About Hays
Hays STEAM Academy hosts a community of diverse scholars who demonstrate exemplary personal character and social responsibility through intellectual, emotional, and physical excellence. The mission of Hays STEAM Academy is to create scholars who SHINE. SHINE stands for Scholars with Honor, Integrity, and Never-ending Enthusiasm. Scholars qualify for the Hays academic program by meeting the following criteria. Incoming kindergarten scholars must score at or above the 50th percentile on the Readiness Test for Kindergarten. Incoming first through fifth-grade scholars must score at or above the 50th percentile on a nationally normed achievement test, meet standard on all previous STAAR assessments in third through fifth grade, maintain a 95% attendance record with fewer than ten tardies, have a record of exemplary behavior with no office referrals, and have no previous final report card grades below 80 in core subjects.
High expectations, together with a strong support system and rigorous curriculum, form the core beliefs at Hays STEAM Academy. Academic achievement, character education, healthy self-esteem, and critical-thinking skills are emphasized for every scholar. The program is designed and differentiated to meet the needs of scholars who work best in an accelerated learning environment. The high academic achievement demonstrated by Hays scholars is the result of a dynamic learning partnership of students, parents, staff, and community members.
The academic program at Hays STEAM Academy focuses on using Depth and Complexity in all subjects. Scholars attend weekly music and art classes as well as PE four times a week. Our teachers use engineering curriculum from Project Lead the Way and Engineering is Elementary multiple times weekly. Hays is the only campus in ECISD to have a Vivarium, where students participate in hands-on science by growing insects that are used for neuroscience research. Scholars and teachers work regularly in the science lab, computer lab, and makerspace classrooms. Hays is a certified Pre-K through 5th-grade AVID Elementary school. All scholars keep an AVID binder and planner to practice organizational skills and set goals. All classrooms Pre-K through 5th grade use AVID WICOR strategies daily.
The campus uses PBIS / CHAMPS to define expectations for scholarly behavior in common areas and classroom routines. All classrooms use Conscious Discipline. Conscious Discipline uses everyday events to cultivate emotional intelligence through a self-regulation program integrating social-emotional learning and discipline.