A+ Partners in Education is a groundbreaking, county-wide initiative launched in 2002 by Howard County Library System (HCLS) and the Howard County Public School System (HCPSS), and subsequently joined by Howard County Community College (HCC).
Our collective vision is to provide Howard County students with their greatest opportunity to achieve overall academic success.
What makes A+ unique?
- Every HCPSS school, and each HCC department, is assigned an HCLS branch and liaison.
- Each student receives an HCLS card through school registration.
- Kindergarten field trips to HCLS are part of HCPSS’ curriculum.
- HCLS instructors teach A+ Curriculum classes at HCLS branches, and in the schools.
- Faculty send HCLS instructors Assignment Alerts.
Since its inception, numerous libraries and schools have requested information about how to replicate such a partnership. If you are interested, please review our toolkit for details.
A+ INITIATIVES
- STEM : A launching point in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) pipeline of future scientists, mathematicians, and engineers needed to fill high-tech jobs, HCLS delivers an impressive line-up of STEM-related classes for preschool, elementary, and middle school students. The curriculum provides students with the 21st century skills necessary to eventually acquire 21st century jobs. A wide variety of classes teach STEM through children’s literature and experiments.HCLS’ A+ Curriculum Guides (includes PTAs and PTSAs), source (quarterly classes and events guide), and online calendar list STEM and other classes, which HCLS instructors teach at HCLS’ six branches for the general public, and take into school classrooms as part of A+ Partners in Education.
- HiTech provides access not only to the latest technology, but also to peer and adult mentors who can support the scientific creativity of students in grades 6-12. Headquartered at the HCLS Savage Branch & STEM Education Center, HiTech reaches students county-wide.
- Rube Goldberg Challenge unleashes the creativity of fourth and fifth grade students as they apply STEM concepts to solve a problem.
- Battle of the Books
- HCLS Spelling Bee
Learn more about the A+ Partners In Education initiative
A+ Partners in Education is licensed by Howard County Library System (MD) under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
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