FAQ

Barstow Unified School District works hard to be Your Best Choice for Academic Success. One of those choices is Barstow STEM Academy. Barstow STEM Academy is a parent choice school serving students in grades 5-8. Barstow STEM Academy offers an academically rigorous setting that focuses on science, technology, engineering, and math. Barstow STEM Academy is a technology-centric, Project Based Learning environment.

Our application process opens once a year for the upcoming school year. Applications for the 2025-2026 school year will be accepted online from March 1, 2025, through March  31, 2025. 

Applications received after March 31, 2025, will still be considered, and students may be added to the waitlist. If your student is already enrolled in a Barstow Unified School District, submitting an application is easy because we usually have the required documents.

Barstow STEM Academy is open to all students in the Barstow Unified School District. We encourage all families who are interested to appy.  We have students from all elementary schools in Barstow, and we are committed to having a population that reflects our diverse community with students from all backgrounds, races, ethnicities, national origins, sexes, genders, and religions. The odds of admission depend greatly on when a family applies and how many families apply. We encourage families with an interest in the Barstow STEM Academy to apply for entry in 5th grade. Because the Barstow STEM Academy program starts with 5th grade, spots in 6th to 8th grade are limited and we will not know how many spaces we will have open until late in the school year or even the fall.

Yes! Barstow STEM Academy offers bus transportation from your child’s current elementary school. Your child can continue to ride the same bus they ride now or be dropped off at their current school with younger siblings, and a bus will take them from their current elementary school to STEM and back daily.

Yes! Like other BUSD schools, STEM offers free breakfast and lunch daily to all students.

Barstow STEM Academy follows a middle school model starting in the 5th grade. Students attend three 85-minute instructional periods for math, science, and humanities (English Language Arts and History), and all students attend a middle school P.E. class (every day for 50 minutes) in place of recess. Students have three academic teachers and a P.E. instructor instead of one teacher. STEM and your student’s current school use the same BUSD adopted curriculum while using an elementary or middle school model.

Yes, we have uniforms to show school pride and promote safety on campus. Students wear red or white polo shirts (available from any store) with any black or khaki colored pants, shorts, or dresses. STEM spirit shirts and pullover or zipped hooded sweatshirts can be purchased from our office. Free uniforms (donated and professionally cleaned) are available at the school in a variety of sizes for any family that would like one.

No. Barstow STEM Academy has the same classroom maximum enrollment as other BUSD schools (33 students per class). Since we are consistently at capacity, our class sizes can be larger than those in your neighborhood elementary school.

If you are interested in your child attending Barstow STEM Academy, then YES. All interested BUSD families are encouraged to apply and have their application reviewed.

If there are enough spots in the incoming class, all students will be admitted. If the number of students applying exceeds the number of spots in the incoming class, then admissions will be made as follows:

First, students who meet one of the criteria below will be offered a place in the 5th grade class:

• Students in either the top third of the district OR their district elementary school on the 4th grade* STAR math test 
• OR - Students in the top third of the district OR their district elementary school on the 4th grade* STAR ELA test
• OR - Students with a top third score on STEM-requested teacher feedback form (HOPE Teacher Rating Scale Form).

* Or most recent STAR test.

Families do not need to submit scores.  Barstow STEM Academy will retrieve them from your child’s current school or teacher. 

Please click here to see a sample of the STAR test results.

Please click here to see a sample of the HOPE Teacher Rating Scale Form.

STAR tests are benchmarks given by the school district. The HOPE Scale is designed to identify high potential among students who may not meet the score requirement of a traditional academic test, like the ELA or Math STAR scores. The HOPE Scale measures students on both an academic and social scale, with a top score on either scale meeting the admission criteria. Teacher feedback forms will be sent directly to your child’s teacher if needed. 

A waitlist will be used for upper-grades or applications outside the open enrollment window.

When there are not enough spaces for all eligible students from these groups, students who meet eligibility requirements and are enrolled at an under-represented school at Barstow STEM Academy (Crestline & Montara) will be automatically admitted. 

Then, a lottery will be held for all remaining spaces. The lottery results and offers of enrollment will be communicated using the SchoolMint application program, (Online Enrollment System). 

The lottery is designed to serve as “…a selection policy for a school that receives requests for admission in excess of the capacity of the school that ensures that selection of pupils to enroll in the school is made through a random, unbiased process that prohibits an evaluation of whether a pupil should be enrolled based upon the pupil’s academic or athletic performance.” – California Code, Education Code - EDC § 35160.5 (b)(2)(B)

A waitlist will be used for upper grades or applications outside the open enrollment window.

The California Department of Education encourages districts “to give preference to siblings attending the same school and to consider the location of parents’ places of employment or established child care arrangements in determining enrollment priority.” 

Barstow Unified School District ensures that families with siblings of the same grade can attend their geographically assigned school (neighborhood school) without concern of displacement. Students applying to Barstow STEM Academy have no guarantee of entry qualification or lottery priority.  Families should consider this when applying for STEM during the open enrollment window.

After a lottery is conducted, and all eligible students have been given a chance for entry via random selection, any students on the waitlist will be offered enrollment off the waitlist based on the following criteria.

1. A student with a sibling enrolled in the same grade level at Barstow STEM Academy.
2. A student with a parent employed at Barstow STEM Academy.
3. A student with a sibling enrolled in any grade level at Barstow STEM Academy.
4. Based on the waitlist number assigned.

Please note that the sibling and employee priority applies only to students who have met the enrollment qualifications and have been placed on a waitlist due to a lottery. This priority does not apply to any application outside the open enrollment window.

No, if your student is a BUSD student, we likely have the necessary information. If you are new to the district, we may contact you and ask you to provide a report card from your child’s previous school.

Yes. Just like all other Barstow Unified schools, we are responsible for making sure your child will receive the level of services comparable to what they were receiving in their last placement. An IEP meeting will be held for the team to determine how the STEM structure can best fit your child’s needs. The team will ensure that your student receives the services to meet their needs best as specified in the IEP.

No, computers are available at no cost to be checked out for student use at school and at home that are returned at the end of the school year. Students can also bring their own device (BYOD) to school every day. Students will have to be responsible for bringing their device and charger to school every day and being ready to work.

We offer admissions tours and introduce prospective families to the student experience of early middle school, technology-centric, Project-Based Learning at STEM. To learn more about STEM, we encourage prospective families to attend one of the informational admissions meetings where you will have the opportunity to learn more about STEM, meet school staff and current students, and ask questions. 

Three on-site tours are offered during our admissions period and we offer one tour per month at the times identified on our website, and we strongly encourage you to attend if you are at all interested. If you have a work or other conflict that makes it difficult for you to attend, you can contact the Principal to discuss a time for another visit at 760-255-6151.

Technology - Parents can monitor students’ progress toward academic success using Google Classroom and Infinite Campus Parent Portal.

Enrichment - Students can participate in various academic activities in addition to core classes. We offer engineering, robotics, coding, programming, digital music composition, and video game design in addition to art, and creative writing.

Activities - Students participate in a daily PE class, we offer an option to participate in the Barstow Junior High School marching band. We also compete in sports against other high desert middle schools.  Currently, STEM students in grades 6-8 can complete in Cross Country, Wrestling, Volleyball, Basketball, and Soccer.