Skyline Academy graduates 100 percent of its students

Robert Galbreath
Posted 2/15/19

100 percent of the 18 students graduated.

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Skyline Academy graduates 100 percent of its students

Posted

Approximately one in five

students who start their high school careers

as freshmen in Wyoming will not make it to

graduation. There are only a few schools in

the state where every single student who enters

the doors will graduate. In 2018, Skyline

Academy faculty and staff had the distinction

of seeing all 14 students in the senior class

receive diplomas.

This achievement is even more noteworthy

when one considers the fact that the average

graduation rate for Wyoming’s alternative

high schools is only 54 percent, said Skyline

Principal Eric Makelky. The only other alternative

school with a 100 percent graduation

rate in the state is New Frontier High School

in Kemmerer.

Cultivating an environment where students

feel included and invested in their future is

the key to the school’s success, Makelky explained.

The people behind that success are

the teachers who go above and beyond to

reach out and connect with their students.

“The biggest effect on student achievement

comes from classroom teachers,” he

said. “Skyline staff have done a great job

building relationships with students, holding

them to high expectations and making

sure that our kids know graduation is the best

choice for their future.”

Building relationships

A common stereotype about alternative

schools is that they are “dumping grounds”

for students with low GPAs and test scores.

This is far from the truth at Skyline Academy,

special education teacher David Shaw said.

“A lot of students (at Skyline) have great

GPAs,” he said. “But a traditional high school

was not a good fit for them. We’re able to

structure the process to meet the needs for

each student. It’s been a process, but we’ve

refined it to a point where it’s working.”

The class sizes at Skyline are much smaller

than at Pinedale High School. This allows

teachers the flexibility to adapt lesson plans

to the individual student and spend more time

with one-on-one learning.

Each student at Skyline meets with faculty

to create a student success plan for the year

where students establish individual goals,

Shaw explained. The goals are usually academic,

but they can also focus on the personal

side, what Shaw called building “soft skills.”

A central part of the school’s philosophy is

building strong relationships among students,

teachers, staff and parents.

“We are very student-focused on the individual,”

said teacher John Snell. “We develop

close relationships with the students. We see

their good and bad days, and we focus on

what will help the student achieve success.”

An alternative approach

Skyline’s goal is to “foster an environment

where kids want to be,” said teacher Holli

Redmond. In order to build this environment

for a diverse student body, the school took

some alternative approaches.

One method is to set aside incentive time

for students who perform well during the

week. This takes the form of field trips, Friday

afternoon club time and PASS (positive

academic student’s success) time on Friday

mornings, Redmond said. PASS time allows

students to do “a special student activity”

every week, to provide a short-term and obtainable

goal for students, she explained.

Friday afternoon club time consists of a

variety of activities. Teachers get ideas from

students on what they want to do, said Snell,

and can include anything from board games

to outdoor sports, photography and cooking.

Another alternative approach is to offer

coursework in a block schedule where the

semester is broken up into manageable segments.

Students earn a half credit in a core

academic class that is offered about every

three weeks, Shaw said.

“The students get a much quicker response

this way versus a traditional schedule,” Shaw

said. “They show up and see that there’s a

light at the end of the tunnel.”

Skyline offers an “ingenuity track,” where

students who are behind in credits can take

online courses to catch up, Shaw said.

Holding students to high standards

Skyline teachers work to make sure students

don’t fall through the cracks by raising

the bar of success for each individual student.

“Our motto is to expect success,” said

Snell. “Any student who shows up is expected

to pass. If they don’t, we find a way to

make them accountable.”

Students at Skyline take the same courses

at the same level of academic rigor as their

peers at PHS. In order to pass an academic

course, students need a 70 percent or above

in the class, Redmond said. Students also

need to pass an advisory and career planning

class with a grade of 90 percent or higher,

she added.

The incentive field trips also provide a

way for students to be held accountable. Redmond

explained that students have to save up

behavioral points earned during the school

year to attend the field trips.

“Students need to be here, be respectful

and responsible and show positive relationships,”

she said.

At the end of the day, all of the above efforts

are about keeping the student in school.

“The clubs and incentives encourage the

kids to want to be at school,” said Snell.

“Part of our success is getting kids in the

doors. When they’re at school, they’ll be

successful.’