About Kid Spark Education

Who we are

Kid Spark Education is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that believes every student deserves access to STEM education that can change their lives. We help elementary and middle schools disrupt the pattern of educational inequity by providing STEM education early and consistently to all their students. By giving students of all backgrounds and abilities an equal chance to learn and love STEM, we are nurturing a next generation of successful professionals, bold thinkers, and passionate leaders.

Why we exist

By providing high-quality STEM education early and consistently, we’re disrupting the pattern of educational inequity.

The only way to close the STEM opportunity gap is to introduce children to STEM as soon as they enter their first classroom and keep them learning throughout their time in school.
Yet most preschool and kindergarten classrooms offer no STEM education at all, especially among schools with a high proportion of students of color, students from low-income households, and in rural communities.
Through our STEM Equity Grants Program, Kid Spark is removing barriers for the schools with the greatest need — and enlisting our partners and allies in a sweeping movement for educational change.

Learning STEM is as important as learning how to read

Just like reading, STEM concepts are an essential tool for understanding and interacting with the world. Kids who are “STEM fluent” learn to think critically, solve creatively, and engage fearlessly with the world around them. By providing tools to support STEM education, from toddler to teen to teacher, Kid Spark helps kids develop the courage to imagine a better world and the skills to create it. With Kid Spark, kids learn to see like designers and think like engineers. They grow up ready to succeed in a tech-driven twenty-first century — and ready to change their world (and ours).

Three principles guide our STEM Programs:

Start STEM early and sustain the journey

The most effective way to close the STEM opportunity gap is to expose young children to STEM subjects as soon as they enter their first classroom and to continue offering applied STEM experiences every year. Kid Spark programs do just that. They are designed to follow children through their entire elementary and middle-school careers, starting with preschoolers and continuing with progressive STEM learning all the way through 8th grade.

Mentors matter

Having a teacher who is an instructor, role model, and STEM program mentor all in one is critical. Teachers who serve as STEM mentors ensure that students stay at their learning edge, the zone where skills and fluency may be just shy of what’s required to accomplish the task at hand. A STEM mentor’s encouragement can mean the difference between a child giving up on STEM and excelling in STEM.

Image of kids working with a STEM education kit with computers and a mechanical wheel.

Make STEM easy and affordable

Ease of adoption and program cost have long been the barriers that have kept STEM out of elementary education. Kid Spark is readily adopted by elementary teachers and is the lowest-cost school-wide solution available.

STEM education for all benefits all children

Kid Spark learners are more likely to choose professional careers, regardless of gender, race, or economic background. They gain the skills and confidence to design new solutions for real-world problems in any career they choose. Inequities in STEM opportunity for girls, Black children, and others have cut off generation after generation of talent, ingenuity, and imagination. We’re re-building a pipeline of talent and innovation. That talent means an infusion of innovation in every sector. The next generation will be ready, able, and eager to change our world.