Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Successfully Furnishing iSTEAM3D Classrooms

  • 04/01/15
iSTEAM3D

Innovative furniture, provided by Smith System, helped propel the ambitious iSTEAM3D curriculum model to success at the Desoto Independent School District.

“JUST PULLING [in] any furniture wouldn’t work,” explains Dr. Jo Green-Rucker with DeSoto Independent School District in DeSoto, Texas. The suburban school district was about to take its STEM initiative a step further with the creation of iSTEAM3D. Its unique curriculum model would combine science, technology, engineering and math with innovative, the arts and 3D learning (discovering, designing and developing).

With the curriculum defined, the district set out to implement an “academy” in each of the district’s three middle schools. Each would have five teachers.

“We wanted the students to use every inch of the academy… in any way they want[ed].” The areas were designed with large open spaces for content, projects and collaboration, a dance room and a science lab. Next up was installing furniture that would allow maximize use of the spaces.

Smith System, a leader in designing furniture for 21st Century classrooms, stepped in to provide tables, lab tables, chairs and storage systems, within the district’s ambitious timeframe.

The versatility of the space and casters on the furniture allow easy transitions from large groups to small. A typical day in the academy, according to West Middle School reading teacher Yvonne Lowry, starts “in the morning [as] students rotate to each teacher to receive content and project instructions. In the afternoons, students have project time with their small groups. The teachers act more as facilitators.”

About one year into launching the academies, all signs point to success. The students are enjoying their new lab stools and tables, “because they are different from the traditional, which is facilitating a new learning process,” says Joey Hayward, East Middle School science teacher. He adds: “The students in iSTEAM are scoring higher than those not in it. We’ve seen tremendous growth in students.”

www.SmithSystem.com

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • Sam Houston State University Completes Athletic Stadium Renovations

    Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, recently announced the reopening of Elliott T. Bowers Stadium after an extensive renovation project, according to a news release. The university partnered with Stantec and DLR Group for the project’s design.

  • Health & Science Building

    Health & Science Building

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. The College of Western Idaho's Health & Science Building has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Project of Distinction award in the category of New Construction.

  • Planning with Clarity: Using AI to Make Better Campus Decisions, Not Just Better Designs

    Higher education leaders are being asked to make increasingly high-stakes decisions about campus facilities amid greater uncertainty than ever before. Social and economic pressures, shifting enrollment, and evolving learning models compete with growing deferred maintenance needs to strain even the most robust infrastructure budgets.

  • Can AI Help Build Stronger Communities in Student Housing?

    Student housing success is shifting from operational performance to student experience, with belonging now at the center. A recent 2025 report underscores a growing emphasis on student well-being, community, and engagement, signaling that expectations now extend beyond logistics to ensure students feel supported in their living environments. AI is enabling that shift by reducing administrative workload and giving teams more time to focus on meaningful student engagement.