Maricopa, Ariz. — At the Dec. 10 meeting of the Maricopa Unified School District governing board, Butterfield Elementary School principal Christine Dickinson showcased the school's STEAM academy work and how educators are using common formative assessments to inform instruction.

Dickinson said Butterfield received Cognia certification in April 2024 and is in recertification. She described partnerships with local organizations, including Nissan's AWIM program, the University of Arizona, Global Water, Lowe's and Sprouts, and noted that STEAM integration is moving from isolated lab time to instruction embedded in every classroom.

Science specialist Miss Ruskie introduced a classroom video demonstrating third‑grade investigations of sound waves using slinkies. A student presenter, Josie, described building a magnetile house for a class engineering task.

Dickinson said teachers use Navi common formative assessments aligned to the AASA to gather data after teaching standards; she displayed three fourth‑grade standards where the school saw roughly 12% growth on two standards and a 9% decline on another between August and November. Dickinson said reteach, small‑group instruction and new ancillary resources (including intervention staff and proposed professional development such as Kagan and Project Lead The Way pilots) are being used to raise mastery.

Board members praised the partnerships and the use of data and asked about Watch D.O.G.S. volunteer participation and teacher supports; Dickinson said the Watch D.O.G.S. program has begun on campus and that coaching and PLT structures support implementation.

The board thanked Dickinson and her staff for the presentation.