February 22, 2001
Volume 11, No. 3
As contract renewal talks continue with the Boulder Valley School District, many of us have become aware once again of how Summit does not receive the same level of funding as other middle schools. Our kids get less.
We minimize the ill effects of this discrepancy by our community's strong support of Tools for Learning, our annual fund drive. These dollars help provide books, necessary technology, and music, for example, and help make Summit the wonderful school that it is. We accomplish all this without asking our families to sell anything or to take part in time-consuming fundraising events.
It works when people do their share. As of now, we have heard from 56 families who have given or pledged a total of $24,875. We are extremely grateful for these generous donations. Our goal for this year is $50,000, so we are not quite half way there. Every student at Summit benefits from Tools for Learning, and we hope that every family can help to the extent that it is able. Your donation, whether it be small or large, is important. Every bit helps.
If you haven't given to Tools for Learning yet this year, we ask that you make your donation as soon as possible. As you consider the amount that you can donate, please think about the education that your children are getting. What is this worth to your family? Do you believe that Summit's teachers and administrators should have the tools they need to deliver the best middle school education in Colorado? We encourage you to make the most generous donation possible. We can accept checks, stock certificates, or you can pledge an amount to be paid by June 30. Checks should be made out to Supporters of Summit, Inc., and are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. If you have questions, please call Janet Christensen at 303-499-5786.
Thank you for your support!
The Board held a regular meeting in the Summit library with a number of guests attending. There was a review of the current status of charter renewal discussions, and there is a meeting scheduled with BVSD representatives on February 22 for further discussion.
A proposal for a new Science elective class was presented; the Board will review all teacher proposals for new electives at the next regular meeting. The Scantron bubble scanner has arrived and teachers will be trained in its use during the March 9 staff development day. Last week's parent/teacher conferences went well. Parents will be asked for comments about the format of the conferences (see separate article).
Board members continue with classroom teacher observations and begin administrator evaluation interviews this week. A revised interview format was discussed. Kathy Reims presented AAA's compiled versions of results from the parent, student and staff satisfaction surveys. The process of preparing next year's budget begins soon, with Board input on priorities for areas of emphasis in creating budget categories and making allocations.
Current state and federal legislative efforts to secure funding for charter school facilities were discussed. Staff will be asked for input on scheduling "Student For A Day" opportunities for parents in late April or early May. Vendors for a possible temporary gym structure will be on site for a visit on February 27. Student numbers in elective classes were discussed, especially regarding Musical Theater.
The next regular Summit Board meetings will be on March 5, March 19, and April 2, at 7 PM in the Summit library. Summit community members and other guests are always welcome at all regular meetings.
The Board would like to have your comments about the parent/teacher conferences held on February 15 and 16. We continue considering options for an optimal format for conferences, and the feedback you provide is very helpful in our discussions. There will not be another full parent survey offering you the opportunity to respond in writing until this time next year, but we would like to hear from those of you who attended these recent conferences. Please take a moment to send an e-mail response to Marti Gorman at <marthagorman@att.net>, indicating "conferences feedback" in the subject line. We are especially interested in your comments about the relative merits of having conferences by appointment or by drop-in, or some combination of the two. Thank you!
Hear ye! Hear ye! Now is the time to step forward to express your interest in running for the Summit Board of Directors! Our volunteer Board has broad responsibility for all issues involving Summit. The Board relies on members' experience in many areas, including budgeting, communications, computer programming, hiring, scheduling, law, grant writing, and negotiations. We especially seek candidates with finance and operations expertise.
Candidates should be dedicated to Summit's educational philosophy and be willing to devote the time necessary to serve on the Board. If you have a strong interest in the continued success of Summit and would like to be involved in important decisions that affect the entire Summit community, please consider running for a seat on the Board. Remember, this is your child's school and serving on the Board provides you with an opportunity to make a real difference for all Summit students and staff.
This year there are four seats open for election. There will be a "Meet the Candidates" forum on Wednesday, March 21, with ballots due back to Summit by April 6. Summit families and staff elect Board members to two-year terms. New Board terms begin on June 1, and newly elected members are expected to attend Board meetings starting in April.
Contact Scott Smith (phone 303-499-1816; e-mail scott@massively-parallel.net) as soon as possible for complete candidate information and to receive a candidate questionnaire.
CSAP tests were administered to all students this week. You can see what the standards are for each subject area at each grade level by going to the CDE website at http://www.cde.state.co.us/index_stnd.htm
Special thanks to Kathy Reims, Amanda Avallone, Audrey Block, Mary Ann Dangelo, Debbie Feyh and Cathy Woods for their work in gathering and analyzing data from the recent satisfaction surveys. The Board will carefully review the survey summaries as part of its staff and program evaluations in the next few weeks.
The coming weeks and months will be VERY busy for the Music department at Summit. Mark your calendars and support your young musicians!
Our spring concert will be on Tuesday, March 6 at 7:00 PM at the Fairview High School Auditorium (please note the new venue). All groups will be performing - and there will be a special event. We are inviting all Silver Rain alumni to participate in a mass performance of "In Time of Silver Rain" at this concert. Do you know any Silver Rain alumni (for instance, where is Bethany Anderson!)? Please invite them to attend!
More details will follow, and more outings are scheduled for other Summit performing ensembles, too:
March 19-22 (exact date TBA): Starlight and Select Strings will play in the community, and Silver Rain will combine with the Summit Choir for a community performance as well!!
April 26: Silver Rain will travel to Greeley for the UNC Jazz Festival adjudicated performance, a workshop with one of the judges, and a special treat before we come home. The performance will be at 5:00 PM (the Silver Rain alumni group, Intensity!, will perform at 5:30 PM).
April 28: Jazz Band 2 and Jazz Band 3 will travel to Greeley for their performances at the UNC Jazz Festival. Adjudication, workshop with clinicians, and our own special treats await us! (Parents, please note that there is no school on Friday, April 27, so this event will not cost our musicians class time!)
Silver Rain took a special Valentine's greeting to the community on February 14, performing at the Friend's School, Aguileña Restaurant and at Frasier Meadows. We were a great hit at the Friend's School -- some of our members stayed behind to sign autographs. And we will be selling our CD there, too! The Aguileña Restaurant provided lunch, and we entertained the lunch crowd with some impromptu a cappella singing (warmly received!). Then the day ended with loving, grateful smiles from the senior residents at Frasier Meadows. Some of our girls went out among the audience to sing, making some wizened faces grin with newfound youth and vigor!
Mark your calendars! The Summit spring musical, "Bye Bye Birdie," will be at Boulder High School Auditorium on May 18 and 19, at 7:00 PM each night. Tickets will be $3.00 each (pre-school-age children are free). Bring friends and neighbors to this fun-filled show. Order your tickets through the school office soon -- we expect sold-out performances!
Here is the perfect way to recognize and thank our terrific Summit teachers.
Each year, the Amgen Foundation solicits nominations for its Amgen Award for Teacher Excellence, presented to two teachers from Boulder County. This honor brings with it an award of $10,000 per teacher. The award recognizes extraordinary teaching contributions and performance by inspirational and innovative educators. We encourage you and/or your student to think of one (or more) of our own outstanding teachers to nominate for this generous award, to acknowledge their hard work and commitment that make Summit so successful for our children. You may re-nominate a teacher if you submitted a nomination in a previous academic year.
Nominations can be made using Amgen's online form at http://wwwext.amgen.com/corporate/AmgenTeacher.html or by writing your own nomination letter and sending it to: Amgen Award for Teacher Excellence, Amgen Inc., Mailstop AC-5, 3200 Walnut Street, Boulder, CO 80301. The deadline for submitting Amgen award nominations is February 23, 2001, so act fast! More information about the Amgen award and how to submit nominations is available on the Amgen Award for Teacher Excellence website.
We have a winner this week. Stephanie Reese guessed correctly that ...drum roll, please...Dr. Burkhart is the teacher who …
… won blue ribbons in flower arranging and succulent growth. Congratulations, Stephanie! Enjoy your treat at the school store.
Unfortunately, we don't have a trivia item for this week :-( Hint, Hint. To be sure that we have some for future issues, please email any staff trivia items to tomwhiteoc@earthlink.net.
Parents, when you are picking up your students, please park in designated spaces if you are going to be a few minutes. Parking on the sidewalk is hard on pedestrians. Also, please be very careful when backing up, as some of our students are not very tall and might not be clearly visible in your rear view mirror.
Prospective students and families interested in Summit are invited to join a Summit tour at 8:10 AM on March 13, April 10, or May 8. Tours last approximately 45 minutes. At the end of each tour, there is time for questions and answers.
Also, if you know of families that are interested in finding out more about Summit, have them call the office at 303-499-9511 to receive a brochure and other Summit information.
The North Boulder Recreation Center hosts Friday Night Live, an open house for youth 9 to 14 years old, from 7 to 10:30 PM on Fridays. For more information, call the Rec Center at 303-413-7260 or go to www.fnl-nites.com.
Concordia Language Villages provide summer camp sessions in 12 world languages for students between the ages of 7 and 18, along with credit sessions both at the villages and abroad for high school and college students. Through the village experience, the program's mission is to prepare young people for responsible citizenship in the global community.
Language opportunities range from Swedish and Norwegian to Japanese and Chinese, to Spanish and German - and even English for students from abroad! Wendy Blakemore, one of our own wonderful Spanish teachers, has taught at the Spanish village for two summers and each of her two children has attended CLV for several summers. She would be pleased to chat with anyone who thinks they might enjoy this world language camp experience. Contact her at school or at home (303- 530-7173).
This is a new section of the newsletter where we highlight a humorous quote that was heard around the school recently. Thanks to Dr. Burkhart for relaying this one.
In response to one 5th grader's question at Friend's School after the Silver Rain performance:
"How do the boys get along with the girls so well?"
"We're really good actors!" - Alex Barba
Students and staff, send humorous, printable material that you've heard around the school to: tomwhiteoc@earthlink.net.
A huge Danke to Irene Reese, Catherine Hutman, John Jacus, Anita Gonzales, Mary Ann Dangelo, Dorinda Cudney, Debbie Feyh and Linda Parkhill. They helped transport our German students to the Deutschfest at CU on a very cold and snowy Valentine's Day.
Thanks also to Mary Boulet, Barb Miner, Mary Lou Oppenheimer, Silva Chang and the other moms that showed up on Valentine's Day to drive our Silver Rain students back to Summit in time for the dance. Thanks to Guynna Manley, the Silver Rain costumes continue to look great. The audience at Friend's School and Frasier Manor were very impressed with our talented kids.
The music department at Summit has a big concert coming up on March 6 at Fairview High School. Because this concert will include more than 180 of our students, we could really use your help. There are many ways to get involved, so please call Joan Jacus at 303-499-3013 if you can give us some of your time. We also desperately need someone with a pick-up truck or van to help move some of our musical equipment over to Fairview for the evening. Thanks in advance for your help!
The Boulder High School Instrumental Music Department would like to welcome all 8th grade music students to Boulder High. We encourage all students to consider getting involved in the music program, even if you are not currently involved in music in middle school. Boulder High offers many different bands including orchestra, three jazz bands and two concert bands. There are also three extra-curricular bands: Marching Band, Pep Band and the Beach Band. Some of these bands require auditions, which will be held after spring break. Ask your counselor or band director about the BHS music program when considering your schedule for freshman year. We would like to invite parents and students to stop by the music room on March 15 to pick up more information and to meet some of the teachers, students, and parents involved in the instrumental music program at Boulder High School.
We are excited to announce that Boulder High School will begin offering Russian 1 starting in the fall of 2001! This addition will bring the total number of world languages at BHS to six, including the only Russian and Japanese programs in the district! Why study Russian? First, it's the fourth most widely spoken language in the world. Second, it's the language of some of the world's great literatures, the key to reading Chekhov, Tolstoy and Dostoyevski. Finally, it is of practical use right here in the Boulder Valley, where we continue to welcome significant numbers of immigrants from the former Soviet Union. For more information on this new opportunity, please contact Nathan Pieplow at (303) 442-2430 x2240 or by email at npieplow@indra.com.
Did you know that every time you buy food with grocery certificates, Summit receives 5% of that sale? Just how much money is that? Well, if your family spends $400 a month on grocery certificates, Summit would receive $20 a month. Multiply that by 12 (you can buy them during the summer, too) and that adds up to $240 a year. Now if just 100 families did this, we're talking about $24,000 additional each year! Wow! That's a lot of money!
However, to date we have only raised about $1,000. We're a little off the mark. But what a comeback story this could be! Stop by the Summit office today to purchase your grocery certificates. Or, if you can't make it to the office, call Joan Jacus at 303-499-3013. Joan will do whatever it takes (almost!) to get grocery certificates to you.
Parents of eighth graders, in November we asked your student to bring in a baby picture for the yearbook. Unfortunately, we didn't get an overwhelming response. So, we are now asking you to find a picture of your darling baby and send it in. If your student hasn't sent in a picture yet, we feel it's your right as parents to choose the picture you would like to see displayed in the yearbook!
Also, do you have a wild candid shot of a student or teacher that would bring humorous stories to their minds years from now when they open their Summit yearbooks? Please share that delightful moment by submitting a copy of the picture to our yearbook. Please place all snapshots in an envelope marked "YEARBOOK" and submit them to the office. The yearbook staff thanks you!
Design a class or school project for Earth Day 2001 that helps create a clean, healthy, prosperous future, and win a "Greenie." Check out last year's winning "Greenie" projects on the NCAR Green Pages at: http://www.ucar.edu/outreach/greenie. The deadline for entries is March 16. Call Linda Carbone at 303-497-11185 for more information.
The District has numerous part-time food service positions available. In fact, Summit needs a cashier during the lunch period, from 11:30 to 1:00, two days a week. It's like getting paid for helping out at school. In fact, it IS getting paid for helping out at school!
All positions require that employees be able to lift 35 pounds unassisted, have a high school diploma or GED, enjoy children and be able to work quickly and efficiently.
Cook helper and cashier positions start at $8.20/hour. Cook positions start at $8.86/hour. Positions over 20 hours/week receive a full benefit package. Interested? Please fill out an application at the Boulder Valley School District, 6500 Arapahoe, or call 303-447-5042.
If you are not receiving your newsletter via e-mail and wish to, or if you would like the newsletter sent to a different or an additional electronic address, simply send a message to marthagorman@att.net. Electronic distribution is fast, easy and saves postage and trees. What a deal!
Upcoming deadlines for submissions to Summit News are March 5 and March 19. Articles may be sent to tomwhiteoc@earthlink.net or left in the Summit News file in the Summit office.
http://bcn.boulder.co.us/univ_school/summit/
We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors ... but they all have to learn to live in the same box.
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