January 28, 2003
Volume 15, No. 2
Parents, please check your student's backpack for copies of the 2002-2003 parent satisfaction survey. This survey provides valuable feedback to the Board and Summit administration for assessing Summit's performance. Please complete and return the survey to the office by January 31. Thank you very much.
Elective course request forms and Summit re-enrollment forms were due back to the Summit office January 24. It is very important that we receive these forms for every student returning to Summit next school year. Please call the office at 303-499-9511 if you have not returned the forms.
Parent-teacher conferences will be held Thursday, February 6, from 4 to 8 p.m., and on Friday, February 7, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. This is an excellent opportunity to check in with your student's wonderful teachers and ask questions to find out more about your student's progress. No appointment is necessary. Conferences will be "arena style" in the multipurpose room. We look forward to seeing you there.
RTD teen bus passes for February will be on sale for $10 each on January 29, 30, and 31, and on February 3, after school in the entrance hall or multipurpose room. Payment will be accepted in cash or by check made out to "BVSD." Please note the increase from $9 to $10 per pass for the remainder of the school year.
The 2003 testing season is fast approaching. Here is just a quick reminder of when the major tests will occur, so that you can schedule planned absences, medical appointments, etc., to avoid these days:
Specific information on testing hours will be provided closer to the testing dates.
Parents, please consider running for a position on the Summit Board of Directors. The Board governs the school, sets policy and makes decisions about the school's budget, teacher and staff hiring, curriculum, course offerings and scheduling, accountability, and communications. The Board relies on and benefits from the diverse expertise of its members in all these areas as well as computer programming, law, grant writing, and negotiation.
There are seven elected members of the Board and the principal serves as an ex officio member. This year there will be four Board seats up for election. Each candidate should be dedicated to Summit's educational philosophy and be willing to devote the time necessary to serve on the Board. Candidates should self-nominate (or be nominated by someone else!) by February 15 and election ballots will be due by February 28, for two-year terms that begin officially June 1. Please contact election coordinator John Jacus at 303-499-3013 to throw your hat in the ring.
Newly elected candidates are expected to attend as many spring Board meetings as possible, as non-voting participants, beginning in March. The Summit Board meets approximately every two weeks through the school year, with occasional periods of more intense activity, and occasionally during the summer.
Please call any current Board member for more information about Board member responsibilities: Paul Atcheson 303-581-9013, Debbie Feyh 303-543-8646, Barbry Hogue 303-665-3798, John Jacus 303-499-3013, Barb Kostanick 303-442-7115, Tom Mahowald 303-543-8903, Betsy Phelan 303-443-0832.
Mark your calendar and plan to join us for the annual Summit Community meeting on Tuesday, February 18, in the Summit multipurpose room at 7 p.m. Tour the new music portable, come join in discussion of exciting plans for facilities and program improvements, hear about this year's open enrollment season, and visit with other Summit parents. The Board candidates Q&A forum is also scheduled for this evening and is a great opportunity to hear directly from the parents who are running for the Summit Board. See you there!
Irwin Award Funding: Last year, Summit received a $10,000 grant from the John Irwin Schools of Excellence program funded by the legislature. We used that award money to support the English and math tutorial labs for the past year. We learned in November that with Colorado's deepening financial crisis it is most likely that there will not be funding attached to this year's awards. Additionally, there continues to be discussion at the legislature of further school funding budget cuts in either this fiscal year or next.
Based on the funding uncertainty, the Board decided, with regret, that the labs will be discontinued. We very much appreciate the fine assistance Terri Wells and Annie Davids have given to many of our students. We are committed to keeping Summit on a solid and sustainable financial footing, and it is painful for everyone to see a good program like this come to an end.
Portable Classroom Building News: The new portable classroom building is up and running! It was a bit more of a last minute thriller ending than we would have liked. Power was finally turned on Friday morning before the Martin Luther King, Jr., Day holiday. Grateful thanks to Tom Mahowald for riding herd on the process, and to all the volunteers who helped with the moves and readying the new and old classrooms. Teachers no longer have to change classrooms through the day, the library has gained back quite a bit of space, and music now has a larger, dedicated classroom. Take a tour of the new facilities on February 18 at our annual community meeting.
Consolidation Talks: BVSD is forging ahead on school consolidation discussions. Meetings are planned throughout the District during February to gather community feedback on various plans that the District has formulated for consolidation of elementary and middle school programs. See the schedule at http://www.bvsd.k12.co.us/facilities/facilitiesschedule.shtml.
While we haven't seen the plans, BVSD has indicated that they expect Summit to remain at our current campus for the long term. Given that, the Summit community needs to begin the process of thinking through the many facilities issues that are posed by a middle school using an aging elementary facility. Facilities issues will be a key topic at the community meeting on February 18; we hope you will join us.
Other Board Items: The Summit Board will have a retreat on Super Bowl Sunday, which is truly a sign of dedication -- or something like that! Key topics for discussion will include the non-negotiables list that we've been developing, which is a way to formally recognize the concepts that make Summit unique so that we can remain true to our mission and the interrelated issues of enrollment, facilities, and multi-year budget projections under varying sets of circumstances.
We are always interested in hearing from you. Call, e-mail, or come to one of our meetings. Time is always reserved at the beginning of the meeting to listen to parent concerns, and visitors are always welcome. Our next meeting will be on February 4, at 6:30 p.m., in the Summit library.
The annual Tools For Learning campaign has eclipsed the $55,000 mark, well on our way to this year's funding goal of $90,000. This places us at 61% of our funding goal, and it was donated by just 118 Summit households, or about 37.5% of our current families (plus some employer matching gifts). This means that if the remaining 62.5% of Summit families just give what they can to the campaign, we can certainly meet our 100% participation goal, and will have a great chance of meeting or exceeding our total funding goal. Watch for another campaign mailing in the coming weeks.
Thanks so much to those of you who have already given generously to the campaign via check, credit card and stock donations. Your tax receipts will be mailed very soon. As always, please call John Jacus, this year's campaign chair, at 303-892-7305, if you have questions. And remember, Tools For Learning is the best investment you can make in middle school education!
In December and January, the English department held the first two rounds of the annual Daily Camera spelling bee. Once again, this year's top speller was Sam Galler, a 7th grader, who was the district-wide winner in 2002. He will represent Summit for the second straight year at the district/county competition later this spring. Jenya Godina was the top-scoring 6th grade speller, and Sarah Gregory placed first among the 8th graders. Additional classroom finalists were: Gauri Nikrad, Albert Brown, Katie Webb, Tim Vigers, and Dylan Howell for English 1; Chris Jarmon, Margot van Loon, Charlie Wilcox, Marshall Carpenter, Jordan Leggett, and Sarah Goldstein for English 2; Geoff Parkhill and John Kearns for English 3; and Sam Shapiro for English 4. Congratulations to all and best of luck to Sam for the next round and beyond!
If you are missing dishes from our November Colonial Day, you may find them in my classroom. Feel free to remind your students to pick them up, or drop by Room 1. Thanks.
World History thanks Adam Ollaik's parents for spending the day with us to teach about their travels in the East. Their slides and descriptions of the people they met gave us a wonderful insight into our fascinating neighbors around the world.
Thanks to Micaela's (Mrs. Blakemore's) Super Helpers throughout the first semester! We had quite a variety of activities during this time in Beginning and Level 1 Spanish, including a trip to the Tortillería Las Américas in Longmont, a salsa cooking day, tamale preparation and cooking days, and the creation of tapas. Many thanks to all of wonderful parents who volunteered to help or provide supplies during these activities, including Lauren Hager, Pam Mullin, Amy Harman, Michelle Eckstein, Sally Scott, Beth McClellan, Dana Von Loon, Toni Ozeroff, Barbara Weidlein, Linda Gerstle, Karen van Dusen, Claire Stepleton, Debby Hanssen, the Harwood Family, and Bill Pottoff. Thanks as well to Diann Glander for snapping photos of our crazy dress-up activity! Please accept my apologies if I've forgotten anyone (and let me know!).
I'd also like to thank our Spanish Club volunteer parents for driving to the Corn Maze and cheering everyone on: Barb Silk, Frances Hartogh, Charla Berens, and Dolly Dean.
Enjoy running? Want to help students and yourself run faster, set goals, get fit and have fun? We'd like your help! We hope to start some early light training for the Bolder Boulder, weather permitting, in mid-February to early March. We are looking for a few running parents to volunteer weekly, or when possible, to help supervise training after school. Initially, we hope to offer training two or three days a week and gradually increase to every day for those students who want it. Please contact Mrs. Blakemore at 303-499-9511 if you would like to help.
If you are interested in helping to sponsor this year's issue of the Summit yearbook you can pick up an order form at the school office or call Joan Jacus at 303-499-3013.
Contact Coach Adams if you have any questions, 303-499-9511.
The inside covers of the Summit student planners are available for appropriate advertising to our Summit Community. For more information, please contact Jaime Simpson in the office at 303-499-9511.
Looking for a way to pitch in and help Summit? We have a variety of opportunities coming up:
Please contact Miriam Sproul at wabelding[at]attbi.com or 303-543-9298 if you can help with any of the above.
The next CU Wizards program, targeted for students in grades 5 through 9, will be:
Free parking is available in lots 169, 308, 396, and 436. Shows begin at 9:30 a.m. For all programs remaining, go to: http://physics.colorado.edu/wizards/cuwizards.html.
Tutoring hours for students have been posted to the school web site at www.summitmiddleschool.org.
To see the current or back issues of Summit News, information about Summit, links to other charter schools, and related education information, refer to Summit's web site via: http://www.summitmiddleschool.org.
If you are changing your e-mail address or would like to add an e-mail account to the Summit News distribution list, please send us an e-mail.
The next Summit News will be distributed in two weeks. If you have news, notes, or announcements, forward them via email to pat.hyde[at]attbi.com.