June 27, 2001
Volume 11, No. 11
This is it folks. The last issue for the 2000-2001 school year and it is chock full of great stuff. Please notice that there are several pages at the end of the newsletter with a full listing of student awards presented at the end of the school year, the library wish list, volunteer school project opportunities for the summer, CTBS testing information and maybe even more. Be sure to take a close look at all this information and … Have a Great Summer!
Each year the Summit Board presents two special awards at graduation, to recognize the exceptional devotion and dedication to Summit by members of our Summit community. With great pleasure, awards were made at this year's graduation to: Cheryle Kapsak -- Outstanding Teacher Award; Julie Dotson - Outstanding Volunteer Award. Congratulations, with our heartfelt thanks for all that you do for Summit!
Our principal, Bernie Grove, is preparing to leave Summit for her new position as secondary principal at Peak to Peak Charter School in Lafayette (see note from her just below, under Staff News). She assumes her new position there as of August 1, 2001.
The Summit Board is very grateful to Ms. Grove for all that she has done for Summit, its students, faculty, staff, and families over the past three and one-half years. We have personally enjoyed working with her and have grown as board members and as an institution because of the opportunity to work with her. We will miss her, and we greatly appreciate her excellent service and dedication to Summit. Our very best wishes go with her, and we wish her and Peak to Peak well.
With every change comes opportunity. It is helpful to recall that we were able to recruit and hire Ms. Grove in the middle of a school year, when our previous principal was unable to continue due to health problems. In facing the present challenge of hiring a new principal and pursuing the opportunities our search presents, the Board is buoyed by the knowledge that we have an excellent team of teachers and a supportive Summit community we can count on to rise to the challenge with us.
We have received a number of promising applications and have indications of interest in the principal position from additional potential applicants. Summit Board member John Jacus is chairing the principal search committee. He and his committee have already begun the process of screening applications and interviewing likely candidates. Our hope is that we will have new principal hired and ready to introduce to our community by the time the Summit office reopens in August!
As you already know, Summit has filed an appeal with the State Board of Education regarding the terms of charter renewal given by the BVSD board in February.
The appeal will be heard at 3:00 PM on Wednesday, July 11, in the State Board of Education Hearing Room, 201 E. Colfax in Denver, across the street from the Capitol. Although there will not be an opportunity for our families to speak in support of Summit, it is nevertheless important that we have a strong show of support from our Summit community. We encourage you, and your students, to attend the appeal hearing.
As soon as a State Board decision is known, we will provide an update to our Summit families. In the meantime, if you have questions about the appeal please contact any Summit Board member.
It is with great sadness that I say goodbye to Summit. I will miss each and every one of you. Thank you for making my time at Summit so joyful. I also thank the army of volunteers who made such valuable contributions during my time here. However, it is time for me to move on and accept a new professional challenge, knowing that I leave Summit in a very good place. Being able to admit fifty more students is excellent for Summit. It allows that many more students to have the quality of education that Summit provides, and it allows Summit to hire several more top quality staff members who will become part of the community and add their own gifts to the school.
I know that the Board, the staff, and all of you are totally committed to keeping this a high quality, exciting place dedicated to each student's learning. Summit is a terrific school, with a dynamite community, and I confidently wish you the best year yet in 2001-2002. This is a wonderful way to begin a new millennium.
Have a great summer! Best Regards, Bernie Grove
The Summit Board, students, and parents wish all the best to those who left our staff as of the end of the school year -- Kathy Hutton, Lisa Hanckel, Deb Sanders, Juilane McMurtrey, Maggie Mesinger, and Cynde Light. We very much appreciate all that they have contributed to our community while they worked for Summit.
Thank you to the 2000-2001 Student Council for a productive year! Sarah Walker served our school community as President and Erin Dotson was our Vice President. The positions of Treasurer and Secretary were semester appointments, served by Carolyn Brookins as Secretary and Colin Person as Treasurer during 1st semester and Katia Heinzman and Anna Meiners during 2nd semester.
The Council used its creativity and efforts to reach out to our local and international community. Accomplishments included having the school store open almost every day after school; planning three school dances; the Halloween maze; the Food Drive for Community Food Share; donating a week's profits from the school store to victims of the earthquake in El Salvador; sponsoring the school supplies drive for a school in Belarus; purchasing fans for all the classrooms; and the penny war for the Boulder Safehouse. Student Council also purchased lunch for everyone on the last day of school.
We are currently seeking qualified applicants for a few teaching and office staff positions for next year. Openings include a full-time office administrative assistant, part-time secretary, part-time parapro, part-time computer programming/technology teacher, and 2/3 time French teacher. The office positions, especially, can be a great way for one of our parents to be paid for time probably being spent already helping out at Summit!
If you, or someone you know, might be interested in one of these positions, please contact Barbry Hogue (303-665-3798) or Debbie Feyh (303-543-8646).
Watch for news in the first Summit News issue in August for information about new teachers and staff. The Hiring Committee has been very busy and will have good news to report in August!
The students and most staff have signed out for the summer, but the Summit office carries on! However, all good things must come to an end, including Summit office hours as of the end of June. Ms. Grove is still in the office on most weekdays, though for a limited number of hours. If you need to take care of any school related business before the end of the month, now is the time! The office will be closed during July and will reopen during the second week of August.
Congratulations to our Summit graduates of 2001! This is a heart-felt note of thanks to all those that contributed to a great send-off. Thanks to Kirk Adams for his inspiration and flexibility of planning; to Caroline Brailsford, Sally Benjamin, Joan Jacus, Kathryn Hamerly, and Laurie Eason for guiding our students on and off the stage; to Miriam Sproul, Don Kaniecki, Sharon Atcheson, and Mary Ann Dangelo for the artistic reception displays; and to Sally Benjamin, Caroline Brailsford, and Kathy Reims for overall planning.
The students enjoyed lunch supplied by the Student Council and served with the help of Julia Dotson, Sally Benjamin, and Caroline Brailsford. We thank our graduation speaker, graduating dad Scott Smith, for his thought provoking comments to students and families. Special thanks to our parent florist, Kate Majack-Sweet, for the beautiful floral arrangements full of school spirit and to the amazing cookie bakers, Susan Karpatkin and Margie Riksheim. It was another great day for the Summit community!
The complete and definitive list of awards presented to students at the end of the academic year is printed as an addendum at the end of this newsletter. Congratulations to all these wonderful and talented students.
You should now have received your student's end of the year report card and CTBS scores report. If you have not, or have questions about the report card, please give Ms. Grove a call.
With additional teachers coming next year to accommodate 50 more students, Summit needs a few items to furnish teacher work and office space. As you are cleaning out garages, basements, etc. this summer, keep these items in mind as donations to Summit:
If you have any of these to donate, give Debbie Feyh a call at 303-543-8646 to arrange for drop off at Summit.
To continue to build up a quality library for Summit, we need donations of books, new and used. A complete list of all the books requested by the library staff is printed at the end of this newsletter. Please look it over and see if you have any of the books to donate. Another great way to support the library is to donate credit you may have at stores like the Book Worm. For more information on how to do that, see the wish list. Thanks for your support.
In May, Hildur Boylston took first place in the Youth America Grand Prix dance competition in New York. Approximately 200 final competitors from the U.S. and several other countries had been chosen from over 1000 participants in regional competitions to compete. Hildur took first place by dancing Aurora from the ballet Sleeping Beauty and a contemporary dance choreographed for her by Kim Robards. The judges came from several of the major ballet and dance companies in New York, England, and France. Congratulations, Hildur!
The following students had a 4.0 grade average in at least all of their core classes for the second semester this year. Great job, everyone! Hannah Alpert, Tegan McGillivray, Elaine Atcheson, Stacy Metzger, Jake Barba, Lila Morency, Daniel Beylkin, Rekha Nalitham, Jessica Boulet, Timothy Nguyen, Lisa Brownstone, Rebekah Olstad, Erika Daley, Eric Pahlke, Laura D'Ippolito, Clark Patton, Jason Eckstein, Colin Peterson, Sarah Evans, Maya Pollak, Joy Fest, Allison Reid, Mia Fuhrman, Alana Riksheim, Julia Hansford, Madeline Rovira, Erik Hanssen, Chalie Simon, Anna Heiderer, Aban Siraj, Thatcher Heumann, Betsy Smartt, Ruth Jacobs, Anne Stancliffe, Cari Jones, Jesse Thurston, Joshua Karpel, Kellan Toohey, Nikki Kilbride, Sara Visvader, Steffani Kitayama, Lauren Von Roenn, Annie Lewis, Victoria Webster, Vivian Lu, Emilyanne Weigel, Linden Majack, Tracy Wilson, Nora McDaniel, Alexander Woods.
Wondering how to have fun, in the summer sun? Now that you and your kids have so much free time that you just don't know what to do ... Debbie Feyh has just the thing for you. Why not take on a family volunteer project at the school? There are jobs to fit any skill level and interest, from painting to sprucing up to carpentry projects. Kids love to do these projects, especially if their friends come along!
Most work teams will be needed in August but start looking for supplies and encouraging other families. It's a great way for new Summit families to meet people and get acquainted with the school. You can even learn some new carpentry or painting skills. See the list below (top of next page) and pick out something you'd like to do. Contact Debbie Feyh at 303-543-8646 to sign up to help. Also, take a look at the teachers' wish list of needed supplies (at end of newsletter). Drop off of these items will happen beginning in mid-August. Thanks!
The CTBS (TerraNova) was given to all Summit students in April 2001. In terms of "Total Score," a composite of reading, language, and mathematics, Summit median ("average") students scored 90.6 in 6th grade, 93.0 in 7th grade, and 93.3 in 8th grade, with positive anticipated difference scores of 9.6, 6.4, and 11.0, respectively. No student was excluded because of special education status. Science and Social Studies CTBS subtests were not given by Summit in 2001 in recognition of the time devoted to the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) tests. The district did not administer the norm-referenced CTBS in middle schools in 2001, relying instead solely on the criterion-referenced CSAP tests.
The CTBS provides important information to complement the CSAP: (1) CTBS gives a student's and a class's standing with respect to national norms. (2) Whereas the CSAP tests students in only one subject, different for each grade level, Summit gives the CTBS to all students in reading, language, and mathematics every year. Thus, the CTBS allows Summit to measure student progress from year to year.
Many Summit students top-out on the regular grade-level TerraNova. To assess the relative strengths and weaknesses of these students, and to measure their growth while at Summit, the Summit Board decided to administer one-grade-level higher tests to students beginning in 1999. The TerraNova tests are normed for a range of grades. For example, the 8th-grade-level test is normed for students from the sixth month of grade 7 through the second month of grade 9. Our 7th graders, taking the 8th-grade test in April (the eighth month of grade 7), fall within the norming range. Thus, the score reports for our students remain valid and comparable to previous years; the students are not penalized for taking the more advanced tests.
Summit requests pattern or "item response theory" (IRT) scoring rather than traditional (number correct) scoring. IRT scoring adjusts for guessing and also gives individual students a much better idea of their strengths and weaknesses. Class averages, however, are almost identical for IRT and traditional scoring.
One indicator of a school's effectiveness is its "anticipated 50th percentile difference score," the difference between the actual and anticipated performance of an average student at the school. A positive difference indicates value added. Summit intends for most of its students to have actual scores higher than anticipated.
Table 1 gives the actual ("Act.") national percentile score for a median ("average") Summit student in all areas for all three grades, along with differences ("Dif.") from the anticipated score that is based on the Test of Cognitive Skills. Summit students performed very well, as they have every year since the school opened. Areas of relative deficiency are spelling and language mechanics for 6th and 7th graders, the same as last year.
Median National Percentile Scores, 2001 CTBS/TerraNova |
||||||
| Act. | Dif. | Act. | Dif. | Act. | Dif. | |
| Reading |
88.0
|
9.0
|
91.1
|
7.4
|
89.4
|
8.1
|
| Vocabulary |
86.4
|
12.0
|
85.6
|
4.1
|
90.1
|
11.1
|
| Reading Composite |
87.4
|
7.7
|
90.3
|
5.0
|
92.3
|
9.6
|
| Language |
86.4
|
6.8
|
89.4
|
5.8
|
89.6
|
9.6
|
| Language Mechanics |
78.3
|
-1.2
|
83.4
|
-1.4
|
88.6
|
8.5
|
| Language Composite |
86.7
|
4.7
|
88.8
|
1.7
|
92.8
|
9.5
|
| Mathematics |
91.7
|
9.7
|
89.2
|
4.1
|
87.5
|
5.2
|
| Math Computation |
91.0
|
21.4
|
87.9
|
7.2
|
84.9
|
5.4
|
| Math Composite |
91.6
|
13.0
|
90.3
|
6.2
|
89.4
|
6.3
|
| Total Score |
90.6
|
9.6
|
93.0
|
6.4
|
93.3
|
11.0
|
| Spelling |
73.3
|
-1.7
|
64.0
|
-17.4
|
88.7
|
14.0
|
| Number Tested |
75*
|
84*
|
79*
|
|||
| *Four 6th grade students, three 7th grade students, and three 8th grade students did not complete the Test of Cognitive Skills. Because anticipated differences cannot be calculated for these students, they are not included in these averages. | ||||||
Table 2 gives the median TerraNova national percentile scores for 2001's 7th and 8th grade classes during their years at Summit. Total scores increased from year to year for our current 7th and 8th graders, which satisfies one of Summit's accountability goals. This indicates that, although many students come to Summit with strong academic aptitude, their achievement level actually increases from year to year compared with national norms. The improvement record for 2001's 8th graders dramatically illustrates this point.
National Percentile Scores for 2001's 7th and 8th Grade Classes |
|||||
| Reading |
89.7
|
91.1
|
84.9
|
87.3
|
89.4
|
| Vocabulary |
87.6
|
85.6
|
88.7
|
87.0
|
90.1
|
| Reading Composite |
90.7
|
90.3
|
89.4
|
91.6
|
92.3
|
| Language |
86.5
|
89.4
|
84.5
|
88.7
|
89.6
|
| Language Mechanics |
80.9
|
83.4
|
86.0
|
80.8
|
88.6
|
| Language Composite |
87.5
|
88.8
|
88.0
|
87.8
|
92.8
|
| Mathematics |
89.0
|
89.2
|
79.5
|
85.3
|
87.5
|
| Math Computation |
91.1
|
87.9
|
84.2
|
88.5
|
84.9
|
| Math Composite |
92.7
|
90.3
|
81.6
|
87.3
|
89.4
|
| Total Score |
91.1
|
93.0
|
84.7
|
88.8
|
93.3
|
| Science |
*
|
*
|
86.5
|
*
|
*
|
| Social Studies |
*
|
*
|
85.8
|
*
|
*
|
| Spelling |
77.9
|
64.0
|
69.2
|
66.3
|
88.7
|
| *Science and Social Studies subtests were not given in 2000 or 2001. | |||||
It is our goal that each student achieve at least one year of academic growth in every subject every year he or she is at Summit. Thus, we want each student to increase in national percentile score from year to year, especially in areas of deficiency. Summit staff analyzes the data and teachers modify parts of the curriculum as needed to address the deficiencies.
Table 3 gives the national percentile and grade equivalent "Total" scores for Summit's own 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th, and 90th percentile students. Summit students are narrowly clustered about the median, well above the national average. Even Summit's 10th percentile is above the national average. We note that the national average is generally regarded by testing professionals to be below proficient.
Table 3. Spread in National Percentile (NP) and Grade Equivalent (GE) Scores |
|||||||||||
Grade |
No.* |
90th |
75th |
50th |
25th |
10th |
|||||
NP |
GE |
NP |
GE |
NP |
GE |
NP |
GE |
NP |
GE |
||
| 6th | 79 | 98.7 | 12.9 | 97.0 | 12.8 | 90.4 | 11.7 | 80.3 | 10.3 | 52.2 | 7.0 |
| 7th | 87 | 98.9 | 12.9 | 97.6 | 12.9 | 92.4 | 12.8 | 80.5 | 11.3 | 65.8 | 9.4 |
| 8th | 82 | 98.8 | 12.9 | 97.4 | 12.9 | 92.8 | 12.9 | 80.6 | 12.2 | 63.7 | 10.6 |
| *This table includes students who did not take the Test of Cognitive Skills. | |||||||||||
In terms of grade equivalent, a national percentile score of 98.7 in 6th grade, for example, extrapolates to a median score for students in the ninth month of 12th grade. The grade equivalent scale is much coarser than the national percentile scale.
Table 4 compares the spread in scores for 2001's 8th grade class as it moved through Summit. As noted above, the class's total score increased for every year at Summit. It is noteworthy that, in addition, the spread between the 90th and 10th percentiles decreased as the class moved through Summit. (An analysis in terms of "normal curve equivalent" scores would give almost the same numerical results.)
| Summit's 90th Percentile |
98.0
|
99.0
|
98.8
|
| Summit's 10th Percentile |
49.6
|
55.3
|
63.7
|
| Spread (90th - 10th) |
48.4
|
43.7
|
35.1
|
| Number Tested |
81
|
88
|
82
|
Nationally normed tests, such as the CTBS, are but one measure of student performance and school effectiveness. Results can help in student placement and serve as an early warning of deficiencies.
Our thanks to Ron Goldfarb for composing this thorough analysis.
Are you interested in coordinating tasks and working with our wonderful Summit families and staff? We need an energetic and willing volunteer to chair the Parent Volunteer Connection (PVC) next year. If the job seems too much to do alone, perhaps a couple of you would like to co-chair the PVC.
Many of the committee chair positions are filled, so the PVC coordinator job really is a matter of keeping things rolling on a week-to-week basis. If you have questions or might be interested, please call Julie Dotson at 303-499-8749.
The Women's Wilderness Institute offers a variety of wilderness adventure programs for girls ages 12-17. "This is the funnest hard work you'll ever do. It will take you to the tops of magnificent mountains, build some of the best friendships you've ever had, and leave you with an 'I can do it!' attitude."
Contact The Women's Wilderness Institute for an application packet at 303-938-9191, or visit their website at www.womenswilderness.org.
It is with great sadness that we report the death of former Summit student Anna Sizova, who died on June 2, 2001. Anna had been living in Newton Center, Massachusetts. Anna entered Summit as a sixth grader in 1997. Anna was loved by all at Summit for her sunny nature, natural friendliness, courage in adversity and intelligent sense of humor. She has many friends here who will be saddened by this news. Many of Anna's writings and thank yous to teachers and friends are on her websites <siconat.ne.mediaone.net./~asizova/works.htm > and <asizova/bondslovefriendship.html>
Anyone wishing to send a card or note to her family should send them to: Natasha and Konstantin Sizova, 56 Warren Street, Newton Center, MA 02459.
Don't forget, you can still buy grocery certificates by calling Joan Jacus at 303-499-3013. Thanks for supporting Summit with this ongoing fundraiser.
From now to July 31, 2001, Radio Shack is once again partnering with the Wireless Foundation to collect cell phones for the Donate-a-Phone Campaign. Phones will be reprogrammed with 911 and other emergency numbers and given to victims of domestic violence so they can access emergency services at the touch of a button. If you have a phone to donate, stop by Radio Shack, ASAP.
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>. If your student has just graduated and you wish to be taken off the mailing list, please e-mail Marti Gorman at <marthagorman@att.net>. Otherwise, we'll put you on our alumni distribution list so that you can stay in touch with Summit!
http://bcn.boulder.co.us/univ_school/summit/
Congratulations to all of these students for their fine achievements at Summit this year!
Help Summit's Library Grow! Summit's library is almost one year old, and we need your help to expand our collection. As you weed through your home collection this summer, please keep an eye out for the titles listed below. Of course, we're always happy to accept brand-new books, too!
Another idea is to donate your book credit from a used bookstore like the Book Worm to the Summit library. In case you didn't know, you can bring your used books to the Book Worm (by Albertson's in Diagonal Plaza, at Iris and 28th) and receive credit for buying books at that store. If you donate this credit to Summit, we can go there and pick out the books we know we need.
The library has received many donated books over the past year, and cataloging and processing those books takes time. So that we can have as many books as possible ready for use in the fall, we will be scheduling some library work days later on in the summer. If you would like to help in our library or donate some of these titles, please call Cathy Woods at 303-444-1791 or e-mail her at <cathy.woods@home.com> to make arrangements.
Here's our wish list!
(forwarded to Summit Board member Debbie Feyh, from Santa Claus)
In case you didn't know, Summit is a great school but it is also a little short on some key supplies. No one knows this better than our hard working Assistant Principal, Coach Adams. Apparently, last year he sent a rather lengthy wish list to Santa Claus which Santa was unable to fill. Santa thought it best to pass the list along to the Summit Board for fulfillment. Let's try to surprise Coach with a belated present of these items! We're not sure we can come through with everything, but string and power strips do seem within our reach …