November 30, 1998
Volume 6, No. 8
Parents, we need your help. Our school day begins at 8:10 AM. Students are allowed into the Southern Hills building at 7:40 AM, 30 minutes before school begins. Please do not send your students to school before that time. They will be outside in the weather until 7:40. Also, unless they have after-school activities, students need to be out of the building by 3:15 PM.
If you have problems with transportation, please call Linda Greenberg, 303-442-6498, for information regarding other students who live in your area.
Thank you for helping with this.
On Saturdays, December 5 and January 9, students will be able to get help with their science fair project at school. From 10:00 AM until about 4:30 PM, the Summit science teachers and several volunteers will be available in the science lab to help students with their science fair projects. This will be on a drop-in basis, but let the science teachers know ahead of time if you need certain equipment or materials. This year's science fair is on January 12, a month earlier than last year, so get started now!
Mid-quarter progress reports are generally sent only for students whose grades in a specific class are low, or when teachers feel there has been a significant downturn in a student's performance. Occasionally, however, teachers will send a progress report for other reasons, such as a notable improvement in class.
For this quarter, progress reports will be mailed on Friday, December 11. Parents who have concerns or questions about how their student is doing in a specific class should call and leave a message for their student's teacher via the voice mail system. Parents with general concerns about how their student is doing in the Summit program may call Ms. Bartley, the counselor, at 303-499-9511.
Did you know that when Maestro Bill Burkhart came to Summit, the school didn't have one piece of sheet music? That's one of the items paid for by Tools for Learning contributions. With seven student groups playing and singing compositions from Mozart to Count Basie, your gift keeps the music flowing.
When you get your Tools for Learning appeal letter, send in your pledge card right away. Help keep Summit special!
Are you available to spend 20 minutes supervising the 7th period study hall in the computer lab? Summit teachers would like to open our computer lab to students for school-related work from 2:45 to 3:05 PM on school days. This requires adult supervision, and we can offer this opportunity on as many days as we have adult volunteers. If you are reasonably computer-literate and have the time available, we want you!
Please contact Mr. Mueller at Summit, or Barbry Hogue at 303-665-3798, if you can volunteer during this study time, either on a regular basis or now and then.
Summit is looking for a parent to help with student tutoring on Monday afternoons from 3:05 until 4:00 PM in the areas of math and science. If you are interested, please call the Summit office.
Ms. Hutton could use the assistance of parents with experience on the potter’s wheel. The primary need is for help during 7th period on B days.
Quiz Bowl was held Wednesday, November 18, at Louisville Middle School. The Summit students represented their school well, demonstrating both knowledge and grace. The 8th grade team took 8th place and consisted of Andrew Crocker, Brandon Frohbieter, Adam Johnson, Clint Laidlaw, and Nathan Parkhill. The 6th grade team took 5th place and consisted of Tyler Damon, Ben Kleckler, Andrea Parkhill, Alex Wang, and Tory Webster. The 7th grade team won 1st place and consisted of Corrine D'Ippolito, Paul Franz, Eric Hansford, Brendan Horton, George London, and James Norton. Excellent job!
In this season of giving thanks, we want to acknowledge our wonderful parent volunteers at Summit. It can’t be said too often that so many tasks and projects simply wouldn’t happen without the energy and strong support of our parent community.
We extend special appreciation and recognition to: Margaret Harrington, for coordinating music program logistics; Penny Toothman, for working with Mrs. Bartley to organize the parent orientation component of Summit’s outreach to potential new parents; Cindy Cederberg, Harriet Fox, Molly Heins, Margaret McKibbin, Margie Riksheim, Maribeth Schultz and Joan Talmage, for making calls to parents on our emergency wind day on November 10; Kathleen Brewer, Cindy Cederberg, Susan Chunn, K.K. duVivier, Karen Herlihy, Barbry Hogue, Joann Jaramillo, Nina Khosravi, Rita Kungel, Jenny Lucas, Lou MacIntyre, Janet McDaniel, Margaret McKibbin, Margie Riksheim, Jackie Ross, Laurel Stewart, Joan Talmage and Mimi Yanus, for helping with meals for the teachers and staff during fall parent/teacher conferences; Diana Falloon, Ron Goldfarb, Barbry Hogue, Issy Kilbride and her nephew Ryan, Jenny Lucas and Penny Toothman, intrepid field-trippers on the all-school excursion to INSTAAR on November 20; the Burchett and Kilkenny-Patrick families, for donations of books and other classroom materials for World History; Wendy Schermerhorn, for baked goodies and other materials contributed for colonial period studies in American History; the Riksheim family, for coordinating and producing the great environment for the Egyptian Festival (a Pharaoh’s thank you!); Tom Fox and Larry Eckstein, for guest speaker presentations in World History classes on the topics of Ancient Law and Religion and Ancient Hebrew Life.
As always, "There’s no traffic jam on the extra mile," so thanks to all parents who volunteer whenever and however they can in support of Summit’s students and staff.
Pottery, woodwork, artwork, needlecraft, toys, and baked goods will be sold at the Holiday Craft Fair on Thursday and Friday, December 3 and 4, 9 AM - 5 PM at the Boulder Valley Schools Education Center, 6500 Arapahoe. To sell your crafts, call the Boulder Valley Schools Bus Drivers Association at 303-447-5120.
The Summit Board of Directors will meet at 7:00 PM on December 14 and January 11 in the Summit faculty workroom. Parents are invited to attend, as always. Agendas are posted outside the Summit office.
The standardized testing that we do, the CTBS and, in the future, the C-SAP, are used both for information on individual students and for program analysis. We look at the overall scores to see if there is any information we can use to refine our curricula. Each year, as we have new information that shows program areas where we can improve, we make and implement a plan for this improvement. The assessment is the following year's standardized testing.
Last year, we identified a weakness in spelling which we are addressing across the curriculum. Each academic department has a strategy for addressing this weakness. We also identified certain forms of titles and apostrophes as an area that needed work. The English Department is addressing these areas. Fractions were also noted as a weak area for our students, and the Math Department is addressing this area.
After we have our testing results for 1999, we will let you know the results and the academic areas in which we will be striving to improve.
If you have an interest in the success of Summit and would like to be involved in the real decisions necessary to run your child’s school, consider running for the Board of Directors. It is work, but it is also a tremendous opportunity to genuinely make a difference. The position carries with it the tangible reward of seeing our students thrive. Elections for the Board are held in early April. The “campaign” consists of written responses to a questionnaire and one or two candidate forums at school.
Board meetings are held approximately every two weeks, with occasional periods of more intense activity. Each Board member is expected to perform additional administrative duties. Virtually any expertise is helpful on the Board. Someone with budget management expertise is always needed. Think about tossing your hat in the ring. Call Chris Howard, the chair of the Nominations Committee, 303-673-0978, for more information.
In making hiring decisions, Summit’s Board relies heavily on a hiring committee. This committee reviews resumes and application packets, conducts interviews, monitors teaching demonstrations, and makes recommendations to the Board. If you are interested, please call Christa Askins at 303-469-4034.
Boulder Valley Rotary Club is collecting coats and books at the school.