Why would a family that can afford a private education send its children to a public school?

“Because the school offers a private school curriculum with a realistic cross-section of people in the world,” says Susan Burroughs, whose daughter attends kindergarten at Skyview Elementary.

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The last few years have seen a number of changes at Skyview. Gone are the portables and overcrowding that resulted when all-adult apartment complexes in the school’s former attendance area began admitting families.

In their place, says Principal Mary Ann Schwab, are a neighborhood school where the children live within walking distance, and an academic program dubbed “Teaching the STARS.”

Teaching the STARS consists of five areas in which Skyview offers or will offer programs not widely available in RISD. That includes special science units for fifth and sixth graders using the resources of the planetarium adjacent to the school. It also includes Lightspan, a third and fourth-grade program played on Sony Playstations that integrates learning between home and school.

Advanced math classes and various reading programs will be available in each grade. Spanish will be taught to first and fourth graders beginning in August and the program will expand yearly until all grades benefit.

Kindergarten through second graders may also be placed in an accelerated learners program where students work about one-half year above grade level. Kindergarten in this program is one of the few in the district that remains in session all day.

Homeowners, who had once withdrawn support from the school, are beginning to take notice of these opportunities. Their children’s enrollment increased from 15 percent in February of 1997 to 20 percent in September. And Schwab is optimistic that the trend will continue.

Because Teaching the STARS is a pilot program, RISD will consider transfer requests from other schools. For more information, call the school at 503-2480.