High School Drone Curriculum for STEM & CTE Programs
Schedule a CallA Turnkey Drone Curriculum Built for the Classroom
Give students the knowledge, flight skills, and real-world experience to prepare for the FAA Part 107 exam and explore careers in the growing drone industry. DARTdrones provides a turnkey, teacher-ready curriculum designed for high schools, CTE programs, and workforce development programs.
Flexible, Turnkey Curriculum
Choose a year-long, semester, summer, or modular program designed to fit your school’s schedule, goals, and student needs.
FAA Part 107 + Hands-On Flight Skills
Prepare students for the FAA Part 107 exam while building practical flight, safety, and real-world drone operation skills.
Teacher-Ready Resources & Support
Give educators the lesson plans, activities, student tracking tools, training, and ongoing support they need to confidently teach drones.
Career-Focused Drone Education
Connect classroom learning to real-world drone careers through industry applications, professional skills, and hands-on missions.
What Is a High School Drone Curriculum?
A High School Drone Curriculum teaches students how drones are used safely, legally, and professionally while building skills that can translate into real-world career opportunities. A strong program goes beyond simply learning how to fly. Students should gain an understanding of aviation safety, FAA regulations, flight planning, drone technology, and the many ways unmanned aircraft systems are used across industries.
For schools, drone education can fit naturally within STEM, Career and Technical Education (CTE), aviation, engineering, public safety, and workforce development programs. Depending on the course structure, students can progress from foundational drone knowledge and hands-on flight skills to FAA Part 107 preparation and advanced, industry-based applications.
The goal is to give students both technical knowledge and practical experience so they leave the classroom better prepared for certification, continued education, and emerging careers in the drone industry.
What Should a High School Drone Program Include?
A well-rounded high school drone program should combine aviation knowledge, hands-on flight experience, safety, and real-world applications. Students should learn not only how to operate a drone, but also how to plan missions, understand FAA regulations, make safe decisions, and apply drone technology to actual career fields.
FAA Part 107 Knowledge
Hands-On Flight Training
Drone Safety & Risk Management
Real-World Drone Missions
Career & Workforce Preparation
A Path Toward Certification
How DARTdrones’ High School Curriculum Works
DARTdrones gives schools a flexible way to bring professional drone education into the classroom without requiring teachers to build a program from scratch. Curriculum can be incorporated into a semester or year-long course, summer program, after-school program, or other modular learning format based on available instructional time, student experience levels, and program goals.
Students receive access to organized curriculum and learning materials that guide them through drone concepts, aviation knowledge, safety, flight skills, and real-world applications. Coursework can support both classroom instruction and hands-on learning.
Educators don’t need to begin as drone experts. DARTdrones provides teacher resources, training, and ongoing support to help instructors confidently deliver the curriculum and guide students through increasingly advanced concepts.
Schools can start with foundational drone education and expand into FAA Part 107 preparation, hands-on flight training, and advanced real-world drone missions as students progress.
BUNDLES
Flexible Program Options
FAA Part 107 for High School Students
Students who are at least 16 years old can earn an FAA Remote Pilot Certificate by meeting FAA eligibility requirements and passing the Part 107 knowledge exam. For high school students interested in aviation, drones, engineering, public safety, photography, construction, or other technology-driven careers, Part 107 certification can provide an early professional credential before graduation.
DARTdrones’ high school curriculum introduces students to the aviation knowledge covered on the FAA Part 107 exam, including regulations, airspace, weather, flight operations, safety, and aeronautical decision-making. Students can build this knowledge alongside hands-on flight experience so they understand both the rules of operating drones and how those rules apply in real-world situations.
Not every student needs to earn their Part 107 certificate for a drone program to be valuable. Younger students can begin developing foundational knowledge and flight skills, while eligible students can work toward certification as part of their broader career and technical education.
What Teachers Need to Know Before Teaching a Drone Program
Teachers do not need to begin as experienced drone pilots to successfully lead a high school drone program. With the right curriculum, training, and support, educators can guide students through aviation concepts, safety, flight skills, and real-world drone applications while building their own knowledge along the way.
DARTdrones provides teacher resources and training designed to make implementation easier, including structured lesson materials, instructional guidance, and support throughout the program. Schools can give educators a clear framework to follow instead of asking them to create drone lessons, activities, and assessments from scratch.
For programs that include FAA Part 107 preparation, teachers can also strengthen their own understanding of FAA regulations and commercial drone operations as they support students working toward certification.
No prior drone expertise required
Teacher training and instructional resources
Ongoing support throughout the program
Equipment & Classroom Requirements
A high school drone program does not require a specialized aviation lab to get started. Most schools can begin with a few core resources and scale their equipment as students progress into more advanced flight training and real-world applications.
Student Devices
Computers or tablets for coursework
Flight Space
A safe indoor or outdoor area for practice
Training Drones
Aircraft matched to the students’ skill level and course goals
Train the Trainers
Excel as a drone instructor by learning in-person from a DARTdrones Instructor. With thousands of hours of classroom drone instruction experience, DARTdrones instructors are the best of the best, manned aviation pilots who teach teams at the nation’s largest drone programs and fly drones in the field every day.
Funding Your High School Drone Program
Schools may be able to fund drone education through a combination of CTE, STEM, workforce development, career-readiness, grant, or district funding sources. The best option will depend on the school, state, program goals, and how the curriculum fits within existing educational pathways.
DARTdrones works with schools to help them understand program needs and identify funding opportunities that may support curriculum, teacher training, equipment, and student instruction.
CTE & Workforce Funding
Funding tied to career preparation, technical education, and workforce development initiatives.
STEM & Grant Opportunities
Local, state, federal, or private funding opportunities may help support drone and technology education.
District & Program Budgets
Drone curriculum may also fit within existing aviation, engineering, public safety, technology, or career-readiness budgets.
Drone Industry Career Clusters
What Educators Say About DARTdrones
The staff is wonderful in the response time to any problems. Also, when I suggested that I needed certain material to be printed for my student, the DARTdrones team made that happen. I'm pretty sure that by May, both my student and I should be well prepared to take the Part 107 test.
The DARTdrones Train the Trainer training was a phenomenal week of preparation for our Texans Can Academy trainers. We left feeling confident and well equipped to train our students for their Part 107 test.
I used the DARTdrones curriculum for my high school robotics/drone classes. The students really connected with the information knowing it would lead to a part 107 drone pilot certification, and most importantly, a career. There are few things you can teach in high school that directly correlate to the workforce right out of school, but this curriculum is one of them.
Learn More About our "Intro to Drones Course"
- Year or Semester Long Curriculum
- Designed to Build Student Interest in Drones
- Turn-Key Curriculum
See What’s Inside the DARTdrones Curriculum
- Year at a Glance
- Sample Practice Exercise: Lesson 3
- Sample Group Exercise: Lesson 1
- Unit 1 Materials List
- Unit 1 Standards and Objectives
- Careers in Drones: Sample Activity
Access A Free Trial of Our Course
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Why Schools Choose DARTdrones
DARTdrones combines classroom-ready curriculum with real-world drone expertise, helping schools build programs that prepare students for more than recreational flying. Our curriculum is designed around professional drone operations, FAA knowledge, hands-on skills, and career applications while giving educators the resources and support they need to teach with confidence.
Built Around Real-World Drone Operations
Students learn how drones are used professionally across industries, not just how to fly them.
FAA Part 107 Preparation
Curriculum introduces the aviation knowledge and regulations students need to understand commercial drone operations and prepare for certification when eligible.
Designed for Teachers
Structured lessons, teacher resources, training, and ongoing support help schools implement a drone program without requiring instructors to build one from scratch.
Flexible for Different School Programs
Curriculum can support semester, year-long, summer, after-school, STEM, CTE, and workforce-development programs.
A Path Beyond the Basics
Students can progress from introductory drone skills into more advanced applications and industry-focused training as their knowledge grows.
Designed to Keep Students Engaged
Heavy aviation concepts are balanced with hands-on flight activities, career exploration, group exercises, and real-world problem solving to keep students actively involved in learning.
Our Graduates are Career Ready and Work For:
Designed For Teachers, By Teachers
Kelly Longaker
Kelly is a dedicated professional and seasoned public educator boasting a rich background with over 20 years of experience specializing in curriculum and content development, lesson design and differentiation. Kelly partnered with DARTdrones in the development of a customizable drone training program for young learners looking to establish and grow in their career and technical development training. Her main focus lies in developing engaging learning materials and strategies to enhance student learning outcomes. Her ultimate goal is to continue making a positive impact in the field of education and supporting the growth and development of students and educators alike.
Chris Speicher, Ph.D.
Chris is one of the co-founders of DARTdrones and also the Executive Director of the School of Business and Global Innovation at Marywood University in Scranton, PA. Chris has been involved with over 30 start-up entries in his professional career, but his passion remains teaching and educating young people from around the world on how to succeed in business in an ethical manner. Chris is the 2020 recipient of the International Academic Excellence Award from the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) and the 2020 recipient of the Faculty Mentor Award, X-Culture International Business Plan Competition.
Jerry White
Jerry has a background spanning various roles including flight instruction, corporate, charter, and airline piloting. Jerry has amassed over 7,000 flight hours. Notably, his expertise extends to drone piloting and executive leadership within the aviation industry. Beyond his piloting credentials, Jerry’s entrepreneurial journey as a small business owner and his role as a business consultant provide him with a comprehensive understanding of aviation operations and safety management. His experience as a flight instructor, particularly in teaching high school students to obtain their private pilot license, underscores his dedication to sharing his knowledge and skills with others.
Learn More About Bringing Drones to Your Classroom
Frequently Asked Questions
We designed this course to be turnkey for a teacher who wants to complete the course our way – a year-long course leading to taking the Part 107 exam, but the curriculum can also be broken down into smaller parts and be helpful for an intensive month long course, a semester long course, or even a summer camp. The modular approach allows for teachers to pick and choose which parts of the curriculum they want to use.
Yes! Depending on the timing of the program, we would likely recommend that the students focus on one or two of the more fun parts of our program such as the Micro Drone Flight Activities, the Career Activities, or the Steps to Becoming a Service Provider course. Talk to our team about options so we can make sure it meets your needs!
The Micro Drone Flight Activities, Advanced Drone Demonstrations, and the Career Activities are meant to get students up, out of their seats, and problem solving real-world problems of drone pilots.
Yes, teachers can see students’ progress on each portion of the class as well as test scores.
Teachers can join our Train the Trainers in 3 ways: Virtual, In-Person Open Enrollment, or a 4 Day Teacher Workshop.
Technically, for a teacher to legally fly a drone outside with students, the teacher must have a Part 107 license. Don’t worry – DARTdrones has trained thousands of adults to pass their FAA Part 107 License pretty quickly. We will get you through it!
For our standard Intro to Drones course, we recommend at a minimum a few micro drones and one “advanced drone”. For example, the Holy Stone Mini Drone for $40 and a DJI Mini, Air, Mavic or similar. Our team can help you find the right drone for your needs and budget.
Our success is your success! Our instructors and team are available to help you with any questions or concerns you run into. Our goal is for this course to be turnkey. If we find something that helps one teacher, we will update the online portal to make it available for every teacher.
Most drone curriculum providers fall into 2 categories: STEM, which focuses on coding and building drones, and game playing, which focuses on topics like drone soccer or drone racing. DARTdrones is neither of these. We focus on real world drone operations professional drone pilots are flying for their career. We’ve been training pilots at some of the largest drone programs in the US for over 10 years. Now, we are bringing that same training into the classroom, adapted for younger learners.
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