Dear Rainier Families,

There is a buzz of excitement on campus during these first few days of Expeditions. While students are in their Expeditions classes in the morning, our teachers are hard at work in an intensive professional
development workshop called the "Student Success Program" (SSP).

Student Success Program

Starting Thursday, students will engage in Expeditions in the mornings and SSP in the afternoons. The goals of this SSP program are: to focus instruction on important cognitive skills; give students feedback on their progress; deepen relationships with students through meaningful conversations; support students in their understanding of how to learn from playlists; strengthen bonds within mentor groups; and learn how to respond to and adjust plans based on student work, all the while ensuring that students feel successful and proud of the work they are doing! In addition, we have developed grade level and school wide competitions to incentivize students to complete assessments and projects.

The afternoon Rainier Student Success Program schedule will be: 

Community Time (12:20-12:30pm) - Mentors meet with students to discuss goals and expected progress for the day.

Project time (12:30-1:40pm) - All students develop essential writing strategies as they organize, plan and write an argumentative essay, the most important college-ready skill and assessed on the Common Core Smarter Balanced Assessments.

Content Support / Tutoring Time (1:50-3pm) - Students will dedicate time to work on specific content assessments, playlists and skills with the support of the Summit Academic Team and Rainier Academic Mentors. Tutoring bars, staffed with specialists, will work in small groups focus on individual content areas.

PLT with Academic Mentor (3-4pm) - Students work to complete additional projects and assessments. Specific content area teachers are available for additional support.

Teacher Office Hours - optional (4-5 pm) -  Open to all students. Please note subject / day assignments. 

Math - Thursday
Science - Friday  

This week we administered the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) to our 10th graders. The State of California requires students to pass this exam in order to receive a diploma and graduate from high school. If your student does not pass, they will be given more chances, but we believe they can be successful on this March test.   

The Rainier School Office has ordered a water service. Please encourage your student to bring a refillable water container to school.  

Finally, the office would like to make a quick reminder that all students need to arrive to school on time at 9am. Too many students are arriving late. From now until the end of the school year, if students arrive late to school due to an unexcused tardy without a note, we will begin a 7am wake up autodial home and the student's cell phone. In addition, we will call parents to make a plan to get your child to school on time. Just a reminder that after Expeditions, morning PLT is available from 7:45- 8:45 am. Please help support your students to be responsible and get to school on time.

Have a great week! 

Lesley Martin, Interim Principal,

Dena Zingales, Principal Resident

Summit Public Schools: Rainier

11th Grade Students will be meeting with their mentors during 1:1 check-ins over the next few weeks to discuss their test options. All 11th graders are encouraged to take at least one AP exam (AP U.S. History, AP Spanish Language, AP English Language). Students will need to commit to which tests they want to take by March 27. Each AP test costs $89. Students on scholarship can register for up to two exams for $5 each but if they want to take more, they will need to pay the full $89 fee for each additional exam. Students can submit payments in the office to Ms. Zingales.

You can dig in to learn more about AP exams (subjects, test dates, etc.) at http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/home. Further questions can be directed to your students' mentors and/or AP teachers.