November 12, 1996
Volume 2, No. 5
The Board of Directors has voted to give the teachers a work day on Wednesday, November 27. There will be no school for students that day, resulting in a three-day Thanksgiving break, November 27-29. We wish you a very pleasant holiday. Winter break is December 23 through January 3.
Summit will hold its first school dance on Friday, November 15, from 3:05 until 5:00 PM. The dance will be in the cafeteria, and the gym will be open for basketball. This dance is for Summit students only (a Summit/Southern-Hills dance is in the works) and will cost $3 per person. Exact change would be appreciated. No checks, please.
The fee covers admission, a soft drink, and pizza. Music will be provided by disk jockey Eddie Rose. Parents who would like to serve as chaperones should call Dean of Fun Jeff Bradley, 499-4275. Younger or older siblings should not attend. As with all Summit social events, any students needing the fee waived should give a note to the dance admissions staff.
Parents and students should keep the following in mind:
Good behavior is expected at all dances. Anyone who acts otherwise will immediately be asked to leave and may receive further disciplinary attention from the Summit administration.
Parents are welcome to come in at any time — for free.
Students must stay in the cafeteria, the gym, and other designated areas. They may not wander through buildings or classrooms.
Students are free to leave the dance at any time. Once they leave the designated area, however, they cannot come back in.
It will be dark when the dance ends. Parents might want to make special arrangements for getting students home.
The Summit music concert, originally planned for November 7, had to be postponed because of the discovery of asbestos tile in the auditorium. (That was why our instruments were locked up.) Watch for an announcement coming home with your students with the new date.
Three Summit teachers received grants totaling $1,683 from the Foundation for Boulder Valley Schools. Awards are based on the merits of proposals written by teachers throughout the school district. Summit thanks the Foundation and its sponsors for their generosity.
Mr. Burkhart was granted $600 for Keyboard Ensemble Performance Support and Electronic Composition. Student ensemble groups will be extended to include keyboard players, and music education will include electronic music composition through the purchase of a channel mixer, amplifier, and dual speakers. This grant was sponsored by Black Roofing.
Ms. Frohbieter was awarded $483 for Experiments of Dependent and Independent Variables. Students will conduct experiments using small rockets powered by water and compressed air. Using the rockets, students will develop mathematical relationships between the amount of water and air pressure applied and the height attained by the rockets. Truss Joist MacMillan sponsored this grant.
Dr. Sikora won $600 for Building Habitats. Students will construct and maintain individual habitats. Construction, care for, and observation of these underwater or above-ground habitats will overlap and amplify the environmental studies unit. Sugarloaf Creations provided the funds for this grant.
In the event of severe weather, Summit will be closed when other BVSD schools are closed. School closings are broadcast on local TV and radio stations. See the inside back cover of your Summit directory.
It is not too late to join the 6th-grade Math Olympiads team. It meets Tuesday afternoons from 3:10 to 3:40 PM in room 279 to solve interesting math problems in preparation for monthly contests. The first competition will be during the regular meeting on November 19. Math Olympiads is a fun opportunity to learn new problem-solving strategies. All 6th-grade students are welcome. For more information, call Connie Harmon, 499-2061.
On November 21 and 22, noted study-skills authority Gloria Frender will speak to Summit students during 6th and 7th periods, 1:20 to 3:05 PM, in the auditorium. Students with surnames beginning with the letters A through K will attend on Thursday, November 21; students with names L through Z will attend on Friday, November 22. Core-subject 6th- and 7th-period teachers will repeat their Thursday lesson on Friday.
Interested parents are welcome to attend with their students. We would like a few parents to volunteer to help supervise in the auditorium. Contact the Summit office.
Learning is a life-long activity. We must continually acquire new knowledge to adapt to new situations. Effective life-long learning skills are critical to success in school or at work. In school we are taught what to learn, but seldom how to learn. Very few students are aware of how they learn best and why, or how to efficiently and effectively apply appropriate learning and study strategies. When faced with increasingly challenging material to learn, students usually don't know where or how to begin, parents are often unsure how to help, and teachers have little time and few effective materials to teach students good study skills. Trying to learn the more difficult information and the needed study skills at the same time too often leads to overwhelming frustration and failure. Knowing how to attack a learning activity is the first step to understanding its content. From the classroom to the work place, the need to learn never ends.
New members on the parent-volunteer roster include Deb Ford and Karen Fox. New volunteer classroom assistants are Amy Davis and Sue Dague in science and Amy Davis and Deborah Vink in music. New office helpers are Mija Choi on Tuesday mornings, Michele Dusenbery on Fridays, and Barb Pfretzschner, helping produce the newsletter, every other Monday.
To help keep the teachers going during parent-teacher conferences, Summit parents served them dinner on October 30 and lunch on November 1. Wednesday's dinner was elegantly served with tablecloth and flowers by Susy Clough, with gourmet dishes prepared by herself, Patty Hansen, Judy Hart, Terry Cook, Susan Bruggeman, Linda Cowan, and Moira Woolsey. Friday's lunch featured dishes from Sharon Svendsen, Amy Davis, Margaret McKibbin, Linda Parkhill, Melody Johnson, and Susan Rasmussen. The appreciative Summit faculty responded with enthusiastic notes written in various languages, including music.
Thanks to Judy Hart for organizing the student photo session with help from Shole Afasr, Susan Bruggeman, Cathy Burchett, Janet Christensen, Molly Colt, Jenny Evans, Patty Hansen, Barbry Hogue, and Mrs. Strong. Thanks to the great cafeteria cooks who provided coffee and cookies.
Proofs will be available in one month, distributed to students at school. Parents can then purchase photo packages if they wish. We expect photos to be mailed to parents before winter break. We will have a re-take session for students whose photos are not up to expectations, and for students who missed the first photo session, on a date to be announced.
All items in the Summit office lost-and-found box not claimed by Thanksgiving will be donated to charity. If you are missing anything, be sure to check all the way to the bottom of the bin. Lost calculators are kept separately.
Judy Demarest, chair of the Fundraising Committee, announced that we have raised $31,456 in the Tools for Learning drive. Summit received $26,501 in cash and stock in hand, $3,365 in pledges yet to be paid, and $1,590 in matching gifts from local employers. Gifts came from 142 families, with an average contribution of $210, not counting matching gifts.
"This generosity from Summit families is a solid vote of support for our school," said Board Chair Chris Howard. "When you add that to the hours of time expended by our volunteers, there is no limit to what this school can achieve."
Principal Steve Haas thanked the parents for their gifts by saying, "All of us on the faculty profoundly appreciate the generosity of the Summit community. The items purchased with Tools for Learning money will help us do a better job in teaching your children. The remarkable thing about this drive is that it didn't take any time away from learning in the classroom. The faculty did not have to divert their teaching efforts to run a fundraiser. We greatly appreciate a community that values classroom time so highly."
Donors to Tools for Learning will be thanked by name (except for those who requested anonymity) in Summit News and in a publication to be distributed at a Summit parent gathering early in 1997. "Although the drive is now largely over," said Demarest, "we still have time to shoot for 100% participation. A contribution of any size demonstrates support for the school and a willingness to help meet its needs."
"When Summit goes out to foundations and other sources of funding," she continued, "it really helps to show support from all of our parents. This is our last appeal for your help. Please return your pledge card. All Summit students will benefit from this giving, and I hope all of our families will stand behind them." As a charter school, funded at a lower level than other district schools, Summit depends on fundraising to supplement its learning materials.
Additional fundraising packets are available in the Summit office or can be mailed to families by calling Jeff Bradley, 499-4275.
If you have not yet mailed in your survey, please do so this week. After the data are processed, we will report the results in Summit News.
To help keep track of homework assignments, try the Summit Homework Hotline. Dial 938-9090 and your teacher's category number:
Ms. Ammon, Foreign language, 0670
Ms. Avallone, English, 0671
Ms. Brakhage, English, 0672
Ms. Cox, Social studies, 0673
Ms. Dozeman, English, 0674
Ms. Dressler, Math, 0675
Ms. Frohbieter, Math, 0676
Dr. Guinn, Science, 0677
Mr. Haas, Math, 0678
Ms. Hanckel, Foreign language, 0679
Mr. Koch, Social studies, 0680
Dr. Sikora, Science, 0681
Ms. Stough, Foreign language, 0682
We have gotten back more than 50 yellow volunteer forms, but would like to get many more. Summit parents are a rich resource for the school. Please send in the volunteer form, even if you cannot give time right now.
Our data base is being designed by Issy Kilbride, with consultants Linda Cowan, Linda Parkhill, and Terry Cook. Thanks to all who expressed interest in working on this project. We will need help testing, entering data, and maintaining the data base.
Students: Please cross Knox Drive at the crosswalk. Make sure drivers see you before crossing. Look them straight in the eyes. Wait for them to smile.
Parent drivers: It is safer to drop off your students on the east side of Knox Drive rather than on the west side. Drive around the circle at the end of Knox Drive. Please slow down near the crosswalk. If you need to run into the office, please do not park anywhere near the crosswalk.
For the first quarter, 76 students have not returned their report card envelopes. If you have not yet signed your student's envelope, please do so and return it to the Summit office.
We could use donations of microwavable cups, bowls, and dishes, as well as flatware, for the teachers' lounge. Please bring them to the Summit office.
The Summit administrative office closes at 4:00 PM. Students should be picked up immediately after school or their scheduled activities. Make sure you and your student have back-up plans in place in the event of a missed car pool or bus. A public telephone is available at the South Boulder Recreation Center for use after the Summit office closes.
The Summit Board of Directors will meet in the Summit/Southern-Hills library at 7 PM on Mondays: November 18, 25; December 2, 9, 16. Meeting agendas are posted regularly on the door of the Summit office. The meetings are open to the public.
We are beginning to accept enrollment applications for the 1997-1998 academic year. Currently enrolled 6th and 7th graders are assured a place, but parents will have to confirm in January.
Summit's enrollment is limited by contract. A small number of spaces are reserved for children of the school organizers and the school staff.
Enrollment priority is given to currently enrolled 6th and 7th graders and siblings of Summit students.
Thereafter, enrollment is based on a lottery held in February.
Priority in the lottery is given to residents of the Boulder Valley School District.
Students must confirm their intention of enrolling when they are offered a space.
Students may apply to more than one focus or charter school, and may also open-enroll in any neighborhood school that has room. However, they may not accept an opening in more than one school after the February lottery.
Students who are not selected initially are placed on Summit's waiting list.
Any disputes concerning enrollment are resolved by Summit's Board of Directors.
It would greatly help our staff if new parents interested in Summit would fill out an application form before winter break. Pick one up at the Summit office or call 499-9511. An electronic application form is available on the Summit World Wide Web home page, http://bcn.boulder.co.us/univ_school/summit/
If you have questions about enrollment, contact Chris Howard, 673-0978, or Tricia Olson, 530-7107. If you would like to help provide information about Summit to elementary schools in the district, contact Barbry Hogue, 665-3798. Tell your friends about Summit!