Principal's Message

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Dear Skyline Families:

As we enter our last week of school, the promise of summer is finally here! For us as teachers, and for all of our families, summer can be a period of great joy, but it can also stretch in front of us in a way that worries us: Will our children thrive as readers in these months? It is during this time that children are at risk for the “summer slide,” a phenomenon that occurs when children are not reading or connecting with books in a rich and robust way. These “lost” months are not only a time when children may remain static in their reading progress, but some can fall back or lose ground. To ensure that your children continue to progress as readers, I would like to offer the following tips:

1. Have your child find a comfortable space at home where they can read each day for 15-20 minutes.
2. Bring your child to the library so they can choose books that make them feel comfortable. We want to instill a love of reading at home!
3. Create a Curiosity List of things your child and your family most want to learn about this summer, and then find books on some of these fun and interesting topics.
4. Have your child reach out to their grandparent, a neighbor, an aunt, or a friend from class to share what they are currently reading.
5. Challenge your child to take a kindness action from a book or story they are reading, and perform this same action or another action of their choice for another person.
6. Have your child read a book about a courageous person in the world and have a family conversation at dinner about what courage means and where they see small or big examples of courage in the world.
7. Identify one or two things you are seeing your child do as a reader this summer, whether it’s trying a new genre or having breakthroughs in reading hard words. Celebrate these small steps by posting a compliment on your child’s bedroom wall or have a special family dinner.

I also encourage you to check out a new reading opportunity this summer, Sora Summer Reading Program. Sora is a student reading app which provides students free access 24/7 to e-books and audiobooks. There is easy, unlimited access from June 6 – August 15, 2019. To learn more about the program, click here: https://www.sbsd.k12.ca.us/Page/9128

The Solana Beach School District has also put together a number of resources for a summer of fun learning! Please visit our Summer Fun Learning web page, where you will find a variety of STREAM (Science, Technology, Research, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) activities as well as links to Khan Academy and DreamBox. Feel free to try out the various resources. It's all about challenging the brain a little bit each day with fun, yet educational activities. https://www.sbsd.k12.ca.us/Domain/795

Finally, I want to thank all Skyline families for the amazing opportunity I have had here at Skyline over these past 12 years. It has been a pleasure meeting you and working with my staff and your amazing children. I know that your new principal, Kim Pinkerton, will be a wonderful addition to our school and the community. As the new Coordinator of Student Services for the Solana Beach School District next year, I am fortunate that I will still have opportunities to come by and visit Skyline, as it will always hold a special place in my heart.   I wish you a safe, restful and fun summer.

This spring, Solana Beach students in third through sixth grade took part in the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, or CAASPP, for English language arts and mathematics. These standardized tests are based on California’s academic standards, which include the ability to write clearly, think critically, and solve problems - skills students need to succeed in college and a career.

We are pleased to share with you that California is moving its state testing Student Score Reports to an electronic format that will be delivered online. The electronic Student Score Reports also will be enhanced, offering a more dynamic way of providing information about how students are progressing in their education.

Electronic score reports for state testing can now be accessed electronically via the Solana Beach School District Parent Portal. Navigate to https://www.sbsd.k12.ca.us/Page/9126 for more information on accessing your child’s electronic Student Score Reports.

Lisa Denham, Principal