Skyline Programs

Skyline students benefit from specialized instruction in the areas of Art, Music, Physical Education, Media, Technology, Guidance, Gifted Education, Special Education and Speech Language Therapy. Quality learning is facilitated by certified staff in each area. While classroom teachers and specialists collaborate in order to plan integration of curriculum, a combination of a few of these special programs allows the classroom teacher to have three hours of student-free plan time weekly.

The goal of the Art Program is to provide students with sequential instruction that relates and emphasizes the study of structure and meanings of art works, and the skills for both practicing art and making g informed judgments about it. The outcomes of the program involve the learner in several components including aesthetics, art history, art criticism art production and multicultural contributions with outcomes that are cumulative, repeating and building in complexity as the student progresses. The purpose of art education at Skyline is to communicate to the student and to the community the significance of the visual arts as a most important form of communication in every human condition and its relationship between all bodies of knowledge. Students at Skyline participate in one hour of direct art instruction weekly with a certified Art teacher.

Students also benefit from two, half-hour sessions of music instruction weekly, facilitated by a certified music teacher. The belief at Skyline is that music enriches everyday life and fosters a sense of well-being and humanness. The study of music provides a basis from which the students can make intelligent judgments. While music education enhances other scholastic areas, it stands alone as an academic discipline which encourages teamwork and cooperation while requiring skill and high-level thinking.

As part of the total school curriculum Physical Education offers all students as sequential education program. The focus is to assist in building and maintaining physical fitness throughout life; to understand and improve motor skills; to understand how the body works; and to enjoy using sills and knowledge to establish healthy lifestyles.

Skyline Elementary provides a student-centered curriculum in which the Library Media Center plays a central role in preparing students for lifelong learning in the Information Age. The Media program is fully integrated with school curriculum so that students use the Library Media Center to meet real needs for information and to become users of a wide range of information resources. The schedule is flexible so that students may find resources and staff available at the point of need. Library circulation and catalog functions are computerized and networked with other Elkhorn schools, making resources from across the district available to all students and staff. The print collection numbers more than 9,000 books, and a number of online information sources are added to the collection each year.

Skyline students and staff have access to more than 130 computers in the building, a ratio or one computer for every three students! All classrooms are networked and connected to the Internet. Four Macintosh computers with CD-ROM capability are provided in every K-2 classroom and three multimedia Mac labs serve grades 3-5. An Apple lab is used for keyboarding and drill and practice functions. The five strands of the Technology Curriculum (Telecommunications, multimedia, keyboarding programming, software applications) are integrated with the core curriculum of the school.

The Guidance Counseling Program at Skyline is both preventive and interventive in nature. Regularly scheduled classroom guidance activities are provided for all students in areas such as decision-making, responsibility, ownership of feelings and behaviors, and respect for self, others and property. Intervention counseling is available to students having difficulty with social or emotional problems that interfere with academic progress. Students are referred for individual counseling by a staff member or by parents. Students may self-refer if they fell the need to talk over a problem with the counselor.

Gifted Education
Children in kindergarten, first and early second grades are served primarily in the regular classroom with consulting services provided to the classroom teacher by the elementary HALE coordinator. Whole class and small group sessions are planned in collaboration with the classroom teacher. Students in grades 2-5 who have demonstrated high potential or performance in their academic programs have the opportunity to participate in many activities designed to challenge their abilities. Programs for high potential students include literature groups, math and logic activities, creative problem solving, leadership seminars as well as small group seminars on topics stemming from student interest or as an extension of the curriculum. Academic competitions (Continental Math, WordMasters, and NewsBowl) are conducted in cooperation with grade level teachers.

Special Education is designed to assist students who are having difficulty in the areas of reading, math, written language, behavior, or who may have cognitively or motoriclly impairments. At all grade level, support for students can be delivered through direct services (one on one or small group) or indirect services (collaboration and/or co-teaching a subject with the classroom teacher). There are two full time teachers, one speech pathologist and 3 full time assistants.

The Speech-Language pathologist works with students who have difficulties in the areas of articulation, voice, fluency, and language. Language involves two areas including receptive language, what the student is able to understand and expressive language, what the student is able to communicate orally. Speech/Language service are provided in the classroom in a collaborative setting or in small group or individual pull-out as determined by the individual's needs.