Global Innovation - AIM Academy

Innovation and Design Hub

AIM's Innovation Hub prepares students to be skilled problem solvers, think creatively, and work in a team. Bringing classes on robotics, coding, engineering, and design thinking the Innovation Hub opens students to a myriad of possibilities and practical career path-focused options to explore their passions.

AIM’s approach to teaching children with language-based learning differences requires that it incorporate and coordinate instruction so that math, science, arts, and history classes follow the same literacy practices as the core reading curriculum. The same is true of AIM’s approach to technology instruction. Technology, from Makerspace to Robotics, is not just a pull-out. The concepts taught in these classes must coordinate closely with other subjects to ensure reinforcement and consistency.

Lower School

Lower School: Students at AIM take Makerspace classes in the Lower School Makerspace. Makerspace is designed to introduce students to concepts like coding, robotics, and engineering while providing them with a fun and engaging way to learn. From controlling small robots and making chain reaction machines to using block-based coding, Makerspace prepares Lower School students with a wide range of skills that are further explored through Middle School Design Thinking and Upper School Robotics/DT/Coding.

Middle School

Middle School: As AIM students move up to the Middle School level they are introduced to Design Thinking classes taught by Kathy Brandon. Design Thinking not only explores tech elements like coding and engineering but also incorporates creative design and art into students' projects. Focusing on student lead problem solving of real world issues, the Stanford Design Thinking model gives many opportunities to explore hands-on engineering as students build their projects. Students can also join AIM's Middle School robotics team First Tech Challenge (FTC). A chance to further explore robotics outside of the classroom FTC gives Middle Schoolers a chance to try robotics at a competitive level with the rest of AIM's team.

Upper School

Upper School: Students get to explore more area-specific classes with Design Thinking, Robotics, and Coding. Upper School Innovation Hub classes give students a chance to dive into their area of choice and explore advanced classes. Robotics students start to learn metal working, and building robots from scratch. Upper School students can also join AIM's First Robotics Competition (FRC) team also known as Wolfpack Robotics Team 5407. Team 5407 has won awards from events across the country and lets students explore advanced levels of robotics, design, and coding. Being a member of FRC also lets students explore other elements of running a team through skills like graphic design, communication, and event planning.

Academic Technology

Technology and high-speed wireless access are placed directly in each and every classroom for immediate and flexible use. Several different platforms and devices are utilized whenever deemed necessary and useful, providing a diverse and versatile learning environment for our students. From Apple iPads for 1st-4th graders and our one-to-one Apple laptop program for 5th-12th graders, technology is a part of everyday life for AIM students.

Each Lower School student has access to an iPad to utilize in a variety of ways during a given day. A core suite of creative apps is deployed to each device in order to foster individual expression, collaboration, and student reflection. These digital tools include Book Creator, Drawing Pad, CoSpaces, Hopscotch, FlipaClip, Blockly, Explain Everything, and iStopMotion.

Each Upper and Middle School student has a MacBook loaded with research-based software, which supports individual student needs. Additionally, our students use a variety of web-based programs such as Google Applications (Earth, Docs, Forms, Sites, Sketch-up, Scribe), CAST, CoSpaces, TinkerCad, OpenProcessing, Storybird, Glogster, Edmodo, Many Eyes, I-Flash, Geometer’s Sketchpad, Timeliner, Prezi, Scratch, Circut, Sumo Paint, GarageBand, Corel Draw, Tinkercad, Cura, and Diigo.

In addition to our 1:1 laptop program, teachers and students use SmartBoards throughout the Upper School to foster interactive and meaningful learning experiences across the curricular areas of reading, writing, math, science, and history. We also have a fully equipped graphics space in the Global Resource Center complete with iMacs loaded with full animation/graphics capabilities, Canon digital SLR cameras, Canon digital video cameras, large format printers, large format scanners, and a Mediascape (a six-person collaborative digital workstation).

New Spaces

AIM’s recent renovation of its Innovation Hub has created excellent spaces for Makerspace and Engineering, but a successful focus on technology requires additional and unique dedicated space. Over the next three years, AIM will complete construction of a two-story addition to the main campus building that will include spaces for robotics, coding, and science labs.

STEAM Team

Our team of experienced educators supports our STEAM and technology curriculum for students as well as overseas programs including our FRC robotics team; new technology programs and lessons such as working with AIMA our new programmable robot, testing M.I.T. artificial intelligence curriculum, and expanding our student's opportunities to serve and teach others via our Mobile STEAM lab.

Aaron Brill, Director of Innovation Technology

Aaron graduated from Trinity College in May of 2003 with a B.A. in Philosophy and from the University of San Francisco in May of 2009 with an M.A. from their Digital Media and Learning program. During his time in San Francisco, Aaron worked at a variety of schools holding a wide range of roles. Following his graduate work, Aaron focused his energy on educational technology and for the past four years was the Director of Technology Integration and Engineering Thinking at Town School for Boys.

Katherine (Kate) Gregory, Lower School Makerspace

Kate is an educator who is passionate about combining tinkering and education. With an undergraduate background in studio art, Kate specializes in Maker Education with a degree in Learning Sciences & Technologies from Penn GSE. She’s thrilled to bring her research background on blending crafting, coding, and creativity for STEAM learning into the classroom at AIM Academy.

Kathy Brandon, Middle School STEAM

Kathy has transformed the Middle School STEAM curriculum at AIM since her arrival in 2018 and is the creator of Sylvia's STEAM Dream Mobile lab which provides STEAM learning to students at schools throughout Philadelphia. With 27 years of experience as an educator and a Masters in Education, Kathy's Design thinking classes focus on solving real world problems through creativity and empathy.

Kyle DiTieri, Upper School STEAM & FRC Robotics Coach

Kyle is an educator and tech enthusiast who has been teaching STEM for over 10 years. He is works with AIM Upper School students in the Innovation Hub on design thinking, robotics and STEM and also serves as the new robotics coach. Outside of the classroom, he enjoys getting involved with the local maker and FIRST community and the fencing scene.