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STEM Education for Girls

Harpeth Hall's STEM education offers girls advanced opportunities through its curriculum, co-curricular teams, interdisciplinary pathways, innovative teaching spaces, and external partnerships, notably with Vanderbilt University.

Harpeth Hall is proud to take the lead in STEM education for girls. We incorporate the essential, research-based components of a successful college preparatory experience for girls to develop and pursue their interest in STEM. In an all-girl environment, collaboration skills can be more effectively developed. Our approach is inquiry-focused, project-based and student-centered where girls learn to take risks, engage with scientific thinking and the engineering design process while building confidence to apply their understanding to the world’s problems.

All-girls learning environments champion the educational needs of girls as a group currently underrepresented in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) majors and careers.  -ICGS

   

Girls school graduates ...

... are 6 times more likely to consider majoring in math, science, and technology compared to girls who attended coeducational schools. -Goodman Research Group

... report greater science self-confidence in their ability to use technical science skills, understand scientific concepts, generate a research question, explain study results, and determine appropriate data collection.
-University of Missouri

... rate their confidence in their math skill abilities 10% higher than do their coeducated peers at the start of college.-UCLA

 ... are 3 times more likely to consider engineering careers compared to their coeducated peers.
- UCLA

Harpeth Hall's Signature STEM Programs

Bullard Bright IDEA Lab and Design Den
Unique makerspaces that allow students to create and build

Honors STEM Research
Students conduct scientific research in Vanderbilt University labs

Robotics
Two-time world championship qualifying team for coding and design

STEM Summer Institute
Two-week summer camp where girls from Middle Tennessee design and build solutions to real-world problems

STEM in the Classroom and Across Campus
Harpeth Hall's robust STEM education prepares girls for future careers

Bullard Bright IDEA Lab and Design Den

Harpeth Hall's original makerspace, the Design Den, opened its doors in 2015 and has supported thousands of students' and teachers' creative ideas. It is our most versatile space, capable of creating anything from posters and sock puppets to complex 3D prints.
 
The makerspace in the Bullard Bright IDEA Lab is an advanced woodworking-focused shop equipped with professional-grade tools. While specializing in woodworking, the Bullard makerspace can support a variety of projects using a plethora of materials. Imagine making a designer trash can or interactive map of the United States in enginnering class.

Honors STEM Research

The Honors STEM Research program gives upperclassmen the opportunity to explore in real research laboratories. Harpeth Hall offers an Honors STEM Research program for selected juniors and seniors interested in conducting scientific research. Qualified students are placed in research laboratories based on their particular interest. Students present their scientific findings at two regional science and engineering fairs in the spring. The course enhances personal development by providing students an opportunity to navigate a university setting, work as part of an academic research team, and communicate results effectively to the scientific community and the general public.

Recent Projects

Past placements include:

 

 

 

 

Harpeth Conservancy · Peabody College, Department of Special Education · TN Environmental Council · Vanderbilt Imaging Institute · Vanderbilt Kennedy Center · Vanderbilt University Department of Biological Sciences · VU Department of Biomedical Engineering · VU Department of Chemical/Biomolecular Engineering · VU Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences · VU Department of Electrical Engineering & CS · VU Department of Hematology and Oncology · VU Department of Mechanical Engineering · VU Department of Physics and Astronomy · VUMC Department of Bone Biology · VUMC Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology · VUMC Department of Radiological Sciences

Robotics

In the middle school, robotics is an after-school club for students who love to program, engineer, and problem solve. Our teams compete in the FIRST Lego League challenge, with a Nashville competition in December and a possible, optional competition in Cookeville in February. We regularly qualify to compete at the East Tennessee State championship (top 48 teams from 6 different qualifying regional events). In 2024, all three of our teams earned awards.

  • Bear Busters: Core Values 1st place @ Regional Tournament
  • Bears: Core Values 2nd place @ Regional Tournament
  • Bots: Breakthrough Award @ State Tournament 

 

Upper School students may join the co-curricular robotics club and learn about robotics in club meetings during the school day. Upper school students interested in participating in robotics after school can join the Harpeth Hall BearBots VEX Robotics Team. The BearBots participate in local, state, regional, Signature, and World competitions. Since forming a VEX robotics team in the fall of 2021, Harpeth Hall has qualified for the Tennessee State competition every year and has twice sent a team to the VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas, TX. The Bearbots attended the following VEX Robotics Competitions (VRC) in the 2023-2024 season:

  • Hub City Robo Rumble (Jackson State Community College, Jackson, TN)
  • Haunted VRC Signature Event (Brentwood Academy, Nashville, TN)
  • Bryan College Scholarship Tournament (Bryan College, Dayton, TN)
  • Springfield High School Veterans Day Tournament (Springfield High School, Springfield, TN)
  • The WAVE at WPI Signature Event (Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA)
  • Mecha Mayhem VRC Signature Event Presented by Alberta Innovates (BMO Centre, Calgary, Alberta Canada)
  • Brentwood High School Lonely Hearts VRC Tournament (Brentwood High School, Brentwood, TN)
  • White House 8th Annual VEX Winter Tournament (White House High School, White House, TN)
  • 2024 Tennessee VRC High School State Championship (Brentwood Academy, Brentwood, TN)


STEM Summer Institute (SSI)

This year’s challenge: creating prototypes of devices that assist people with physical disabilities. Read full story here.

STEM Summer Institute (SSI) is where girls use the engineering design process to solve real-world problems.

Established in 2012, Harpeth Hall’s two-week STEM Summer Institute (SSI) encourages girls to step into the shoes of STEM professionals. Through innovative classes, professional demonstrations, and hands-on engineering projects, girls from all over Middle Tennessee forge new friendships as they envision solutions to real-world problems. 

In past sessions, campers have designed and built structures that mitigate flooding in Middle Tennessee, devices that increase the efficiency of small-scale farmers, and hand-washing stations for people with limited access to water.  View projects from previous years.

STEM in the Classroom and Across Programs

STEM Highlights Inside the Hall