Innovative Leaders Institute: Bridge to STEM

Leading change: The journey to STEM excellence

Innovative Leaders Institute: Bridge to STEM brings together leaders of aspiring STEM and STEAM schools or those looking to re-ignite their school’s STEM culture and practices. The cohort will strengthen their knowledge of STEM education, STEM culture, and leading for change.

Grounded in the tenets of transformational leadership and the elements of the Quality Model for STEM and STEAM Schools and the STEM and STEAM Designation Rubric, this year-long program adopts a practitioner-oriented approach to creating school-wide STEM culture, ensuring buy-in and providing supports to all stakeholders in transforming educational practices into high-quality STEM teaching and learning, and creating strong community supports through partnerships with business, industry, non-profits, and higher education institutions.

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Core topics

Dates listed apply to 2025-2026 cohort
 
  • STEM School Immersion:  September 30, 2025
  • STEM Culture and Identity: November 18, 2025
  • Business, Community, and School Connections: January 15, 2026
  • Student Experiences in STEM Schools: March 12, 2026
  • Teachers in STEM Schools: April 30, 2026
Topic locations and milestones

Program details

Applications closed May 1, 2025

Eligibility

This program is specifically designed to help participants explore best practices for STEM culture and education. 

By program completion, participants will have gained a strong sense of what these best practices look like in a robust, real-world educational setting. 

  • Participants may be a school or district leaders (principal, assistant principal, superintendent, assistant superintendent, etc.)
  • Participants should represent either
    • a school not currently STEM or STEAM designated or
    • a school looking to ignite STEM practices and culture
  • Optional but strongly encouraged: Additional team member(s) such as another school leader, instructional coach, curriculum specialist, or teacher leader

Expectations

Thanks to Ohio’s generous support of the Ohio STEM Learning Network, the $2,750.00 program fee (per school) for the 2025-2026 ILI: Bridge to STEM is waived.

The program participants are expected to:

  • Attend and actively participate in all program meetings (virtual and in-person)
  • Complete asynchronous program tasks and activities

The Bridge to STEM cohort is limited to 18 schools.

Due to the limited number of seats, program fee being waved, and multiple events taking place during the school year, the accepted participants will be required to confirm their district leadership’s (superintendent) support for participating in the program.

Deadline

Applications for the Institute will be accepted on a rolling basis. The applications will close May 1, 2025.

Breakfast and lunch will be provided for all participants during the in-person workshops.

Institute participants will have an opportunity to earn graduate college credit.

Applications for the Innovative Leaders Institute: Bridge to STEM are currently closed.

Sign up to hear about future opportunities

The Bridge to STEM experience

2025-2026 dates and locations

1) STEM School Immersion

Begin your leadership journey with a day of:

  • Observing, experiencing, interacting, and reflecting on elements of culture and education in a STEM designated school
  • Building understanding of differing experiences of teaching, learning, and leadership in STEM schools through conversations with teachers, students, and school leaders.

DATE: September 30, 2025

LOCATION: National Inventors Hall of Fame STEM Middle School, Akron, Ohio

2) STEM Culture and Identity

Learning ready-to-implement strategies for:

  • Creating new or transforming current vision for learning anchored in STEM education and culture
  • Collaboratively identifying school values and approaches for schoolwide implementation of the values
  • Ensuring buy-in of all stakeholders in implementing STEM culture and education

DATE: November 18, 2025

LOCATION: Battelle, 505 King Ave., Columbus, OH 43201

3) Business, Community, and School Connections

Learning ready-to-implement leadership strategies for:

  • Creating new partnerships with business, industry, and community organizations
  • Creating new partnerships with higher education institutions
  • Leveraging business, community, and higher education partnerships
  • Building and leveraging STEM school advisory group

DATE: January 15, 2026

LOCATION: Battelle, 505 King Ave., Columbus, OH 43201

4) STEM Designation

In this experience, participants:

  • Deepen their understanding of what it means to be STEM/STEAM designated by the Ohio STEM Committee
  • Learn requirements for earning designation across the three domains of the STEM/STEAM Quality Model
  • Participate in a Q&A session around STEM/STEAM designation.

DATE: Asynchronous learning January-March

LOCATION: Virtual

5) Student Experiences in STEM Schools

Learning ready-to-implement strategies for:

  • Gaining an understanding of personalized learning
  • Implementing and fostering classroom and school mastery learning model
  • Supporting staff in providing dynamic assessment opportunities

DATE: March 12, 2026

LOCATION:  STEM School, Northeast Ohio

6) Teachers in STEM Schools

Learning ready-to-implement leadership strategies for:

  • Creating school structures that promote interdisciplinary collaboration
  • Establishing schoolwide expectations for fostering STEM culture and values
  • Gaining an understanding of spectrum of STEM instructional approaches
  • Identifying and planning personalized STEM focused professional learning for teachers
  • Ensuring high levels of collaboration among staff

DATE: April 30, 2026

LOCATION:  Battelle, 505 King Ave., Columbus, OH 43201