Post on 22-Jun-2020
Unlocking the Potential:
No universal key.
One unique approach.
P I L O T S C H O O L
At Pilot, we don’t focus on diagnostic labels and top-down judgments,
but instead identify and cultivate a child’s strengths. This approach serves
as an anchor for the hard work that is necessary to diminish or eliminate
learning weaknesses. Children who are struggling to learn are as normal
as any others, and if assistance and encouragement are provided for a few
years, they regain their self-esteem and willingness to tackle challenges.
Children naturally want to succeed, and when they learn how, nothing can
stop them. Energy and motivation push away passivity and doubt. Simply
learning how to find answers to questions reinforces independence and
perseverance, resulting in an exciting newfound confidence that overpowers
fear of failure. As a result, our teachers fully experience the joy of seeing
their students graduate and transition into new schools, ready and able to
apply the skills and attitude learned at Pilot.
D i r e c t o r ’ s L et t e r
Every child—and every school—has a story.
This is ours.
We are not an old school, with a century or more of tradition and
heritage. And we are not a new school, founded on the latest thing
in educational theories and technologies. We are an established school with
a proven educational model that has helped children with language-based
learning difculties learn how to learn—and how to love learning.In 1957, a class of two teachers and ve youngsters met in two Sunday
School classrooms in Greenville, Delaware. What started that year as an educational experiment—or “pilot program”—evolved into a teacher-designed facility and an individual student-centered philosophy that now has 50 faculty and staff members devoted to the success of approximately 160 students yearly, ages 5 through 14 years.
We meet children where they are—
and guide them to where they need to be.
M I S S I o n
The Pilot School’s mission is to uncover the unique educational challenges of
each student, and to give each child the specic developmental tools, guidance,
and attention needed to learn, achieve, and ultimately to feel comfortable and
be successful in the academic environment that is most appropriate.
The heart of our approach is the knowledge that every child is unique, with his or her own learning
strengths and challenges that must rst be understood and then addressed. While many schools
may talk about being child-centered, at Pilot, we actually structure our entire academic and allied
therapeutic programs around that truth.
• our student-to-teacher ratio of ve to one allows us to get to know each child’s capabilities
intimately: academically, emotionally, socially, and physically.
• We select educational materials that specically focus on and challenge a child’s strengths. By
recognizing and building on strengths, a child learns to feel positive about learning and builds
the condence and self-esteem necessary to tackle more challenging areas.
• Teachers, students, therapeutic and educational specialists, faculty, staff, and parents communicate
frequently about each child’s progress, achievements, strengths, and challenges. That web of
communication is key to our ability to routinely adapt each child’s program for an optimal t
for the child’s unique pace and changing skills and needs.
• Recognizing that learning thrives when it involves all the senses, we regularly engage students in
physical activity, music, art, and aquatics, as well as in individual and group classroom studies and
therapeutic experiences as needed.
• We group students into three divisions—Lower, Middle, and Upper—that are structured according
to age. This allows children to experience social and emotional development and activities that are
age- and peer- appropriate.
• Every child takes part in regular educational assessment, including yearly standardized testing when
ready. This ongoing evaluation is vital to understanding and addressing each child’s needs, so that
we can help the student make the most of Pilot’s learning opportunities. A psychological evaluation
is completed during a child’s nal year at Pilot to assist with choosing the best school environment
for the next phase of his or her academic career and to help with transition.
Allies beyond academics.
At Pilot, we recognize that there are many avenues to learning, not all of
which take place in a classroom. While classroom instruction in core
subjects is integral to our holistic approach to education, we understand that
learning is enhanced by movement, art and music, adaptive and assistive
therapies and technologies, and outdoor learning opportunities.
ThErApEuTic ArT
Art is a very personal form of expression, and children
ourish when they are free to create works that reect
their own talents and imaginations. Colors, shapes,
textures, composition, paper, canvas, paint, clay—each
is an avenue to learn, explore, create, showcase. our
students gain condence through therapeutic art where
they learn there is no right way and no wrong way—the
work reects their way and that’s the way it should be.
Music ThErApy
The beat goes on, as does the melody, the rhythm, the timing,
the lyrics, the harmony, the emotion. At Pilot, students enjoy
the excitement of creating music collaboratively and sharing it
with parents, staff, and other students.
our music program features traditional instruments and
today’s technology to foster learning capabilities that extend
beyond the notes on a page or the words of a song. Music
is an involving, participative activity that can also enhance
math skills, memory, speech and reading uency, language
development, focus, concentration, and the ability to work
individually and collectively.
rEAding LAb
Whether the words appear on a paper page or digital screen,
reading is still the doorway to information on just about every
subject under the sun.
For children who need a bit of extra help in reading, from
sounding out words to comprehension, Pilot’s reading specialists
work with students individually and in group settings to help
them acquire the skills and condence to make reading less
frightening and more fun.
AquATics, physicAL EducATion, And AdApTivE pE
Movement enhances learning.
It’s unnatural for children, who
are full of energy and a drive to
explore, to sit quietly behind a
desk hour after hour each day.
At Pilot, every child
participates in aquatics and
physical education. Some
children also take part in adaptive
physical education, which assists
students with body awareness,
balance, memory, motor skills,
word recognition, and more.
physicAL ThErApy And occupATionAL ThErApy
Some Pilot students have challenges with things like gross or ne
motor skills and/or sensory integration. Imagine how difcult
keeping up with classroom work would be if you had trouble
grasping a pencil or sitting balanced in your chair.
For our students who need extra help in these areas, we offer
onsite therapy with licensed physical and occupational therapists.
Therapy that is integrated with regular schoolday activities makes
these interventions less daunting for children and frees parents
from making outside trips to specialists.
spEEch-LAnguAgE pAThoLogy
The ability to communicate, to understand and be understood,
is critical to advancing in classroom learning as well as succeeding
in the world beyond school. our
speech-language pathologists work
with students in recognizing and
forming sounds, as well as listening
and speaking skills, to help children
interact and communicate with
clarity and condence.
LibrAry
our library serves as a sanctuary that surrounds children with
books and inspires the joy of reading. While Pilot includes
the latest digital technologies in classroom instruction and
therapeutic sessions, we believe that reading builds the
foundation for lifelong learning.
Making the connection.
Making the connection is the basis for all learning. The connection between reading and
writing. The connection between arithmetic and mathematics. The connection between
rote memorization and real knowledge.
There is also the connection between people—teachers, students, therapists, psychologist,
administrative staff, Director, and Division Heads. It is not linear, but a web of connections, at
all levels, at any time. At Pilot, we not only encourage connection—we foster it. It’s how we make
sure each student is getting exactly the individualized, exible program that he or she needs to
be able to meet challenges and move forward without undue stress.
Each day at a time. Each future full of promise.
There are certain words and phrases that have become part
of the Pilot vocabulary.
• The myth of normal™: if every individual is unique
—and at Pilot, we believe that to be true—then
indisputably there is no such thing as normal. All
people grow and change at their own rates, develop
competencies based on their own strengths and
interests, and interact with others based on their own
personalities and temperaments. Parents, teachers,
staff, and students themselves are encouraged to
embrace and celebrate the uniqueness of each child.
• Building on successes: focusing on strengths more
than weaknesses gives students the condence to keep
taking two steps forward even if they sometimes take
one step back.
• Self-advocacy: helping students to recognize their
needs—for time, for resources, for extra assistance—
and to freely ask for what they need with condence
and conviction.
• Regulating the engine: helping students nd the
sweet spot of energy where they can learn and
participate most effectively—how to “rev up” when
they may need more energy and how to calm down
when they need more focused attention.
We use various phrases to describe what we do and how we do it—to help children thrive within our unique academic environment.
The most important phrase you’ll hear is “Unlocking the Potential™.” At Pilot, we educate students who have the potential to succeed—in school and in life—with our very personalized, very targeted, and very supportive environment and educational approach.
Administrators, faculty members, and therapeutic professionals are more than experts in their subjects. They are trained and proficient in interacting with each child individually, to understand each student from an emotional, academic, and social perspective. This takes time—and significant amounts of it at that.
At Pilot, we believe this kind of focused time and attention, coupled with expert teaching and therapeutic interventions, helps us unlock the potential™ of our students—and helps the students open their own doors to their own futures.
100 Garden Of Eden Rd.Wilmington, DE 19803
302.478.1740
www.pilotschool.org