More than 4,000 kindergarten through third-grade students in Naperville School District 203 are learning science by snapping LEGO bricks together during the 2025-2026 school year, after the Naperville Education Foundation invested $58,850 to bring LEGO Education Science kits into elementary classrooms across the district.

NEF described District 203 as among the first school districts nationally to adopt the curriculum. LEGO Education released the program in August 2025, and approximately 40 District 203 teachers completed hands-on training in early December 2025. Kits began rolling out to classrooms in mid-December.

Unlike earlier LEGO Education platforms that relied on screens and programming apps, the new science kits focus on physical building and testing. Each kit includes 277 bricks and a double motor, unlocking 40 lessons aligned with Next Generation Science Standards. LEGO Education offers versions for different grade bands, with the K-2 kit retailing at $329.95.

One featured lesson challenges students to design solutions that help salmon migrate safely past a hydroelectric dam, building with LEGO components and then evaluating whether their designs work.

Lila Engelbrecht, a third-grade teacher at Naper Elementary School, said in a statement shared by NEF that her students took to the kits immediately.

"My students are absolutely loving them — in fact, they ask if we are doing 'LEGO science' every single day when they walk through the door," Engelbrecht said. "The lessons are incredibly engaging, and it has been wonderful to watch the students collaborate so effectively to solve problems."

The $58,850 commitment dwarfs NEF's typical grant programs, which include Express Grants capped at $1,000 and $1,000-per-school annual appreciation grants for all 22 District 203 buildings.