Schneider Electric Partners with Accelerate Learning to Deliver STEM Education Tools

Partnership with Accelerate Learning will extend infrastructure improvement projects to address STEM skills gaps and prepare students for success.

On February 14, 2018, energy and sustainability expert, Schneider Electric, and Accelerate Learning, a leading provider of digital curriculum solutions for science classrooms, announced a joint partnership to deliver critical science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education tools to PreK-12 school districts across the country. Through the partnership, Schneider Electric will deliver Accelerate Learning’s STEMscopes PreK-12 curriculum and materials to districts as part of an energy savings performance
contract (ESPC).

Built from the ground up to help students meet today’s state standards and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), STEMscopes provides teachers and students with digital resources, supplemental print materials, and interactive exploration kits that build student engagement and excitement for learning science. The hands-on STEM curriculum creates engaging learning experiences that encourage exploration and inspire ingenuity.

“The United States continues to face an urgency for more students to pursue higher learning and careers in STEM. Yet, school districts today face shrinking budgets that limit the resources teachers need to provide the inquiry-based, hands-on learning experiences that help students connect science to the real world,” said Dr. Vernon Johnson, CEO for Accelerate Learning. “This is what STEMscopes is all about, and this partnership with Schneider Electric will enable us to make an even bigger impact in helping schools across the country to close the STEM skills gap.”

Across the nation, school districts are increasingly leveraging ESPCs, which use projected energy savings to pay for projects over time, to tackle deferred maintenance and other critical initiatives. This model helps school districts implement facility improvements and programs they otherwise might not be able to afford, including expanded STEM education.

“At Schneider Electric, we are committed to helping school districts across the country leverage performance contracts to change the way they approach everything from energy management to teacher training,” said Tammy Fulop, Vice President, Schneider Electric. “Our partnership with the nationally recognized STEMscopes program will help PreK-12 school districts achieve their vision of creating best-in-class learning environments and providing the knowledge base to develop the next generation of leaders.” STEMscopes is used by 200,000 teachers and serves more than 4 million students in all 50 states.

Over the past 25 years, Schneider Electric has successfully implemented more than 675 ESPC projects across the nation, saving its clients nearly $2 billion. This project delivery method helps publicly funded entities make capital improvements over longer payback periods and offers many long-term benefits such as enhanced learning environments, improved facility efficiency, occupant comfort, financial management, environmental protection and the opportunity to implement STEMrelated educational programs.