Application for 9th Grade

All 8th grade students seeking enrollment in Scranton School District STEMM Academy must complete an application by March 7th, 2025.

The application process will start in January/ February of the current school year for entrance into the program for the following school year.  The number of available pathway spots will be determined after the currently enrolled students are scheduled. Current 8th grade students will apply to join a specific pathway for entrance in 9th grade, in either Computer Science, Engineering, or Medical. 

Prerequisites: 
Algebra in 8th Grade (Strongly Recommended) 
All students who are interested are encouraged to apply!

All students that do not get accepted will be placed on a waitlist based on their total score. Pending availability, those on the waitlist may be offered an opening prior to the first day of school each year.

STEMM Application Rating System*
STEM Teacher Recommendation/ Evaluation        10
PSSA Math, Science, and ELA Scores                   21
Selected Pathway Assessment                               20
School Attendance                                                  10
Discipline History                                                    10
Interview or Essay**                                                10
*Scores will not be released and only used in the event there are more applicants than enrollment openings. 
**This qualifier is optional and will be used at the discretion of the STEM Program Supervisor

The district reserves the right to make changes to the Application Process at any time. In the event of a change, Applicants will be notified.

The district may deny my student’s privilege for entry into the program due to any academic deficiencies and/or discipline infractions that have occurred during the course of the school year.

Rating System Breakdown**
Teacher Recommendation/ Evaluation
This form will be sent to your teacher(s) and scored by a computer, this is not a recommendation letter.

PSSA Math, Science, and ELA Scores
A student’s PSSA scores will be converted into the following point system for, Math, Science, and ELA:
Advanced:             7 pts
Proficient:              5 pts
Basic:                    3 pts
Below Basic:         1 pts
No Score/ Unscorable:     0 pts*
    *For students who do not take the PSSAs - Benchmark data will be used instead
    
Selected Pathway Assessment
A 60-90 minute exam based on necessary pathway prerequisite knowledge will be administered based on the pathway selected by the applicant
    *PSSA accommodations will be afforded to any student who qualifies for PSSA accommodations

School Attendance
A student’s current attendance percentage will be converted into the following point system:
95% - 100%      10 pts
90% - 94%        8 pts
85% - 89%        6 pts
80% - 84%        4 pts
70% - 79%        2 pts
69% or lower     0 pts    

Discipline History
A student’s discipline history will be converted into the following point system:
No discipline write ups                                      10 pts
1 - 3 discipline write ups, no suspensions          5 pts
> 3 discipline write ups and/ or suspension(s)    0 pts        

Interview or Essay (only in the event of a tie for acceptance)
2 - 5 minute express interview OR constructed response to a given prompt
Scored by a blind committee using a rubric; average will be calculated and used

**Students Identified as Special Ed or 504
Upon acceptance of a special ed student or a protected handicapped student, an evaluation report/ record review must be developed for the special ed child, and the appropriate team needs to convene under IDEA or 504 to review the IEP or the 504 plan to be sure it can be implemented in the STEMM Academy, and a NOREP must be issued.

2025 Application Timeline

For 9th Grade Applicants

Mid-February: SSD School information sent to NEIS, SSIS, and WSIS

Feb. 25th: Parent Information Night at SHS, 5:30pm - for interested 8th grade students and their families

March 7th: Applications Due (online or paper)

March 27th: Project Based Assessment at SHS, Time TBD

Mid-April: Decision Letters to be mailed home