What is Summit Academy?
Summit Academy is an independent, non-profit school that provides a place where each student’s learning challenges are understood and met using a whole child approach; a place where we celebrate and develop a child’s strengths, as well as addressing their area of difficulty. It’s a safe place where a each young learner is treated and educated as an individual – in an atmosphere of caring and respect that allows our students to succeed.
Our Mission
Summit Academy provides a transformative educational experience for students who learn differently by cultivating each student’s academic, social, and emotional success in a vibrant and compassionate environment.
Goals
- Help every student view school as a positive, challenging and successful experience.
- Narrow the gap between a child’s academic achievement and academic potential as measured by standardized testing.
- Create a supportive community that includes families, staff and teachers working together.
- Establish a scholarship endowment, so that every family that needs financial aid will receive it.
- Continue to be a dynamic entity; continually improving, changing and growing in response to the needs of our students and to the latest knowledge gained through educational research.
Philosophy
| We believe... | We will... |
|---|---|
| Every student has value. | Maintain a high level of expectations so each student may reach their greatest potential. Provide a high school program committed to the teaching of life and career readiness skills. |
| Every student is unique and has a different combination of strengths and challenges | Provide a complete curriculum that includes reading, writing, math, science, social studies, art, music, technology, and physical education. Develop formal Student Service Plans as a means for tracking, analyzing, and reflecting upon student learning goals, accommodations, and modifications. |
| Students deserve to be taught in a way that allows them to be successful | Adapt our interventions and instructional strategies to meet the needs of our students |
| Students need focused attention from educators | Collect and utilize timely data to drive interventions and instruction. Commit to having a low student/teacher ratio. |
| Students need early-childhood education and early intervention to lay the foundation for future academic success and to mitigate the effects of learning challenges on their emotional well-being. | Provide a kindergarten program for early-childhood education and intervention. Provide speech and occupational therapy services to early elementary students. |
| Students need an emotionally safe environment in which to learn. | Create an atmosphere of mutual respect and a structured, secure environment for our students. |
| Students need a school that addresses their social, emotional, physical and academic needs. | Integrate the teaching and modeling of organizational, compensatory, and social skills into the daily curriculum. Provide extra-curricular activities that correspond to current students’ interests. |
| Students need a joint cooperative commitment between family and school in order to be successful | Maintain regular and open communication with parents about school events and student progress. Provide opportunities for families to engage and actively participate in their student’s educational journey. |
| Students benefit from a multi-faceted approach to instruction. | Introduce and use new technology as part of the instructional process. Provide multi-sensory based instruction to engage the brain and sensory systems for better retention of information and learning. Provide hands-on, experiential instruction in order to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills. Provide professional development to faculty on best practices for teaching students with learning differences. |
History
Summit Academy has been educating children with learning differences since it was incorporated as an independent, non-profit school in February 1992. Margaret Thornton and Rosemary Middleton, co-founders of Summit Academy, believe that a conventional school setting may not meet the needs of every child. With this in mind, they opened Summit Academy in August of 1992 with 21 students and a staff of five.
Equal Opportunity
Summit Academy does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, religion, nationality or ethnic origin in administration of its policies and programs.
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