1. Welcome Back to School! MHS Skybox Program 2016-2017 Mrs. Fioretti
Mrs. Mintz
Ms. Rosenthal
Mrs. Torralba
Classroom Webpage:

2. Skybox Schedule
All of our students follow the A Day – B Day block schedule. Each block is 84 minutes.
The Skybox schedule was designed to maximize the space in the Skybox which means that not all of our students are here at the same time.

3. Related Services
Many of our students have additions to their daily schedule which include:
Speech Therapy w/ Mrs. Olney
Occupational Therapy/Yoga w/Ms. Koblin
Counseling with CST

4. Additions to the Academic Curriculum: Transitions and Learning Strategies
The goal of this course is for students to function with optimum independence and success in a variety of current and future environments.
The course is divided into 7 non-sequential units of study:
Preparation for Learning
How We Learn
Study Skills
Daily Living Skills
Self-Advocacy
Personal-Social Skills
Occupational Guidance and Preparation
Postsecondary Education and Training.

5. Transition and Learning Strategies
Concepts and skills are introduced, reinforced, and extended upon throughout the year in other content areas.
Community Based Instruction and on or off campus Structured Learning Experiences provide opportunities for generalization of skills.
Lesson topics and activities will include:
awareness of personal likes/dislikes
awareness of personal talents and challenges
how to be an effective self-advocate
strategies for academic and social success
expression of goals for school and the future
strategies to support individual learning style
daily living and vocational assessments
career exploration
volunteer/employment opportunities

6. Work Study and Community Based Instruction (CBI)
Per IEP:
Freshmen and Sophomore students are involved in Work Study opportunities within the school community - MHS and Board of Education Office
A Work Study block offers application of skills. Work Study, in all settings, focuses on assessing student skills and interests, learning transferable vocational skills, environment-appropriate social skills, problem solving, and self-advocacy.
Some students experience CBI with regularly schedules outings to local environments
Our goals for these outings are functional application
of academic skills, social skills, and awareness
of community resources for practical and leisure purposes.
Permission slips and medical forms must be returned by due dates if you want your child to participate in CBI and other out-of-school field trips

7. Work Study and Community Based Instruction (CBI)
Juniors, Seniors, and Post-Grads
Students are currently involved in Work Study opportunities within the Montgomery Township community; our goal is to continue to develop and expand into other sites as they become available and are appropriate for students.
Beginning this September, our students are working at:
Shop Rite
CVS
Kid Connection
True Value Hardware
Chartwell’s cafeteria services (VES, OHES, UMS, MHS)
Princeton Fitness and Wellness Center
Orchard Hill Elementary (P.E. Department and Pre-School)
Yao’s Restaurant
Medical Center at Princeton-Plainsboro
SAVE Animal Shelter
Students are provided district transportation and are accompanied to some locations by a paraprofessional who has been trained as a job coach.

8. Life Skills Hygiene and Personal Appearance Time Management
Self-Advocacy
Responsibility and Reliability
Rule Following
Conflict Resolution or Problem Solving
Understanding verbal and nonverbal social cues
Understanding the culture of a work setting (including how to accept feedback from supervisors, peers, and community members)
Appreciation of the role of a job coach
and a willingness to be supported until
“natural supports” can be faded in

9. History All students will review geography expand on map skills
Students will participate in lessons and activities which
further their understandings and connections to world in
which they live.
Who are you?
Where do you live?
What is your role in family, school and community?
Why should you become a productive citizen in society.
Students will examine the past locally, nationally and globally in order
to see how the events of the past have shaped the present.
All students will
review geography
expand on map skills
relate current events to personal interests

10. History Social climate and world culture during key time periods
Students will be exposed to MHS World Studies
and U.S. History (I & II) curricula through
lessons and activities:
Social climate and world culture during key time periods
beginning with Renaissance
Major historical conflicts and events
Influential figures and groups
Growth of the United States, changes in government and key historical documents.

11. Math
Students will extend their personal understandings of math in everyday life through discrete and practical applications:
Time
Calendars
Money
Budgeting
Schedules
Measuring tools
Use of a calculator

12. Math Decimals and Fractions Percent Integers and Exponents
Students will also be exposed to MHS
Algebra and Geometry
curricula through lessons, practice, and functional
applications of :
Decimals and Fractions
Percent
Integers and Exponents
Shapes, Points, Lines, Angles
Equations and Inequalities
Graphing

13. English Students will continue to increase personal skills
related to reading, writing, and speaking through
individual and small group remediation sessions.
Students will apply developing skills to
academic assignments and functional life tasks
through discrete and practical opportunities:
Personal narratives
Informational essays
Reading and filling out forms
Messages and letters
Communicating choices
Following written instructions
Reading community information and safety signs

14. English Students will also be exposed to MHS Introduction to
Literature and Composition, Elements of Literature and Composition
(I & II) curricula:
Mythology
Shakespeare
Short Stories
Poetry
Historical Fiction
American Literature
Students will use a variety of reading and writing strategies to extend their personal understandings of fiction, informational, and real world texts.
Included in all units: remediation of language and or writing challenges
Real world writing, spelling, and expanding vocabulary are essential pieces of the MHS curriculum

15. Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Environmenal Science
Students are introduced to science methods and concepts as they explore topics related to:
Chemistry
Science Safety and Tools
The Scientific Method
Measurement and Graphing: length, area, volume, speed, temperature
Matter: describing what we can see and diagramming or modeling what we can’t see
Energy: states and changes in matter
Pure substances, mixtures, and solutions
The Periodic Table
Reactions with acids and bases
Chemistry we use everyday

16. Health and Safety
These topics are covered as part of our Transitions curriculum. This year, Health and Safety is scheduled as a separate class for many of our post-grad students
Topics: Hygiene, Nutrition, Exercise, Human Growth and Reproduction, Relationships, Disease Prevention, First-aid, Pedestrian and Passenger Safety, Stranger Safety, Home and Work Safety

17. After School Activities
Peer Buddy Club - Social activities planned with the MHS Interact Club – 1x/month
(teacher supervised, parent pick-up at 3:30)
Play Unified – Social and sport activities 1-2x/ month (adviser supervised, after school ends at 3:30 for parent pick-up)
MHS Clubs – brochure of co-curricular offerings can be found on the MHS webpage
(natural supports)

18. Communication amintz@mtsd.us After School: Tuesdays 2:15-3:15
After School: Thursdays 2:15-3:15
After School: Wednesdays 2:15-3:15
Classroom Webpage: or go to MHS Faculty WebPages, scroll to Mintz/Torralba/Rosenthal/Fioretti