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*Items needed for Candyland Dance on 12/14
Thank you to November Thursday Treat donors:
Rachel Godoy
Sylvia Baker
Angela Werrell
Elizabeth Musquez
Adriene Odell
Angelina Garcia
Kathy McEvers
Teresa Attebery
Kristina Wiley
Sylvia Baker
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School Contact Information: Summit Public Schools: San Jose 14271 Story Road San Jose, CA 95127 408.729.1981 ____________________
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Message from the Directors
Dear Summit San Jose Families,
This week we are beginning our Mentor Group Giving Challenge. We are asking every family to participate by donating funds to our school by the end of the year. Thank you to the families who have already made a donation or commitment to the school. Mentor Groups that have 100% participation will earn prizes such as a mentor group party or free dress day. We will be reporting the progress in each week's newsletter. Click here to see how your mentor group is doing.
Summit San Jose is relying on parent commitments for approximately 5% of our school budget, an amount that totals $100,000. Although we are nearing the halfway point in our school year, we have not reached the halfway point of our fundraising goal. We will need to re-evaluate our budget if we do not meet our goals.
Donations are necessary so that we can offer the high quality educational program that Summit Public Schools are known for. We are proud that in our first year, both schools earned API scores of over 820 (Rainier - 822, Tahoma - 848). Our innovative math program has garnered attention in both the educational and technological communities. Our academic program as well as our Intersession elective session requires talented and dedicated staff.
We are counting on every family to help us reach our goal.
Respectfully,
Pam Lamcke, Assistant Director
Jessica Miranda, Director of Operations
Lia Pinelli, Assistant Director
David Richards, Executive Director
Summit Public Schools: Tahoma and Rainier
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Intersession Information
Pam Lamcke, Assistant Director
Here are some key dates to keep in mind:
- Monday, December 10 - Intersession placements will be communicated to students
- Wednesday, December 12 - Lunch Order Forms Due (and payment if applicable) - All lunches for the Intersession month MUST be pre-ordered. Late orders will NOT be accepted. Click here for Lunch Order Form.
- Wed & Thurs, December 12 & 13 - Appeal Period - Make an appointment with Ms. Lamcke
- Monday, December 17 - Confirmation Packets distributed
- Wednesday, December 19 - Behavior contracts due to Mentors
- Monday, January 7 - Friday, February 1 - Intersession classes, 8:45am - 3pm*
*MARS (Mandatory Academic Review Sessions) will be held from 3:15-5:15pm for students not meeting academic standards. Information will be communicated to students needing to attend these sessions.
There will be an Intersession Exhibition at the end of the session so that the students can show off their work.
We need parent volunteers to make our Intersession program successful. Please visit the Intersession website and click on the Volunteer Sign up tab to see how you can help!
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Friday DASH (Department Academic Study Hour)
The end of the semester is almost upon us! As a help to students as they study for finals and work on projects, in addition to the regular Monday and Wednesday 4-5pm DASH sessions, DASH will be extended to include Fridays December 7 and 14. from 3:30-4:30pm in Summit West.
At least one teacher from each of the five departments (English, History, Spanish, Science and Math) will be available to help students.
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Science Experiments
 | Gregorio Campuzano and Gerardo Belman take their pulses during Science class to see the effects of variables on their heart rates
(photo courtesy of Kenji O'Brien) |
For their biology capstone, students in the 9th grade chose their own variable to test how it affects their heart rate. Students picked everything from drinking an energy drink, watching a scary movie, holding their breath, riding a bike and playing basketball. Their creativity and excitement about the lab is wonderful and inspiring.
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Fundraising
 | Goal: $100,000
Raised:$15,675 |
Our goal for the year is $100,000 from our Summit San Jose families. By the Holiday Break, our goal is 100% participation from all our families.
We ask that every family contribute to the best of their abilities so that we are not forced to compromise our educational values and cut services. Please return your donation to the office today!
Families that donate at the $750+ level will join the Summit San Jose Thunderbird or Bulldog Circle and be recognized as part of a special group that has gone above and beyond to support the educational goals of every student in our learning community.
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Summit Athletics
Basketball (Boys and Girls)
Basketball Game and Practice Schedules can be accessed through the PIVOT website.
Our first home games are this Saturday, December 8 at the Seven Trees Community Center located at 3590 Cas Drive, San Jose, 95111. Home games will be held: December 8, 15, and 22; January 5, 19 and 26; February 2 and 9. We will be charging a $5 admission fee for adults, and a $2 admission for students.
Basketball Highlights
Coach Luis Carranza
The Rainier Girls Basketball team had their first win ever, by defeating Latino College Prep on November 30, by a score of 32-26. Janine Macala led the scoring with 10 points. All 15 players were able to play almost a full quarter in this game in which the team jumped out to a 20-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.
On December 3, the Rainier Girls defeated James Lick by a score of 39-16 led by our freshman guards. Janine Macala led all scorers with 12 points and Yazmin Torres contributed 11 points. They have now won 2 of the 3 games played so far this season. Congratulations Bulldogs!
Wrestling
Janet Eaton
The first Summit wrestling team had their first competition on Saturday and it was a great success! All seven Summit wrestlers competed in the 10th annual Taz Tournament held at Overfelt High School. Almost every wrestler had at least one victory. Here are the results:
Sophomore AJ Silva, a Tahoma Sophomore captured a first place medal in the 113 pound weight class by pinning a wrestler from Overfelt High School and had an exciting win by decision over a wrestler out of Gilroy High School.
Freshmen Darren Attebery, Tahoma and Sean Gage, Rainier, captured third place medals in their respective weight classes. Atteberry had three victories, two of them achieved by pinning his opponents from Prospect High School.
Eddie Eaton, a Tahoma Sophomore, captured fifth place in the 120 pound weight class by winning three of four matches that included a pin over an opponent from Lincoln High School, a decision over a wrestler from Milpitas High and a sudden death victory in a match over a James Logan High School opponent.
Sean Smith, a Rainier Sophomore, won two matches by pinning wrestlers from Santa Teresa and Yerba Buena High Schools in the 138 pound class and Vincent Sambrano, a Tahoma Sophomore, won his first match by pinning his opponent from Overfelt.
Thanks to all of the Summit parents and family members who attended and cheered enthusiastically during the all day tournament. The coaches welcome the entire Summit Community to our next match this Saturday, December 8, at Newark Memorial High School at 9:00am.
 | Coach Ernest Mendez and Coach Dan Eaton
back row: Vincent Sambrano, Nathan McCray and Sean Smith
front row: Eddie Eaton, AJ Silva, Darren Attebery, and Sean Gage |
For more information on Summit Athletics, please see the link on the PIVOT website (Athletics). Each team now has a team page. Also, each school has an Athletics website. Please visit:
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Summit San Jose Spanish Department
Summit San Jose offers a four year course of Spanish in order to meet the foreign language requirement of the UC system. In addition to the regular basic course of Spanish for those learning it for the first time, Summit also offers classes designed for native Spanish speakers.
The Native Spanish speakers studied traditions for celebrating death in different cultures by jigsawing four different articles. The end of unit assignment was to write an essay comparing and contrasting two traditions. Students really enjoyed learning about the four traditions from China, Japan, Mexico and Guatemala.
 | Summit San Jose's Spanish Department
Profesora Rosa, Profesor Carrillo
Profesora Jimenez and Profesora Cid |
Spanish Teachers
Leonei Carrillo - graduated from California State University, San Marcos and earned a Masters in Education from Stanford University. He and his brother were the first in his family to graduate from a 4 year university. He is one of Summit San Jose's founding teachers. Prof. Carrillo says, "I knew that at Summit, teachers, parents, administrators, students, and the community would work together in order to provide the best education possible for all our students. I am seeing this become a reality! ¡Sí, se puede!"
Josefina Cid - graduated from Santa Clara University and earned her Masters in Education from Stanford University. She is a former AmeriCorps member and worked as an accountant in the software industry. Prior to working at Summit San Jose, she worked for the Santa Clara County Office of Education and has experience teaching elementary, middle, and high school students.
Sonia Jimenez - studied Spanish and Latin American Studies at Smith College, and earned her Masters in Education from Stanford University. She worked as an Early College Program Assistant at East Palo Alto Academy High School prior to coming to Summit San Jose. Her favorite color is turquoise.
Maylén Rafuls Rosa - graduated from Princeton with a major in Comparative Literature and Translation and earned her Masters in Education from Stanford University. Before working for Summit San Jose, she was a Peace Corps volunteer in Mauritania where she led a girl's mentoring center. She also taught French, Spanish and Math at the School for Ethics and Global Leadership, in Washington DC.
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PIVOT - Parents in Volunteer Organizing Teams
The next PIVOT meeting will be on December 6, 6:30-8:30pm in room 13. All parents are invited to attend.
Mentor Group Leads will also meet on Thursday, December 13 at 6:30pm. We still have openings for Mentor Group Leads, so please step up if your student's group needs help. See the list of current Leads here.
For more information, please contact
9th grade: Rebeca Garcia Ryken or Irma Osuna
10th grade: Natalie Gardner or Radha Balas
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Volunteer Opportunties
Intersession Volunteer Coordinator needed January 7 - February 1 - Duties include coordinating parents who are volunteering to drive the lunches to the students during intersession at four off-campus sites. Contact Pam Lamcke for more information. Additional volunteers are needed to supervise lunch hour at offsite locations - sign up here.
Thursday Treats - volunteer to bring treats for our staff to enjoy at their Thursday afternoon meetings - sign up here.
Fundraising Committee - We need a team of volunteers to help coordinate our Spring Fundraisers including a raffle and silent auction. We'll be meeting at the PIVOT meeting on December 6 during the breakout session at 7:30pm.
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Student Activities
Summit Student Council
Spirit Week - will be held December 10-14. Students please watch for more information about specific days.
Winter Dance - Friday, December 14, 6:30- 10pm in the auditorium. Tickets will be on sale starting December 10. Donations to make our Candyland theme semi-formal dance extra special are needed. We need Christmas lights or figures, balloons, streamers, fake snow, cardboard, butcher paper, colored paper, blue tape or any other decorations that would go with our "Candyland" theme. We also need donations of soda, water bottles, candy canes and popcorn. Please volunteer here and drop off the items with Ms. Miranda in the office by December 11.
Parent Chaperones are also needed to help with selling food and monitoring the bathroom for the dance. Please contact Ms. Miranda for more information.
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Upcoming Dates and Deadlines
- Thursday, December 6 - PIVOT meeting, 6:30pm
- Friday, December 7 - Friday DASH Session, 3:30-4:30pm
- Saturday, December 8 - First Home Basketball Games at Seven Trees Community Center: 1:30pm Oakwood - Morgan Hill vs. Rainier Boys, 3pm Oakwood - Morgan Hill vs. Rainier Girls, 4:30pm Downtown College Prep vs. Tahoma Girls
- Monday - Friday, December 10-14 - Spirit Week
- Wednesday, December 12 - Intersession Lunch Forms DUE (No late forms will be accepted)
- Thursday, December 13 - Mentor Group Parent Lead meeting, 6:30pm
- Friday, December 14 - Friday DASH Session, 3:30-4:30pm
- Friday, December 14 - Winter (Semi) Formal - Candyland Theme, 6:30-10pm. Tickets on sale starting December 10.
- Monday - Friday - December 17-21 - Final Exams and Projects
- Friday, December 21 - Last Day of Academic Semester, Early Release at 1pm. Breakfast will be served, but lunch will NOT be served.
- December 24 - January 4 - School Closed - Winter Break
- Monday, January 7 - Intersession starts - 8:45-3pm
Complete calendar is available on the PIVOT website.
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Newsletter Submissions
SummitNews, Summit San Jose's email newsletter will be published weekly on Wednesdays. The deadline for submissions is Monday at noon. Please email items to news@summitsanjose.org. Early submissions are welcome and appreciated.
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