February 11, 2003
Volume 15, No. 3
Please join us for the annual Summit community meeting on 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!
The Boulder Valley School District will hold seven community meetings in the coming weeks to review efficiency of use of the district's facilities, to review possible consolidation and reconfiguration scenarios, and to answer community questions regarding these matters. The meetings will be held at the following dates, times, and locations:
For more information on the facilities issues, or if you have questions regarding the meetings and the process, please see the BVSD web site at www.bvsd.k12.co.us or call 303-447-5062.
Please do not park in the parking lot of the South Creek Condominiums west of Summit. A resident of these condominiums has notified our office that some Summit parents are using this for parking during student drop off and pick up. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
The high school registration and course placement recommendation process will occur February 20 through March 6 at Summit. Counselors from Boulder High School and from Fairview High School will visit on February 20 to provide students with course booklets and registration materials. On February 26, Summit core subject teachers will meet individually with their 8th grade students during each class period to give course placement recommendations and sign off on students' high school registration forms. After reviewing these recommendations, students should finalize their course selections and have their parents sign the forms.
On March 6, Boulder High and Fairview counselors will return to Summit to collect students' signed and completed registration forms. Forms that do not have all core subject teachers' signatures and a parent's signature will not be accepted. Students who do not bring their forms or whose forms do not include the required signatures will have to complete these at a later date and hand deliver them to the high school they plan to attend. Any student who will be attending a high school other than Fairview or Boulder High will need to make an appointment with the high school counselor to complete the registration process.
The high schools listed below will be holding academic planning nights to assist 8th graders and their parents in choosing appropriate courses for 9th grade. Parents and students are strongly encouraged to attend the applicable evening to gather information about placement, course offerings, and registration procedures, as well as extra-curricular activities and athletics.
Please call Ms. Bartley at 303-499-9511 if you have any questions.
Summit's Board held a retreat on Super Bowl Sunday with a focus on three key issues. Since last spring we have been grappling with how to articulate the important beliefs, ideals, and choices that characterize Summit in the hope that we could develop a working document that would be of value to current and future boards as decisions are made. Improving and clarifying these "non-negotiables" was a helpful effort in this direction.
Next was an extended discussion of enrollment, facilities, and finances. What would we like to see as an ultimate enrollment for Summit? What kinds of facilities would we need to accommodate that, and how would we get them? How do various enrollment scenarios play out with course enrollments for core and elective courses? How does the current enrollment distribution work through as the large "bubble" of current 7th grade students graduates from Summit?
Finally, we know that it is our responsibility to keep Summit on a solid financial footing. Given the many uncertainties in state funding, we have made some conservative assumptions that we will use to build a three-year budget model. It was a productive afternoon, and we very much appreciate the assistance of former Summit parent Kathy Reims, who served as facilitator and timekeeper.
At the February 4 Board meeting, the Board learned that 189 students had made Summit their first choice for open enrollment in the coming year. The Board decided to request that BVSD admit 91 6th graders and six 7th graders.
If you haven't yet returned your parent survey, please do so as soon as possible. If you haven't received a parent survey, please look in your child's backpack! Students will be completing their own surveys in the next week, and staff surveys will be distributed shortly. Excellent participation helps us gather important information about how well we're meeting our mission as a school.
As always, guests are welcome at our meetings. The next regular Board meeting will be on February 20, in the Summit Library at 6:30 p.m. Time is reserved at the beginning of each regular meetings to listen to parent comments and concerns and you may always contact any of the Board members directly.
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.
The next Summit music concert will be on March 6 at 7 p.m. at Boulder High School. This will not be quite the "marathon" our December concert was, as we will be featuring only three groups this time. Our Select Strings, Silver Rain, and Jazz Band 3 will be performing, and the program will last about an hour. We will still have some between-the-scenes surprises and a lot less sitting time! Students should arrive by 6 p.m. for tuning and warm-up.
The Summit science department would like to thank all parent volunteers and judges who gave so generously of their time to provide assistance with the Summit Science Fair. A special thanks to Sharon and Paul Atcheson for their commitment and dedication to making this Fairs a successful! Both judging days went very well and 20 excellent projects represented Summit at the Boulder Valley Regional Science Fair on February 6.
From all the great entries, the following student projects moved on to the district competition:
Congratulations to all students who participated in the Summit Science Fair! We'll let you know in the next newsletter how these students fared at the district level of judging.
Thanks to the parents who provided refreshments for judges at this year's Science Fair: Diann Glander, Angie Dorsey, Lauren Hager, Gloria August, Carol Baum, Nancy Bullock, Sandra Foote, Yvonne Garvin, Jody Kasper, Jan Markham, Susanne Metzler, Betsy Phelan, Sally Scott, Cheryle Kapsak, Laurie Kuelthau, Tim Brown, and Barbara Weidlein. Our apologies to anyone inadvertently omitted. The Hospitality Committee truly appreciates your efforts.
The Summit chess team won the Colorado State Chess Championships in Denver earlier this month. The team of Marshall Carpenter, Paul Weaver, Sam Galler, Thomas Davids, Keegan Boyle, and Jonah Miller won first place in the team category for the 7th through 9th grade division. In addition to the team title, Summit also brought home the individual title as Sam Galler won 1st place in the same 7th through 9th grade division. Congratulations, gentlemen.
The Chinese Youth Foundation of Colorado recently named Teresa Wong winner of the Youth Achievement Award Scholarship in the middle school category. Congratulations, Teresa!
Al Capps' famous cartoon characters from Dogpatch, USA will come alive on the stage for this year's spring musical, which will be accompanied by a live orchestra! Performances will take place on April 25 and April 26 at Platt Middle School, the same location of our December concert. The cast list will be posted February 12 and the rehearsals will begin immediately. We will need lots of parent help and supervision for this show and more information will be sent home soon. Contact Mr. Ackerson at 303-499-9511 if you have any questions or would like to volunteer.
Thanks to the parents who provided Thursday evening dinner for the teachers during parent/teacher conferences last week. The "Betty Crockers of Summit" include Cathy Reisfield, Alison Vigers, Marilyn Carol Weaver, Roxy Walker, Carol Cowley, Claire Thurston, Mary Carole Smartt, Augusta Warden, Barb Silk, Lucy Buckley, Jennifer Schram, Ted Ringenbach, Wendy Block, Loretta Melhado, and John Nagel.
A big thank you is extended to Randy Chan for catering lunch for the teachers during conferences on Friday. Randy's restaurant, Jin Chan, provided a feast for a very nominal fee.
The Bolder Boulder Middle School Challenge is upon us and Summit is in on the challenge! Students will be training with Mrs. Blakemore and other coaches, beginning March 3. If your student is interested in training to run, jog, or walk the race we will be having informational meetings both at lunch and after school the week of February 17 (specific date TBA). Proper training information will be available to everyone regardless of whether or not you can come to all training sessions.
Awards are given to schools based on participation and fastest times, so be sure your student fills out the YELLOW middle school entry form and not the regular white form which comes in the mail. Students may still participate in any wave they qualify for and for family team competitions. The yellow forms will be available at Summit towards the end of February. Students who sign up through the school are given a $5.00 discount on their race entry, a special Middle School Challenge T-shirt, and a bag of goodies from our sponsors. See you on the "right" track! For more information, e-mail Wendy Blakemore at wblakemore2[at]attbi.com.
The 2003 testing season is fast approaching. Here is just a quick reminder of when standardized testing 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.
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.
Now that winter has finally made an appearance , this information may be of value. If we receive what appears to be a snow day, you may check on the status of school closures at www.bvsd.k12.co.us/cancelinfo.asp on the BVSD web site. You will also find a list of television and radio stations that broadcast school closure updates on page 3 of the Summit directory.
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 email address or would like to add an email account to the Summit News distribution list, please send us an email.
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.