January 13, 2000
Volume 9, No. 1
Parents - NO ONE is allowed to drop off students in the driveway near the Summit portables. If you use this driveway, you MUST drive all the way through the parking lot and let students off BEHIND THE OFFICE.
Pack a lunch for your students on January 24. The cafeteria will not be open, and there will be no lunches available to students.
We look forward to welcoming siblings of current Summit students and/or Summit graduates for the 2000-2001 school year as these younger sisters and brothers move up to middle school. Summit's enrollment policies clearly state that siblings have priority for open enrollment AS LONG AS APPLICATIONS ARE RECEIVED DURING THE OPEN ENROLLMENT PERIOD. This means that applications must be turned in to the Summit office no later than January 28, 2000. For our enrollment records, we need to have a completed application form on file for each student, even siblings. Open enrollment forms are available in the Summit office and can also be printed from Summit's web site. For more information, call Maggie in the Summit office 303-499-9511, or Linda Parkhill, at 303-665-9355.
One of the most important functions of the Accountability, Assessment and Accreditation Committee (AKA the "triple A" committee) of the Summit Board of Directors is to assess the satisfaction of the staff, student and parent communities. Surveys have been developed to evaluate many components of our program, our staff and our learning environment. Administrative and teaching staff, current and former students and parents are surveyed on an annual basis. Internally developed surveys include student, parent, alumni and staff satisfaction surveys. The committee also reviews the District administered "Snapshot" survey.
All surveys are carefully reviewed and tabulated. Analysis includes looking for areas of satisfaction and opportunities for improvement. Most importantly, the results of these surveys are used to make relevant improvements to the school and to acknowledge jobs well done. Recent survey results have influenced many issues, including the following:
This year, the Board of Directors has developed another incentive to get this valuable survey information. At the end of the survey is a tear off which you can deposit in the raffle box in the office when you return your survey. The winner gets a dinner for two at a local restaurant! However, the most important reason to complete your survey is that Summit wants to be the best that it can be. We value your opinion. Let us know what you think.
Please turn in all parent surveys by January 31, 2000.
Our families are our school's strongest advocates. A Reach for the Summit brochure is also included in this mailing. Please take a moment to pass it along to a fifth grade student who would benefit from attending our wonderful school and encourage them to apply. Remember, the Open Enrollment Period ends on January 28th.
The next Summit Board meeting will be held on Monday, January 24th at 7 PM in the faculty workroom.
The Second Semester begins on January 24, 2000. Due to the high volume of schedule change requests which are made during the first few weeks of a semester, we ask that you do not call or visit the counseling office to request a schedule change. Instead, please make your request in writing, be sure it is signed by a parent, and submit it to the office staff. Forms for this purpose may be obtained in the office, or from Ms. Bartley, the counselor, during lunch time.
If there is a problem with granting your request, Ms. Bartley will get back to you or your student. Otherwise, your student's new printed schedule with the requested change will be delivered to your student at school. Note: Students may not change the classes they attend until they receive a new printed schedule from the counselor's office. Core course change requests will be processed first, and elective course change requests will be processed last.
Due to scheduling conflicts and the need to balance class sizes and teacher loads, schedule change requests cannot always be granted. Please be patient in waiting for your schedule change to be processed.
Summit Middle School has been awarded a Dissemination of Best Practices Grant of $75,000. The purpose of the grant is to assist other schools, (both regular and charter) in activities that will positively impact student performance.
Summit staff will develop a Tool Kit designed to show other schools how to develop a standards-based approach to designing curriculum that links this to good instruction to high student achievement. The Tool Kit will provide a step-by-step process that schools can follow in developing their own standards-based curriculum units. It will provide definitions, strategies and examples for developing standards, benchmarks, scope and sequence, as well as unit plans that can be applied to various subject areas and grade levels. The money will also be used to distribute the Tool Kit via a Web Site, by Summit staff at conferences, both locally and nationally, and in articles in the appropriate professional journals. Additionally, Peak-to-Peak is intended to be a primary beneficiary of certain aspects of the grant that go into effect in its second year.
The 2000 Summit Science Fair semi-finals will be held on Thursday, January 20. On that day, students are expected to set up their project in the morning, between 7:30 and 8 AM, before 1st period class. The projects will be judged during science classes by scientists, engineers, and graduate students from our Boulder community. The science fair is an important event at Summit, and we encourage our students to dress appropriately.
In the evening, from 7 to 8:30 PM, all students, their families and friends are invited for refreshments and public viewing of the projects in the gym. At that time, we will post the approximately 30 projects that will continue to the final science fair on February 10.
On Friday, January 21, there will be another chance to view the projects from 8 AM until 2:30 PM. Although the students will not be available to talk to the public about their projects, the gym will be open to the public all day. All students must take their projects home on Friday afternoon.
We are looking forward to another great science fair and hope to see you there!
---The Summit Science Teachers
Congratulations to Summit's History Day competition winners. This year's theme was Turning Points in History.
Caitlin Smith and Alana Riksheim will be representing Summit at the District History Day Competition.
Special thanks to our History Day coordinator Margie Riksheim who met with students and teachers every Tuesday at lunch for months. She is awesome. Thanks also to judges Mr. Weinstein and Dr. Thomas.
Current grades for Mr. Mueller's math classes are posted to the world wide web: http://net.indra.com/~rmueller
On January 10-12, Summit held classroom competitions for the National Geographic Geo-Bee. Twelve winners, one for each social studies class, competed on January 13 in the school Geo-Bee. One school winner will receive a gold medal and take a written exam on January 14. If the student scores high enough, they will represent Summit at the State level.
Ms. Griffiths' World Geography and International Relations classes would like to send a special thank you to Dr. John O'Loughlin. On December 16, Dr. O'Loughlin gave a special presentation on Russia and the former USSR. His presentation provided special insight into the lives of Russians after the fall of communism and into the current political situation in the region.
Give lacrosse a try this spring! The BVLA-Boulder Valley Lacrosse Association's middle school lacrosse program for both boys and girls begins registration on January 15. Practices will begin in February for girls and in March for boys. Practices will take place twice a week at locations throughout Boulder County. Girls will play Metro Denver teams on Saturdays. Boys will play other BVLA teams on Saturday mornings in Boulder. The season ends in late May. This year, boys have the option to participate on advanced teams that will travel and play Denver metro teams.
Lacrosse is fast-paced and high scoring. Like hockey on a grass field, players use Y-shaped sticks with soft nets to pass a small hard rubber ball from one player to another on a soccer-sized playing field. The ball is fired at a small goal that is six feet by six feet and protected by a goalie
BVLA middle school lacrosse is a club sport and is an approved feeder program for the BVSD sanctioned varsity high school girls' and boys' lacrosse programs. During January, lacrosse demonstrations are being held at each middle school. Game basics and equipment introduction will be highlighted.
Registration forms may be obtained in three ways: at the demonstrations, by calling 303-442-9118 or from the web:
http://bcn.boulder.co.us/recreation/lacrosse
http://bcn.boulder.co.us/univ_school/summit/
It is time for 8th graders to decide where they would like to attend high school next year. You should know the name of your attendance area (neighborhood) high school. If you do not, please call the BVSD transportation department at 303-447-5125 to determine this. Also, if you intend to apply for open enrollment at a district high school outside of your attendance area, you must obtain an open enrollment application and submit it during the open enrollment period (January 3 - 28, 2000) to the school (or schools) that you would like to attend. Applications are available in the Summit office or at any BVSD high school.
The Boulder Valley School District Talented and Gifted Office is sponsoring a presentation on "Motivating Underachievers." Carolyn Coil will address this topic on Wednesday, February 9, 2000 from 6:30 to 8:00 PM in the Board Room at the BVSD Education Center, 6500 E. Arapahoe Road, Boulder. All interested parents are invited. Please RSVP at 303-447-5067.
Open Space Communications is sponsoring "Beyond Giftedness VII," a conference for parents and educators who live and work with gifted children. The keynote presentation, "Underserved Gifted Populations: Young Gifted, Gifted Girls, Multicultural, Bilingual, Highly Gifted" will be given by Joan Franklin Smutny of the Center for Gifted at National-Lewis University in Illinois. There will be many presenters and topics at all levels. The conference will be held on Friday, March 3, 2000, 8 AM - 4:30 PM, at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. Early Registration, before February 4, 2000, is $85. Registration includes a continental breakfast, lunch, and materials. Contact Dorothy Knopper, 303-444-7020, or www.openspacecomm.com, for more information.
Summit needs a District Accountability Committee (DAAC) member. This is an important District committee and Summit needs to make itself heard. DAAC meets the first Tuesday of each month from 6 to 9 PM at the Education Center. If you are interested, please call Bernie Grove (303-499-9511).
The next deadline for Summit News is January 24. Articles may be sent to LDParkhill@aol, or left in the box in the staff workroom.