials introduces students to coding fundamentals through an approachable, block-based programming language where they will have early success in creating usable apps. As students sharpen their computational thinking skills, they will transition to programming environments that reinforce coding fundamentals by displaying block programming and text based programming side-by-side. Finally, students will learn the power of text-based programming as they are introduced to the Python® programming language.
Cybersecurity (SEC)
Cybersecurity introduces the tools and concepts of cybersecurity and encourages students to create solutions that allow people to share computing resources while protecting privacy. Nationally, computational resources are vulnerable and frequently attacked; in Cybersecurity, students solve problems by understanding and closing these vulnerabilities. This course raises students’ knowledge of and commitment to ethical computing behavior. It also aims to develop students’ skills as consumers, friends, citizens, and employees who can effectively contribute to communities with a dependable cyber-infrastructure that moves and processes information safely.
Computer Science Principles (CSP)
Using Python® as a primary tool and incorporating multiple platforms and languages for computation, this course aims to develop computational thinking, generate excitement about career paths that utilize computing, and introduce professional tools that foster creativity and collaboration. Computer Science Principles helps students develop programming expertise and explore the workings of the Internet. Projects and problems include app development, visualization of data, cybersecurity, and simulation.
Computer Science A (CSA)
Computer Science A focuses on further developing computational-thinking skills through the medium of Android™ App development for mobile platforms. The course utilizes industry-standard tools such as Android Studio, Java™ programming language, XML, and device emulators. Students collaborate to create original solutions to problems of their own choosing by designing and implementing user interfaces and Web-based databases. This course aligns with the AP CS A course.
- 21st Century Learning is in need of being implemented at Shoreland, and a part of that is the collaboration of multiple subject areas
- College and Career pathways require those with high levels of critical thinking and problem solving
- Labor statistics indicate that the least sought jobs in the workforce are in the math, science and technological fields (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012)
- Currently, a low percentage of students indicate readiness in math and science careers
- Boost the learning skills of the Common Core State Standards
- Adds high level courses of rigor into the SLHS curriculum
- Offers an alternative way to offer college credit besides AP Courses
- Creates better problem solvers
- Prepares our students for a changing world better than other programs
- The only private school in Racine/Kenosha counties with STEM.
- Meets the SLHS goal of being a premier faith-based school in SE Wisconsin
- International program would show interest in the integrated approach.
- Community partnerships abound with business looking for STEM Skills