STREAM at MCA

MCA is a Cognia STEM Certified School

Mount Carmel Academy is the first high school in New Orleans to earn STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) Certification by Cognia (a merger of AdvancED and Measured Progress). This achievement is a mark of distinction and excellence only offered to highly effective institutions that have successfully integrated STEM education.  Learn more.

Cubs collaborate, make, and innovate!

Our students learn by doing. They reflect on problems big and small, local and global, tangible and intangible. They work together and develop plans. They bring their ideas to life and then discover ways to improve.

Mount Carmel forms lifelong learners through a holistic, forward-thinking, and faith-inspired education. We are proud to be Cognia STEM Certified, but we believe that religion and art (musical, visual, and literary) are of equal importance. STREAM (Science, Technology, Religion, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) serves as an extension of STEM.

Cubs Create Design Cycle

Project-based learning and the Cubs Create Design Cycle were introduced at Mount Carmel Academy in 2016 as a way for students to learn by doing through an organized, creative, and collaborative process. 

The Cubs Create Design Cycle utilizes six stages for tackling complex, real-world problems. Learn more.

The Design Cycle at Work

Make it at Mount Carmel

Equipped with 16 MakerBot Replicator 3D printers and an engraver/laser cutter, the mission of the Phyllis M. Taylor Maker Lab is to provide a space where students from all academic mediums are encouraged to collaborate, innovate, and create. Ideas come to life and learning is enhanced in this creative environment. Learn more.

WGNO Story on MCA's STEM Certification

Glowing Bacteria

Students in AP Biology II performed a pGLO transformation lab, where special bacteria are modified by adding a piece of DNA, causing them to glow green and become resistant to certain antibiotics. Learn more.

Electrical Circuits

Students explored simple, series, parallel, and combination circuits. Learn more.

SUTURING BANANAS

Students in Anatomy & Physiology practiced suturing techniques on banana peels. Learn more.

Gel Electrophoresis

Biology II AP students used biotechnological skills to exonerate the suspect in a crime. Learn more.

PHYSICS: ROLLER COASTERS

Using the principles of forces, motion, and energy, physics students designed and built roller coaster prototypes. Learn more.

Petroleum Engineering Cupcake Project

Students simulated bore drilling using cupcakes and straws as "drills." The cupcakes represented geological elements - frosting for topsoil, blue for limestone, yellow for sandstone, red for shale 1, and green for shale 2. They drilled three holes into their cupcakes, analyzed the samples, made predictions, and assessed the drilling potential. The cupcakes were cut open to see how accurate their predictions were. Learn more.

First Place: STEM Competition

MCA's 8th and 10th grade teams placed first in the state in the TEAMS STEM competition where student teams work together to solve real-world engineering problems using their knowledge of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.  Learn more.