Biomedical Preparatory at UT Southwestern, which opened its doors to learners this fall, is taking education in an innovative direction to help students think like scientists from an early age.

The school, located on Forest Park Road, is the result of a partnership between the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) and UT Southwestern, with the aim of providing young children with a foundation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and introducing them to the world of biomedical discovery. It currently serves students in prekindergarten through first grade and will expand one grade level each year up to eighth grade. There are 127 students enrolled this year.

Half of the available student spots are reserved for economically disadvantaged students. All enrollment offers are generated at random through a lottery system based on the number of seats available in each grade coupled with the student’s priority group.

The idea for the UT Southwestern-DISD partnership was the brainchild of Charles Ginsburg, M.D., Vice Provost and Senior Associate Dean for Education.

About four years ago, the idea for the school came to Charles Ginsburg, M.D., Vice Provost and Senior Associate Dean for Education. As a pediatrician with more than five decades of experience in the medical field, Dr. Ginsburg said he has always been interested in early childhood education and aware of the inequalities that exist among those from different socio-economic backgrounds.

“We have a first-class biomedical research institution that has incredible intellectual and physical resources that allow us to provide for the academic enrichment of young children,” said Dr. Ginsburg, also Professor of Pediatrics. “I wanted UT Southwestern to expand access to its resources in nontraditional ways for the benefit of the community.”

The school’s mission is to create a nurturing, safe, and positive environment that promotes curiosity, research, and discovery.

The school’s slogan, “Science Starts Here,” is a clear statement of what DISD and UTSW are trying to achieve – a space where young learners gain firsthand exposure to real-world science as well as direct access to biomedical science-related field trips.

Roberto Gonzalez, M.D., principal of the new Biomedical Preparatory at UT Southwestern, visits with some students doing a craft project.

At the helm of Biomedical Preparatory at UTSW is Principal Roberto Gonzalez, M.D., who was a family doctor in Colombia and, most recently, the principal at DISD’s Stevens Park Elementary School. This position has allowed him to combine his passions and continue to support and serve families.

“Medicine focuses on helping someone get better, and I believe I’m still doing that every day by contributing to students’ health literacy and social-emotional development,” Dr. Gonzalez said.

Fostering the skills students need for the future

Educators at Biomedical Prep are looking ahead at what skills are needed to put students on a path ideal for budding scientists. But how does one teach biomedical science to a 5-year-old?

The latest technology is used to advance students’ learning, including programs that teach the alphabet and reading.

Dallas ISD has incorporated extracurricular and co-curricular activities at Biomedical Prep such as Amazon Future Engineers, a program aimed at making computer science education more accessible to children and young adults from underserved and underrepresented communities. On STEM-themed Fridays, students conduct experiments like using petri dishes to learn about what causes bacterial growth on hands, and making the connection between a lesson on the skeletal system and the story of Humpty Dumpty – complete with a lab where students build protective gear for an egg-drop challenge.

Learning tool staples such as crayons and building blocks are included as part of the interactive curriculum.

Dr. Gonzalez said a key component of the work taking place within the school’s walls is empowering students to be active participants in their education.

The curriculum incorporates social-emotional learning (SEL), an educational method that balances students’ academic and emotional needs. By embedding SEL in the classroom, educators grow students’ subject mastery while teaching communication skills, empathy, problem-solving, resiliency, and self-management. The result of this approach has presented itself in unexpected ways, Dr. Gonzalez said, including one first grade student who communicated with his parent about the emotions he was experiencing while correctly using the word “amygdala.”

“At Biomedical Prep, we want to encourage future scientists who take a human-centered approach, which we refer to as design thinking, where they begin with empathy first when designing solutions to real-world problems,” Dr. Gonzalez said. “We hope to inspire both compassion and curiosity, and show students how to accept and learn from mistakes.”