What are the best STEM classes in high school? Time to iron out schedules for the upcoming year with your high school student. Godspeed mom and dad. It’s a right of passage that’s unavoidable. You’re going to spend half of your time convincing them that they can’t have study hall for 6 periods, and the other half of your time talking them out of classes that have nothing at all to do with their interests and career goals.
STEM classes in high school are perhaps the most overwhelming when it comes to choices because there are just so many! In fact, there are dozens of classes in high school, both elective and required, that technically fall under the STEM umbrella. Though high school seems like forever to a budding freshman, you know that they’ve only got four years to make the most of every semester. So how do you help them choose?
How do you know which classes will be the most interesting?
How do you know which classes will be the most beneficial?
How do you know which classes will prepare them for their STEM career interests?
Which high school STEM classes are going to rack up those sought after college credits we’re all looking for before graduation?
Are there schools that offer an even greater selection of STEM classes in high school than ours?
The answer to some of those questions will vary greatly for every high school student. Each student resides in a school district with vastly different budgets and priorities. Each student also has a different vision for what career their STEM learning pathways should lead them to.
Read on for some extra help on choosing the best classes, and how to step up your student’s STEM game with school choice and/or STEM enrichment.
Related: High School STEM Internships and Apprenticeships – Are they part of your student’s STEM education path?
One clear-cut question you could be asking yourself as the parent of a high school student is this:
What STEM classes in high school carry college credits?
College Board, the same organization that puts on the SAT’s, defines several specific STEM classes that carry college credit weight (sometimes referred to as ‘weighted classes’). These are classes that are offered through the College Board’s Advanced Placement Program®. (AP classes- you know the ones all the smart kids were in!)
Advanced Placement (AP®) classes carry college credits that can be transferred after graduation. College Board defines very specific classes that fall under the qualification of math or science STEM classes:
AP Calculus AB
AP Calculus BC
AP Science Principles
AP Computer Science A
AP Statistics
AP Biology
AP Chemistry
AP Environmental Science
AP Physics 1: Algebra-Based
AP 2: Algebra-Based
AP Physics B
AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism
AP Physics C: Mechanics
Keep in mind that there are other AP® courses in the arts, literature, history, and social sciences – they just aren’t mentioned here because this blog post is about STEM classes in high school.
At Thimble, we occasionally have tunnel vision, and it always ends with STEM. Those math and science AP® courses are the ones that are going to carry the credits that let your student begin their college years with a leg up. Every school has slightly different requirements for what ducks your child will need to have in a row to enroll in these AP® courses.
If you can help your child get all those ducks in a row, it’s worth getting a head start on the credits you’ll need to graduate college with that elusive STEM degree.
What is STEM?
Again – the STEM umbrella is huge. We could fit the entire New England Patriot’s organization under this umbrella and they’d be bone dry. We’re talking hurricane-during-a-parade-sized umbrella. Think of all the different science, technology, engineering and math courses out there. All computer, science, chemistry, robotics, design, and coding classes offered in schools fit under that STEM label.
When it comes to STEM education for kids, there are potentially hundreds of classes that all high school students, Freshman to Seniors, can enroll in. You don’t need to necessarily sweat your child’s inability to make it into an elite AP class, if there are other valuable classes that will prepare them for college, and ultimately a STEM career.
Your school district may still offer a diverse list of quality STEM classes in high school. These classes, though unable to tout the college credits, might be just what your child needs to foster an interest in STEM learning that opens up the doors to STEM fields they never thought of. For example, Poolesville High offers a TON of non-AP STEM classes in high school that could spark an interest in new and interesting career fields.
Related: What does STEM stand for?
A STEM education class at your high school could be any course designed to teach concepts within any science, technology, engineering, or math sub-topic. Classes on video production, app development, coding, accounting, software engineering, CAD, astronomy, and geology are all considered “STEM”. The list goes on. But why? Why should your child be enrolling in STEM classes?
Why is STEM Important? The Benefits of STEM Education for Your High School Student
STEM coursework is available to your child in any academic year. It begins even before middle school. STEM education for kids gets a bit more intense during those STEM classes in high school. Those final high school years really shape futures. Those are the years that students make the big decisions about real-world careers and life plans. We keep telling them that these are the years where their grades count. Many students are often decided on their career paths and college options before their senior year.
Openings in the STEM workforce are growing at an unprecedented rate. Let’s take computer science and programming as a basic example:
The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics used recent data to project an increase of around half a million computer jobs in the ten year period from 2019-2029. This is due to an expanding digital economy, and the need for computer specialists experienced in data security to combat the security breaches we hear about in the news daily.
Those jobs are likely to go unfilled if High School Students aren’t enrolling in the classes that are giving them the STEM confidence to tackle the Grand Canyon gap opening up in the CS space.
In fact, STEM occupations as a whole are expected to grow at a rapid rate when compared to non-STEM occupations. STEM occupations are expected to increase by 8% in those ten years, whereas non-STEM occupations are projected to increase at a rate less than half that number – 3.4%.
What do all these numbers mean?
It means the world is calling, “Where are all my innovators at?” (It’s going to be the next big hip-hop hit.) Those up-and-coming innovators are today’s middle and high school students who are just dipping their toes into robotics, research, anatomy, geometry, computer programming, and more.
STEM education is a pathway to a career that will have wide open arms for your high school student. It’s a heavy responsibility to be the person tasked with helping to guide them along this uncharted path, but we know you can do it, and we’re here to help.
The Benefits of Using STEM Kits for Online and Remote Learning
One of the most difficult parts of approaching STEM education in the 2020-2021 school year is the immeasurable education setbacks that Covid 19 heaped upon us. The disjointed education, the haphazard switch to remote learning that public schools were forced into became a serious complication for many. The lack of effective and available resources and tools for remote learning became huge barriers for parents and students alike.
Sure there are tools for teachers. Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams served as a platform through which educators could bring their students into the classroom together remotely. But the online STEM learning picture at most public schools is a pale, watered-down version of the hands-on labs and effective collaboration that was happening in person.
Educational technology is great, but unless it’s putting manipulatives, experiments, and exploration right in your child’s hands – it’s missing part of the puzzle. STEM education is a shadowy victim of this pandemic.
While great instruction can really hammer out content knowledge – there’s something to be said about learning by doing and learning through play. Kids need that real-life interaction with certain concepts to make long-lasting connections between the content and the process.
What’s a parent to do? This is where STEM kits for kids come into play. STEM kits, like the ones carefully developed by Thimble, can bring the curriculum, the manipulatives, and most importantly the experience right to your front door. And fret not about your ability to lead your child through a complicated and intimidating robotics kit or coding program. A quality STEM kit will come with the resources, the curriculum, and available mentors to bring your student from point A to point B with confidence.
All you need to do is sit back, relax, and give yourself a high-five for stepping up the education game in your house during what will certainly go down in history as the hardest phase of your child’s educational career.
How to Select the Right STEM School for your child: Begin by Asking the Right Questions
STEM classes in high school might be great. Your district might be putting funding and extra attention into developing their STEM programming. They could have great leadership and a faculty that understands the shortage of STEM literate graduates this country is experiencing.
But maybe they’re not? Depending on your public district, your child could be experiencing an uphill battle to get involved in any quality STEM enrichment programming. This problem is in the spotlight and has been for quite some time, thus triggering the uprising of an entire network of schools tailored specifically to STEM education.
STEM schools don’t completely leave out language arts, reading, drama, music, and history. They simply put an emphasis on ensuring that their teachers are using research-based, data-backed professional development to develop and implement top of the line curriculum. They are purposeful in the number of minutes students spend weekly on math and science instruction and offer courses that can’t be found in most public schools.
If you’re considering enrolling your student in a STEM school, the options are plentiful – and comparing them can be more tedious than comparing interest rates. You’ll want to physically visit a STEM academy before making a decision. (Every school looks great on their website. A well-designed website can make Rikers Island look like a great vacation spot.)
When talking with a perspective STEM school, consider asking the following questions:
Ask what makes their STEM experience unique by comparison.
Ask for data on retention and graduation rates for the student body over the last 3-4 years.
Request to see samples of student work from the STEM School.
Try to schedule a time to observe an actual class at the prospective student grade level if possible. (Some schools will refuse this request based on stringent security policies.)
Try not to ignore their approach to traditionally non-STEM subjects, like history, English, and language arts. Ask to check out a reading list or perhaps data reflecting language arts benchmark scores.
For older students, ask how the school plans to work through college prep and career readiness with 11th and 12th grade students.
Try to pin down how many minutes of weekly science instruction (and/or math instruction) students participate in. Compare that with the National Average.
Try to generally get a feel for a STEM school’s philosophy of education and its strategic STEM mission. You can ask this outright.
Ask about the principal’s (or director’s) STEM background, and time in their position.
Inquire about the amount of student collaboration and project-based or inquiry-based learning happening each semester.
Thimble’s Picks for the 35 Best High School STEM Programs in 2021
Based on our own independent research and opinions, as well as ranking data analyzed and compiled by US News & World Report’s Education and Study.com, we created a list of stand-out STEM academies, high schools, charter schools, and K-12 schools both public and private. There are outstanding STEM programs all over the country, and finding one near you has never been easier.
Your child’s STEM classes in high school take on a brand new depth in an institution where the strategic mission is geared toward STEM achievement. Click on any school in the following list and jump to a more thorough breakdown of graduation rates, enrollment, and locations. The honors go to:
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Students are accepted by admission only. This school has been producing STEM confident students since the 1960s. It’s a partnership between businesses and the county’s public school system. TJHSST has a college-like campus with state of the art technology and classroom spaces. TJHSST has fine arts programs as well as 25 varsity sports.
School Type: Public Magnet
Grades Served: 9th – 12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 17:1
Graduation Rate: 100%
Location: Fairfax County, Virginia
High Technology High School
HTHS is a pre-engineering career academy. Students are admitted through a competitive application and admissions process. Only 75 students are selected each year with the application pool usually exceeding 300.
School Type: Public Magnet
Grades Served: 9th – 12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 12:1
Graduation Rate: 100%
Location: Lincroft, New Jersey
Early College at Guilford
Early College at Guilford serves as a national model for Early Entrance High School programs, with a fast-paced, writing-intensive curriculum. Students in 11th and 12th grades take college classes right alongside undergraduates at Guildford College and can graduate high school with up to two years of college credits completed.
School Type: Public (Early Entrance)
Grades Served: 9th – 12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 25:1
Graduation Rate: 100%
Location: Greensboro, North Carolina
BASIS Oro Valley
Open since 2010, BASIS in Oro Valley is serving both middle and high school students with an elite STEM education curriculum developed by BASIS Public Charter School. (Additional locations throughout Arizona.)
School Type: Public Charter
Grades Served: 6th – 12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 6:1
Graduation Rate: 100%
Location: Oro Valley, Arizona
BASIS Chandler
BASIS Chandler is producing state champions in sports and chess while adhering to the high-class BASIS curriculum standards. BASIS Chandler has an 84.4% AP Exam passing rate among seniors and has been operating for ten years.
School Type: Public Charter
Grades Served: 6th – 12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 16:1
Graduation Rate: 100%
Location: Chandler, Arizona
Bergen County Academies
Bergen County Academies offers seven different specialized high school experiences. Each and every senior completes a work-study internship before graduation, and the separate student bodies of each “academy” frequently collaborate and interact!
School Type: Public Magnet
Grades Served: 9th – 12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 11:1
Graduation Rate: 100%
Location: Hackensack, New Jersey
Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology
Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology accepts eligible students through a lottery system that is outlined on their website. They nurture students in the areas of bioscience, engineering, and emerging technologies.
School Type: Public
Grades Served: 9th – 12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 17:1
Graduation Rate: 100%
Location: Lawrenceville, Georgia
Lynbrook High
Lynbrook High is an exceptional school with 17 AP Classes, 53 athletic teams in 20 sports, and a 92% college-going rate for graduates. Participation in AP classes at Lynbrook9th-grade
School Type: Public School
Grades Served: 9th – 12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 23:1
Graduation Rate: 97%
Location: San Jose, California
Arkansas School for Mathematics, Science, and the Arts
Rare in the United States, ASMSA is one of only 15 boarding schools in the country offering on-campus living to high school juniors and seniors the same way they would experience dormitory-style living when heading off to college. This takes the STEM High School concept to the next level of college prep.
School Type: Public Residential School
Grades Served: 11th – 12th Grade ( and the occasional Sophomore as ASMSA reserves the right to allow profoundly gifted sophomores to participate in a less common three-year experience)
Student-Teacher Ratio: 9:1
Graduation Rate: 100%
Location: Hot Springs, Arkansas
Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Technologies
Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Technologies aims to provide students with the kind of STEM career readiness necessary to produce confident employees with 21st-century technology and engineering skills.
School Type: Public Magnet
Grades Served: 9th – 12th grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 13:1
Graduation Rate: 100%
Location: Edison, New Jersey
Quaker Valley High School
Quaker Valley High School is a National Blue Ribbon Schools Award recipient just North of Pittsburgh. It’s one of Pennsylvania’s most highly ranked schools and has a 61% AP participation rate.
School Type: Public
Grades Served: 9th – 12th grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 14:1
Graduation Rate: 94%
Location: Leetsdale, Pennsylvania
Science and Engineering Magnet School
Science and Engineering Magnet School (SEM) is a college preparatory school giving students the necessary science and engineering skills to compete globally in a growing STEM workforce. Newsweek actually ranked SEM as the #1 STEM School in the Nation.
School Type: Public Magnet
Grades Served: 9th – 12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 19:1
Graduation Rate: 100%
Location: Dallas, Texas
The School For The Talented and Gifted
The School for the Talented and Gifted (TAG) is a public secondary college preparatory school and is ranked first in the entire state of Texas.
Washington Post reporter Jay Matthews called TAG “one of the greatest high schools in the country.”. They are continually preparing students for career success.
School Type: Public Magnet
Grades Served: 9th – 12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 22 :1
Graduation Rate: 100%
Location: Dallas, Texas
DeBakey High School for Health Professions
Debakey High School for Health Professionals has been churning out talented, college-ready medical students since 1972 Their graduates attain post-secondary education at a rate of more than 98%! Only 250 students are admitted annually out of more than a thousand applicants.
School Type: Public Magnet
Grades Served: 9th – 12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 16:1
Graduation Rate: 98%
Location: Houston, Texas
Monta Vista High School
Through rigorous academics and dynamic elective programs, Monta Vista is producing college-ready STEM students at an incredible rate. Like DeBakey, Monta Vista’s graduates move on to post-secondary education at a rate of more than 98%.
School Type: Public
Grades Served: 9th – 12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 25:1
Graduation Rate: 99%
Location: Cupertino, CA
Itineris Early College High School
Itineris Early College High School is a public charter school that offers college credit courses throughout its student’s academic journeys. They have the potential to graduate with up to two years of college credits completed. Itineris also uses FIND afterschool STEM programming to increase participation in STEM enrichment.
School Type: Public Charter
Grades Served: 10th – 12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 25:1
Graduation Rate: 94%
Location: West Jordan, Utah
Liberal Arts and Science Academy
Offering 128 Honors Courses and 31 AP courses, LASA’s rigorous academic standards have produced class after class of socially responsible, academically prepared post-secondary students. More than 94% of LASA’s 2020 graduates moved on to a four year post-secondary plan.
School Type: Public Magnet
Grades Served: 9th – 12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 17:1
Graduation Rate: 100 %
Location: Austin, Texas
Bronx High School of Science
The Bronx High School of Science was founded in 1938. It was recently featured in a New York Times article for the incredible Holocaust Museum that was created in the schools basement. It’s a highly academic school offering STEM classes in high school that are unrivaled in surrounding public schools.
School Type: Public Magnet
Grades Served: 9th – 12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 22:1
Graduation Rate: 100 %
Location: Bronx, NY
Stuyvesant High School
Stuyvesant High School, founded in 1904, has over 200 clubs and activities, an average student SAT score of 1590, and offers more than 25 AP courses to their students. SHS’s ACT scores average at a whopping 33/36, and an they boast almost perfect graduation rate.
School Type: Public Magnet
Grades Served: 9th – 12th grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 22:1
Graduation Rate: 99%
Location: New York, NY
Henry M. Gunn High
More than 78% of Henry M. Gunn High Students from the Class of 2020 have enrolled in four-year post secondary programs. This can be accredited to HMGH’s Henry M. Gunn High aims to create students who can ‘thrive as global citizens in a rapidly changing world’. Their STEM classes in high school develop student’s knowledge, critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
School Type: Public
Grades Served: 9th – 12th grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 17:1
Graduation Rate: 96%
Location: Palo Alto, California
Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts
Surprisingly, all of LSMSA’s classes are college classes using college textbooks, and they function on a college semester-like schedule. One of very few residential boarding school in the United States, students live in college-like dorms under the supervision of trained staff. LSMSA is a member of the National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Science and Technology.
School Type: Residential Public Magnet
Grades Served: 10th – 12th grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15:1
Graduation Rate: >95%
Location: Natchitoches, Louisiana
Phillips Academy Andover
This exclusive private school was founded in the late 1700s and has been serving high school students with sky-high standards since. Both boarding and day-school options are available with student tuition to give a true college-like experience on their 500-acre campus. Phillips Academy’s student to teacher ratio is unmatched at 5:1. (Fun fact: President George Bush is an alum!)
School Type: Private Boarding/Day School
Grades Served: 9th – 12th grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 5:1
Graduation Rate: N/A
Location: Andover, Massachusetts
Saratoga High
Saratoga High is committed to providing the highest quality STEM education for its 1200+ students. It strives to produce graduates who are responsible, self-directed adults, ethical and effective citizens, complex and critical thinkers, healthy individuals, effective communicators and collaborative workers.
School Type: Public School
Grades Served: 9th-12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 19:1
Graduation Rate: 98%
Location: Saratoga, California
Mission San Jose High
It’s no surprise that 90% of students at Mission San Jose High are participating in AP courses. Founded in 1964, the school has become a prestigious part of the education system in the state of California, preparing STEM learners to participate in a global workforce.
School Type: Public Magnet
Grades Served: 9th-12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 25:1
Graduation Rate: 97%
Location: Fremont, California
BASIS Phoenix
BASIS Phoenix is a successful public charter school in a larger network of BASIS charter schools across the state of Arizona. BASIS Phoenix students earn an average of 85% on AP exams, and 100% of their graduates are accepted to post-secondary institutions.
School Type: Public Charter
Grades Served: 6th – 12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 18:1
Graduation Rate: >95%
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Stanford Online High School
Often listed as one of the top ten high schools for STEM in America, Stanford Online High School takes an approach that is radically different from some of the boarding high schools on this list with a remote setup. Classes are taught online to students in 48 states with 68% of instructors holding Ph.D.’s in their fields.
School Type: Private
Grades Served: 7th – 12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 12:1
Graduation Rate: 100%
Location: Redwood City, California
Harvard Westlake High School
Harvard Westlake is an elite private school serving 7th to 12th grade students in the Los Angeles Area. They only accept students during their 7th and 9th-grade years and encourage all applicants to apply to multiple schools in the event they are not admitted to Harvard Westlake, which receives an average of 4 applications for every 1 spot available.
School Type: Private Co-Ed School
Grades Served: 7th-12th grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 8:1
Graduation Rate: 100%
Location: Los Angeles, California
Ashland High
Not to be confused with the Ashland High in Ohio, which we’re sure is also a great school – Ashland High in Massachusetts occasionally shows up on the list of STEM schools in the country. They have a 50% participation rate in AP courses.
School Type: Public
Grades Served: 9th-12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 14:1
Graduation Rate: >95%
Location: Ashland, Massachusetts
Union County Magnet High School
This Union County High School is set up as a vocational-technical high school and aims to prepare students to participate in the workforce of a modern world. They refer to themselves as an “engineering-based specialized career academy”.
School Type: Public Magnet
Grades Served: 9th-12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 22:1
Graduation Rate: 100%
Location: Scotch Plains, New Jersey
Academy for Science and Design
Academy for Science and Design is New Hampshire’s top-performing STEM specialty school. A whopping 83% of graduating students pursue STEM careers in post-secondary studies. ALL of ASD’s graduates are NH Scholars.
School Type: Public Charter
Grades Served: 6th-12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 23:1
Graduation Rate: 86%
Location: Nashua, New Hampshire
Tesla STEM High School
Tesla STEM High School is a STEM high school that uses problem-based learning to prepare students for future STEM professions. They strive for graduates who are university-ready, industry-ready and future-ready.
School Type: Public Magnet
Grades Served: 9th – 12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 22:1
Graduation Rate: >97%
Location: Redmond, Washington
New Trier High School
This Illinois high school offers almost 30 AP courses, and has been the feature of many articles and cover stories in publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The New York Times. It was once labeled by Town and Country Magazine as “…quite possibly the best public school in the country”. New Trier has found itself on US News Best High School’s List as well.
School Type: Public
Grades Served: 10th-12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 11:1
Graduation Rate: 98%
Location: Winnetka, Illinois
D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School
D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High school is a six-year liberal arts program that begins creating rigorously educated graduates beginning in grade 7. With 21 AP courses, and ranked first in the state, it’s not surprising that this school boasts the highest SAT/ACT scores in all of Colorado.
School Type: Public
Grades Served: 7th – 12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 21:1
Graduation Rate: 99%
Location: Denver, Colorado
Payton College Preparatory High School
Also known as Walter Payton College Preparatory High School, Payton Prep is a selective admission public high school creating top-notch graduates, 99% of which pursue 4 years of post-secondary education after graduating. With a composite SAT score of 1349, it’s no wonder Payton Prep has graduates accepted to almost every Ivy League University in the country.
School Type: Public
Grades Served: 9th – 12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 18:1
Graduation Rate: 96%
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Poolesville High
Poolesville is the number one high school in Maryland and the only all-school magnet in their home county. It offers intense STEM courses beyond AP courses, such as: Analysis 1, Analysis of Algorithms, Analytical Chemistry, Biochemistry, Cellular Physiology, Computer Graphics (JAVA), Computer Modeling and Simulation, Robotics, Introduction to Artificial Intelligence with LISP, Cyber-forensics, Intro to Genetic Analysis, Intro to Physical Chemistry, Linear Algebra, Multi-variable Calculus, Optics, Quantum Physics, Thermodynamics, Writing Mobile Applications and Vector Calculus.
School Type: Public Magnet
Grades Served: 9th – 12th Grade
Student-Teacher Ratio: 18:1
Graduation Rate: 98%
Location: Poolesville, Maryland
STEM Classes in High School, or Transition to a STEM School – The Choice is Yours
Whether you plan on enrolling your student in STEM classes in their own home district, AP STEM classes or a specialized private or public STEM school, the benefits are worth their weight in textbooks.
If a specialized STEM school is out of your reach, don’t sweat it. Your child may be deeply rooted in friend groups, sports, and community programs. Moving or sending them to a boarding school away from home might be out of the question, or financially unmanageable. For a fraction of the cost of private school tuition, you can bring four years of quality robotics, coding, programming and engineering curriculum right to your front door.
You can take your child’s STEM learning into your own hands and create a custom blend of public school STEM classes and Thimble courses to up their STEM preparedness for college and beyond.