February 2, 2004
Volume 17, No. 2
January 22, 2004
Ms. Julie Phillips, President
Boulder Valley School Board
6500 East Arapahoe Road
Boulder, CO 80301
Dear Ms. Phillips:
It was with interest that I read your comments on diversity and open enrollment in yesterday's article in the Daily Camera on stratification in Colorado schools. The article focused on the low numbers of Hispanic families at many BVSD schools. While at Summit we are fortunate to have a wide diversity of families overall, we nevertheless have also been frustrated by the low numbers of Hispanic families enrolling in our school through the open enrollment process. I have gone out and met on several occasions with principals (like Lynn Widger) of other BVSD schools that have substantial Hispanic populations and asked these principals what they would suggest Summit do to increase its Hispanic population. Based on my conversations with these principals, and on my own experience at Summit, allow me to make four concrete suggestions that I think would, over time, help create greater diversity (particularly as regards Hispanic families), in Boulder Valley public schools such as Summit.
Help Schools Diversify
The District places a premium on having an even playing field as regards schools promoting themselves and thus discourages/prevents individual schools from doing their own outreach. The District produces materials in which all schools have an opportunity to describe themselves. But beyond that, individual schools are prohibited from trying to "get the word out" about their programs in creative or alternative ways. On November 20, 2003, for example, we held a prospective parent evening directed at the Hispanic community. The program was conducted in Spanish. We made up flyers in Spanish and distributed them to churches, libraries, and to BVSD elementary schools that we know have large Hispanic populations. I was subsequently told by the District that doing such outreach through other district schools was not allowed. Similarly, in the past when we have attempted to send out our own school brochure, which includes information for Spanish speaking families, we have been told by the District that this is not okay. I think the District should not only allow, but should actively support and encourage, different schools to engage in community outreach in order to more effectively diversify their populations.
Provide Bus Service
The District will not provide free school bus service to Summit. For families who do not have cars or who live out in East Boulder County (for example), trying to get to Summit (and other charter schools in the same situation) without such transportation constitutes a major impediment for attendance at such schools. In the absence of the availability of such bus transportation, many families do not even bother with the open enrollment process as they know that, even if they should be accepted to a school like Summit, they would have no way to get there. Providing free bus service to all BVSD schools would help make it possible for families currently unable to get their children to a school like Summit to at least then have the option. I think over time this would help bring in more Spanish speaking families to schools that currently have small Hispanic populations.
Provide ESL Services
The District does not provide ESL services to Summit and to many other schools in the district. I understand that it would be a challenge financially for the District to be able to do so. However, it is a challenge we should meet if BVSD is truly committed to diversifying its population. As you know, any student from a Spanish speaking family who needs ESL support and wants to attend Summit (or any other school without ESL services) must waive ESL services in order to attend. Earlier this year, for example, we had a wonderful student from a Spanish speaking family who enrolled in Summit. This girl needed ESL support in order to handle her classes and such support was not available as BVSD does not provide this service to Summit. She ended up transferring to Casey Middle School where such ESL support is available. The District should give Summit the resources necessary to support students like this so that they can be successful here -- particularly as Summit already pays the District (for 2002-2003) $89.63 per student or $26,889.00 to support ESL services in the District. Because such resources were not available, Summit lost a wonderful Hispanic family and this girl was made to feel like a failure. Such a situation is unacceptable.
Make the Open Enrollment Process More Accessible to Spanish Speaking (and Other Minority) Families
While the District does produce open enrollment applications in Spanish, I question if enough is being done on the part of the district to do outreach to Hispanic (and other minority) families and to make them aware of options that exist outside of their neighborhood schools. Perhaps more "town meetings" conducted in Spanish (and other languages) would help. However, this brings me to my most fundamental point. Since the leadership of the District is clearly of the mindset that choice has been a bad thing in Boulder Valley and has weakened neighborhood schools, why then would this very leadership seek to encourage any minority family (at a "town meeting" or through any other means) to consider a school like Summit? Truthfully, Ms. Phillips, what I have seen in my three years working in BVSD, is that it is this very mindset against choice, and the policies and practices that emanate from this oppositional perspective, that in fact constitute the major impediment to diversifying student populations at many schools throughout the district. It seems inherently contradictory for people to complain that schools like Summit do not have enough Hispanic families, while at the same time we are prevented from actively recruiting such families, are not provided with bus service and ESL services to support such families, and when such families are encouraged by the District (in ways both overt and subtle) to only patronize their neighborhood schools and thus to not participate in the open enrollment process.
In the Charter Renewal Contract Summit has with BVSD (Exhibit B, paragraph 1), it says that "Summit and the School District shall work cooperatively and jointly to explore and implement strategies that are designed to increase accessibility to Summit's educational programs for under-represented populations." For our part, we continue to stand ready to work with the District in this spirit.
At any rate, these are a few of my thoughts. Thank you for taking the time to listen.
Sincerely,
Mr. David B. Finell, Principal
cc: Helayne Jones, Angelika Schroeder, Ken Roberge, Stan Garnett, Jean Paxton, Teresa Steele, Dr. George Garcia
On Thursday, February 5th, a video crew from the U.S. Department of Education will be at Summit, working on a project about charter schools. If you do not want your child to be in the video, please contact the office prior to the tape date.
-- David Schermerhorn, Summit Board
This year's CSAP tests will be administered during the two weeks preceding Spring Break, March 9th - 18th. When planning medical or dental appointments, please avoid these days as much as possible. If you cannot avoid school hours entirely, please schedule absences during the last hour of the day. More specific information on the tests will follow. Thank you for your cooperation in this logistically challenging time.
-- Amanda Avallone
Did you know that Summit students and their families are able to access three wonderful online databases from school or from home? These databases allow students to find articles in over 1500 magazines and newspapers such as Time, Newsweek, Consumer Reports, National Geographic, American History, Science, Science News, Scientific American, the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, and the International Herald Tribune. The full text of the article is usually available. Students are encouraged to use these databases whenever possible, as they are easily accessible and the information available is often more reliable than information found on the Internet. Summit subscribes to EBSCO, eLibrary, and The New York Times Historical Newspaper Database. In order to use the databases from home, you need an Internet connection and a password for each database. If you would like information about how to use these databases from your home, I would be happy to email instructions and passwords to you. Please contact me at cathy.woods[at]bvsd.k12.co.us.
Our library collection has grown tremendously this year! A significant portion of the Walton Grant was allocated for library materials. Although we've purchased many more books and videos than I could possibly list in the newsletter, here's a representative sample of recent additions to our reference collection: American Writers, British Writers, World Poets, Countries and Their Cultures, Culture Grams, Beacham's Guide to International Endangered Species, Atlas of the Evolving Earth, The Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology, Schirmer's Encyclopedia of Art, The Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century, and Water: Science and Issues. In addition, two of our databases, eLibrary and The New York Times Historical Newspaper Database, are funded through this grant.
We always welcome donated books. New book donations are listed in the newsletter and the donor is acknowledged with a book plate in the front of the book. A donated book is a wonderful way to acknowledge a student's birthday or to honor a special teacher or staff member. I would be happy to help you select an appropriate book from our Wish List. We can't always add all used books to our collection; please check with Mrs. Woods if you want to donate used books.
Thanks to the following families for these recent donations:
We need you! The Bolder Boulder 12-week training program will be beginning March 8th. We need volunteer coaches to help with after-school training. You would only need to commit to one day per week. Our program entails two weekday afternoon training sessions at Summit and one weekend day for individual training at home. Coaches will need to be available from 3:20 - 4:00 p.m. and we will decide on the days depending on coach availability.
If we get enough volunteers we could offer more days of supervised training. Help us to get fit and to continue our Bolder Boulder winning streak for speed and participation!!
If you can help, please contact Wendy Blakemore at 303-530-7173 or leave a message at Summit. Thanks!
-- Wendy Blakemore
The following are highlights from the January 22nd Summit Board meeting:
-- Ashley O'Connor, Summit Board
Donate Shoes for Bolivian Children: Spanish Club is sponsoring a shoe drive for needy Bolivian children. We desperately need new or gently used shoes in sizes infant to adult size 6. Have your student bring the shoes to their History class. There is a contest to see which grade - 6th, 7th, or 8th - brings in the most shoes. Every student in the winning grade will win a 25¢ coupon to the Spanish store! Let's help those in need.
Club Activities: Those members who had the afternoon free enjoyed using our Spanish skills during an early dinner at Sol Azteca. The staff was helpful and cheerful. A big congrats to two of our members who are French students, Alison Ferris and Sabine Kunz, who demonstrated great talents in Spanish and helped us to learn some French vocabulary as well.
Also sharing in the fun were Alexandra Rogers, Jordan Cahn, Daniel Weidlein, Lisa Han, and Thomas Davids.
During the Holidays: Spanish Club members created hundreds of Spanish language cards that were placed in holiday baskets for the needy. We also held aTortillas for Tots breakfast drive and made a nice donation to Toys for Tots. Coming up this spring we will be having a St. Patrick's Day all-school good luck activity, a car wash, and the annual Cinco de Mayo Carnival. We also will be picking up our Adopt-a-Road out by the Reservoir and volunteering at the annual fundraiser sponsored by the Foundation for Boulder Valley Schools. Stay tuned for updates!
Agua at Conferences: Spanish Club will be selling bottled water and snacks for parents to enjoy during conferences. Support our fundraiser to earn money for charitable Hispanic causes! There will be club members available with the snacks at all conference sessions.
-- Wendy Blakemore
Relieve your overstuffed basement closets!
The art department would like to receive the following donations: fabric scraps (any kind), wrapping paper rolls, and buttons and beads, etc. At your office there may be large rolls of paper. The cardboard tubes at the center of these are also very useful.
Students will be making several quilts and will be in need of a few assistants to assemble and sew the final squares together in February. Please contact Ms. Dornbush to volunteer or leave donations in the office. Thank you!!!
Summit is drafting a concept letter requesting grant funds from IBM. As part of the letter, we would like to mention how many IBM families attend Summit and especially mention the variety of volunteer activities at Summit IBM parents have undertaken. If you are an IBM employee and Summit parent, please let us know. Also please let us know in what way you have volunteered at Summit (work days, judge for Science Fair or History Day, guest speaker in a class, field trip chaperone, cooking class participant, etc.).
Please e-mail Cheryl Runyon (cheryl.runyon[at]comcast.net) or Dolly Dean (dohdean[at]travelandsports.com). Thank you for your participation at Summit and thank you for your assistance in developing this concept letter.
-- Cheryl Runyon, Grant-Writing Committee
We are pleased to report that we have now received donations totaling almost $84,000. This puts us within reach of our $100,000 fundraising goal for this year's Tools for Learning campaign. Thank you to all of the families, alumni and friends who have contributed.
We have received donations from 165 of our currently enrolled families. This represents a participation rate of about 59%. Please remember that EVERY DONATION COUNTS and EVERY DONATION moves us closer to our goals of $100,000 and 100% participation.
PLEASE RETURN YOUR pledge card as soon as possible. Additional pledge cards are available in the office or call Dolly Dean (303-473-9600) and we will send you a new pledge packet.
It has come to our attention that we inadvertently left out of the last two newsletters some of the donors who contributed in November and December. We sincerely apologize for this oversight and thank those that brought it to our attention. Listed below are those previously omitted from the newsletter and those who contributed during the month of January:
*Denotes alumni family
World History sponsored our fantastic Chinese New Year Assembly for the student body on January 15th. THANK YOU to Mandy Yick (Stephen and Teresa Wong's mother) for coordinating the festival, and the Chinese culture and art day in every world history class! We also thank the following parent contributors and performing students:
The Kung Fu demonstration was amazing! We thank our talented students, Victor Lee, Stephen Wong, Alexander Ting, and guest Vickie Lee. Dressed in white, Teresa Wong was fabulous with her Wudong Sword and Tai Chi demonstrations. She hopes to go to the Olympics one day.
I do not know the names of the adult drummers for the assembly, but we extend out thanks to them for drumming and for bringing the huge lion. Storytellers were Stephen Wong, Theresa Wong, Victor Lee, Francis Cheng, Catherine Chen, Alexander Ting and Andrew Lee. They told the story of how the New Year celebration came to be.
It is by these experiences that we become true world citizens. Thank you to our Chinese American students for sharing the richness and beauty of this celebration and Chinese culture with us.
-- Mrs. Kapsak
It is that time of the year again when our students showcase their original scientific research projects and compete for the chance to take their projects to the BVSD District Science Fair.
The Summit Science Fair will be held on Thursday, February 5th in the school's multi-purpose room. Judging will begin at 8:00 am and proceed until 3:00 pm. During the judging sessions, the fair is closed to the public. Each student will meet with two or more judges, professionals who have graciously volunteered to spend 3-6 hours of their time interviewing our students about their projects.
Winners of Round 1 will be announced Friday morning. The projects will be left up all day on Friday, February 6th. All science classes will visit the fair on this day. The fair is also open to the public all day on Friday. It will close at 3:00 pm.
We hope you can stop by and view the incredible work our students have done this year!
For Student Participants: Students are expected to have their poster display in school on Wednesday, February 4th. We will have peer judging practice in class. You will be called to set up your display on Wednesday during 7th period. You will be called out of classes for one hour on Thursday for judging. These timeslots will be posted by Tuesday, February 3rd. Students are expected to remove their poster displays at the end of the school day on Friday. Round 2 will be held on February 19th.
--- The Science Department: Haydee Phelps, Science Fair Coordinator, Peter Teasdale and Stephanie Weber
Summit's History Club is a community service organization, and everyone is welcome. We meet every Tuesday during lunch in Mrs. Kapsak's room. Members may participate in as many of our projects as their schedule allows. Our goal is to learn from the problems we study in history and then find solutions, making the world better one kind act at a time.
Congratulations to Summit's History Club Students for These Outstanding Winter Accomplishments:
Thank you.
-- Mrs. Kapsak and Mr. Havens, Sponsors
The high school registration and course placement recommendation process at Summit will occur February 18th through March 3rd. Boulder High and Fairview High counselors will visit on Wednesday, February 18th to provide students with course booklets and registration materials. On Tuesday, February 24th, 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 Wednesday, March 3rd, 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. Students who will be attending high schools other than Fairview or Boulder High will need to make an appointment with the high school counselor at the school they plan to attend to complete the registration process.