Academic Program
Rigorous Academic Curriculum

Summit has implemented a curriculum that is preparing all students for Advanced Placement (AP) courses in 5 subjects beginning junior year.

    * 100% of Summit graduates exceed UC entrance requirements
    * 100% of Summit seniors took the SAT exam

High-Quality Faculty

The success of a school can be measured by the quality of its teachers and the success of its students. Great teachers possess a remarkable capacity for connecting with young people and a relentless passion to educate. They demonstrate a unique level of dedication, respect, and compassion for their students as both scholars and human beings. Great teaching comes from content knowledge, teaching technique, and from each teacher’s personal integrity. It is an exceptional caliber of teaching that students find at Summit – and the exceptional performance of the students is testimony to how effective the teacher/student partnership is.

Qualifications – Summit teachers:

    * In addition to Baccalaureate degrees, 90% hold Masters degrees (most hold Masters degrees from either Harvard, Stanford, or Columbia)
    * Are fully credentialed
    * Are subject-area experts
    * Have meaningful teaching experience

Faculty Mentors

Each faculty mentor is paired with no more than 18 students and stays with those students for four years. Mentor groups meet for ten minutes every day and during the Connections course every Wednesday afternoon to help students clarify and achieve their goals. These relationships provide the student with personal attention, structure, resources, and standards.

Summit’s teaching approaches include:

Research-based Instructional Methods / Approaches

    * An interdisciplinary curriculum - all core courses explore content through the lens of a common theme
    * Differentiated instruction – lessons challenge each student to reach his/her potential regardless of differences in learning style, prior knowledge, or skill level
    * Project based learning – students learn content and skills by developing solutions to real world problems
    * Block Scheduling – each day students attend fewer classes for longer periods of time. In addition, Math/Science, and English/Social Studies meet in the same block to enable interdisciplinary lesson plans.
    * Looping – we make every effort to have the same teachers teaching the same students for two or more years

Assessment

    * We believe the mastery of content and skills is a fluid process and that students learn at different rates. The assessments used by Summit compare each student’s individual achievement to state, national and collegiate standards, not other students
    * Letter grades are assigned for core course work and are consistent with state measures
    * Portfolio – beginning in the 9th grade year, students are guided to develop a mixed media portfolio that documents their achievement and growth as a student and learner
    * Culminating Projects – the final unit of each school year includes an interdisciplinary project that allows students to demonstrate the skills and knowledge they have acquired
    * Standardized Exams – students will take yearly STAR Exams, the High School Exit Exam, Advanced Placement Tests, and college entrance exams such as the SAT.

Results

Now in its fourth year of operation, the school continues to be on a positive trajectory, exceeding projections and achieving milestones. On the most recent API, Summit scored nearly the highest score possible, and the year before had become the first school in the county to achieve the top 10/10. For more information, refer to the California Department of Education's website.

Summit's success is due to our exceptionally committed faculty, staff, students, parents, and supporters all working together toward the common goal of academic excellence for our students.