What is a STEM school? It used to mean there were a few more science and math classes.

These days, the best STEM schools engage students in real engineering and design challenges and connect them with career opportunities. Some STEM schools, with the help of employers, focus on specific job clusters. Others take advantage of community assets like a college, employer or a zoo.

Nuvu, in Cambridge Massachusetts, is an innovative school based on a project-based studio model lead by coaches who are leaders in their industry, experts in diverse fields and passionate thought leaders.

One Stone ran a successful design thinking after-school program for eight years in Boise before opening a small innovative high school to help young people make the world a better place.

Design Tech High School (d.tech) is a charter high school on the Oracle campus in Redwood City. It merging personalized learning and design thinking with a focus on success skills to help students forge an identity that will help them as students, professionals and citizens.

Denver School of Innovation and Sustainable Design (DSISD) serves a diverse group of students with a focus on innovation and design thinking in an environment that that is personalized, blended and competency-based. DSISD was incubated by DPS and was supported by Carnegie’s Opportunity by Design High School grant program.

Read the full list of various STEM schools across the country by Tom Vander Ark at Getting Smart.