Starting for the 2023-24 school year, the NCESD STEM Materials Cooperative will supply OpenSciEd units to ALL GRADES 6-8. This replaces the Smithsonian STCMS units for middle school classrooms.
Click here to learn more about why NCESD chose OpenSciEd for the STEM Materials Cooperative
What will it look like?
Districts will purchase their own set of materials and store them at their district. Each kit serves 160 students (5 classes of 32 students).
Refurbishment is available on an annual basis through NCESD
- Refurbishment will likely look like a district responding to a KBE sent by the ESD in the spring indicating the need for a new consumable supply kit.
- Districts will have the flexibility to order those supplies when needed. For example, some of our smaller districts may not need supplies shipped to them every year since the kits serve up to 160 students.
- Kits will not be shipped back and forth between the ESD and the district like they are with Smithsonian kits. A box of new supplies will be shipped directly to the district upon request and the purchase will be indicated on the KBE.
There are many benefits to being a part of the Cooperative and participating in the new structure.
- Receive bulk/discount pricing
- Free training
- PLC opportunities for support
- Worry free refurbishment
- And more!
Estimated Pricing (OpenSciEd via Carolina Science)
NCESD is working with Carolina Science and grant funding to help discount costs to Cooperative members. The information below was provided by Carolina Science and includes estimated pricing for 2022 and does not include shipping and handling (+8-10%).
Initial purchase of entire suite of units for each grade level
- 6th grade – $6,828.50
- 7th grade – $7,030.00
- 8th grade – $8,878.00
After the initial purchase. Districts will only have to pay the Refurbishment fee when they need to refurbish the units after use
(ie for small districts it could take 2-3 years to serve up to 160 students with each kit).- 6th grade – $1,681.50
- 7th grade – $2,714.50
- 8th grade – $2,378.00