Enrollment

Attend a Discovery Day

First Steps! If you want to learn more about our school, attend a Skillern Discovery Day, which we offer on select Saturday mornings from 9:15 - 11:00. To register for a fall Discovery Day, click here.

We strongly encourage all prospective families to attend a "Discovery Day" rather than scheduling only a Fall Tour. Discovery Day provides an opportunity to learn about our unique educational philosophy, instructional model, and what sets Skillern apart from other schools.

Occasionally, families attend only a campus tour, apply through the lottery, and are selected before fully understanding that Skillern offers a highly structured learning environment with rigorous academics and high expectations for students. Discovery Day is designed to help families determine whether our educational approach is the right fit for their child before applying.

If you are unable to attend a Discovery Day, please indicate that on the form when registering and schedule a campus tour instead. If you have already attended a Discovery Day and would like to see our school in action, you are welcome to sign up for a Fall Tour at the link.

Who We Are

Skillern Elementary offers an academically rigorous course of study featuring phonics-based reading instruction, structured math, and a study of the classics. In this way, we look more like the traditional classrooms of the past, where teachers directed the learning rather than allowing students’ inclinations to be the guide. Students are exposed to the wonders of every discipline and grow in their love of learning while being held to a high standard of virtue and responsibility in their academic pursuits. 

That’s not all that makes us unique, however. We are also a hybrid indoor/outdoor program, where students have frequent opportunities to learn outside and to study the natural world around them. We believe that this merger of nature education with top-tier academics and a culture of high expectations is a beautiful blending that fosters lifelong growth in students. 

Who We Aren’t

Because we offer a model that is unique in Tennessee, misconceptions about who we are have arisen, so it is important to go over some things that we are not. Skillern Elementary is not a forest school where students are outside all day. We are also not a play-based learning program or a therapeutic setting designed specifically for behavior needs. Families looking for those options are often faced with discouraged students, surprised at the amount of structure in our day. If a mainly child-guided model is what you are seeking, other choices could better accommodate that preference.

As a public school, we serve all students that come to us, regardless of need, providing them with the very best we have to offer within our model. We adhere to all Federal civil rights laws and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulations and policies and do not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity.

Come and learn all that Skillern Elementary has to offer!