What is Summit Academy?

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About Summit

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 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.

Our 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.

Our Philosophy

We Believe...

Every student has value

We maintain a high level of expectations so each student may reach their greatest potential.

We 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

We provide a complete curriculum that includes reading, writing, math, science, social studies, art, music, technology, and physical education.

We 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

We adapt our interventions and instructional strategies to meet the needs of our students

Students need focused attention from educators

We collect and utilize timely data to drive interventions and instruction.

We are committed to maintaining a low student/teacher ratio.

Students need an emotionally safe environment in which to learn.

We create an atmosphere of mutual respect and a structured, secure environment for our students.

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

We provide a kindergarten program for early-childhood education and intervention.

We provide speech and occupational therapy services to early elementary students.

Students need a school that addresses their social, emotional, physical and academic needs.

We integrate the teaching and modeling of organizational, compensatory, and social skills into the daily curriculum.

We 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

We maintain regular and open communication with parents about school events and student progress.

We provide opportunities for families to engage and actively participate in their student’s educational journey.

Students benefit from a multi-faceted approach to instruction.

We introduce and use new technology as part of the instructional process.

We provide multi-sensory based instruction to engage the brain and sensory systems for better retention of information and learning.

We provide hands-on, experiential instruction in order to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills.

We provide professional development to faculty focused 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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