One of the rich educational opportunities for RPRY students is STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). A very generous grant from the Cypess Family Foundation, started two years ago, enabled RPRY to significantly bolster the program. The robust STEM program is under the leadership of middle school science teacher, Mrs. Sari Shalmon.

Grades K through 8 each have a grade-wide, hands-on, problem-solving project. Working in small teams, students construct telescopes, build erosion protection systems, engineer wind-powered cars and design a sport to be played on Mars.

Grades 1 through 4 have in-class STEM projects which include the study of floating and sinking in first grade and robotics in fourth. The fifth and sixth grades are each being challenged by four-week intensive STEM units. The sixth graders study electronics. Using their knowledge, they design their own version of a game that is able to be adjusted by changing variables. The seventh and eighth graders have a pull-out STEM enrichment program; the seventh grade’s focus is robotics.

In addition to all of the above, RPRY students compete in three STEM competitions under the auspices of CIJE, participate in Hour of Code and benefit from the Rutgers Science Bus.