Summit Scoop

Summit Scoop is a monthly newsletter for families and staff members in the Summit Public School District. Summit Scoop features stories of student achievement, events in the District, and positive news around the school community! The newsletter will be sent out on the last Thursday of the month. You can find an archive of newsletters sent throughout the year on the District website.

Summit Scoop can be translated into many different languages. All you need to do is open the newsletter in a web browser, and then click on the "Translate" button. If you open it on your phone, you will need to find the accessibility icon which will bring you to the translation option. It is usually at the bottom. If you open it on a computer, the option is at the top of the page.

Summit Scoop se puede traducir a muchos idiomas diferentes. Solo abra el boletín en un navegador web y luego haga clic en el botón "Traducir". Si lo abre en su teléfono, necesitará encontrar el ícono de accesibilidad que lo llevará a la opción de traducción. Suele estar en la parte inferior. Si lo abre en una computadora, la opción está en la parte superior de la página.

The Board of Education and Board of School Estimate approved the 2025-2026 budget for the District at the March 27th budget meetings. The annual budget increase approved was 3.946%. "I'm pleased that the budget passed after a lot of hard work and collaboration among the District administration, Board of Education, and Board of School Estimate," said Scott Hough, Superintendent of Summit Public Schools. "This is an example of how various stakeholders can come together to work towards a common goal of maintaining excellence in education in Summit." To watch the recording of the budget meetings, please click on the button below. The 2025-2026 user friendly budget can be found on the District website.

On March 25th, as part of the Month of Kindness, our LCJSMS Peer Leaders and PALS (Peer Assistance Leaders) went on a field trip to both Wilson and Jefferson Primary Centers Kindergarten classes to read the book One by Kathryn Otoshi. The LCJSMS Counseling Department partnered with the elementary counselors to coordinate this program. The book One is about a quiet color Blue, who gets picked on by Red. Green, Orange, Yellow, and Purple are disappointed by what they witness, but they aren’t strong enough to stand up to Red. Eventually, One comes along and teaches the other colors to stand up and COUNT.

This children’s book sends a powerful message to both the LCJSMS students and elementary school students about being up-standers rather than bystanders. The LCJSMS students who participated in this program did a wonderful job explaining this message to the students. They asked insightful questions and conveyed a message of significance: Stand up and COUNT! After the activity was completed, all of the LCJSMS students and Kindergartners signed an “ink blot” and placed it, symbolically, on a large ONE. It was an insightful, powerful, and moving program.

Mrs. Grawehr and Ms. Venezio had the joy of bringing their second ELA Module, Adaptations and the Wide World of Frogs, to life with their 3rd Grade Inclusion class at Washington School! They spent the first two units learning all about frog features and adaptations, writing Pourquoi tales to explain the “why” behind certain frog traits, and crafting informational paragraphs to gather facts and details. For their final unit, each student selected the frog they believed was the 'freakiest' and wrote a research essay explaining why. They then created Freaky Frog trading cards and scientific frog models to showcase their research. To take it a step further, they transformed their classroom into a rainforest habitat, where students designed different stations for each freaky frog. They built detailed environments based on their research, making their classroom come alive with knowledge and creativity! The students were so proud of their work, they invited other teachers and classes to visit. Our Frog Experts enthusiastically shared their writing, models, and expertise with their guests. It was truly an amazing day of learning and celebration!

The Summit High School Student Voices Club, Language Department, and Mr. Kress' Broadcast Journalism class have been working together on this project, highlighting the rich diversity within the school. The Languages of Summit High School features students sharing the different languages they speak and how they feel the school celebrates all cultures. The video premiered during the Summit High School news program on March 21. Take a look below!

Summit High School students enjoyed a festive carnival parade involving band, art, and many students and staff members. Thanks to the Summit Educational Foundation, Summit High School brought in professional musician, Rolando Morales, to conduct a workshop and perform live music at the school carnival, enriching students' cultural and musical experiences.

Dr. Mykee Fowlin took the stage at Unity Day at LCJSMS to bring the student audience on an experiential journey about the 'masks' we can wear on a daily basis. He uses many gifts: humor, performance art, poetry, storytelling, psychology, theatrical monologues, and his journey to create a moving experience for all.

On February 27, LCJSMS hosted its annual Multicultural Night! Students from the Middle School ran booths to represent 19 different countries with delicious food, cultural artifacts, and photos. During the event, guests explored the booths while getting their "passports" stamped at each country visited. This year, the Summit Educational Foundation provided a grant to fund a wonderful Caribbean steel drum band that provided entertainment for all students and families that attended the annual event.

Each one of Summit High School’s four performances of The Prom during the last week of February was met with standing ovations from a delighted audience! Among those wowed by the final sold-out performance was composer Matthew Sklar, whose work on the Broadway musical earned him a Tony Award Nomination in 2019 for Best Original Score.

“I was completely blown away by The Prom at Summit High School,” Skylar said. “Every aspect of the production was beautifully executed, and I’m deeply grateful to the school and community for embracing this show about love. A huge thank you to Anne Poyner for her wonderful direction and to every student involved for their incredible talent. It was truly moving to witness.”

Sklar, who graduated from Westfield High School, met with the students backstage during intermission to offer his congratulations. He complimented everything from the pit orchestra to the costumes to the actors’ voices and noted that their production managed to get the tone just right by striking the perfect blend of humor and pathos.

In honor of the show’s themes, cast, crew, pit, and community members met at the Summit Community Center on Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service to construct corsages to sell before the show. Under the leadership of Parent Volunteer Coordinator Kathleen Shaw, sales raised $2,356 to support The Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention nonprofit for LGBTQ+ youth. Audience members’ decorated wrists sparkled under the lights each night as the crowd stood and applauded Summit students’ talented renditions of Sklar’s songs.

The Summit High School Speech and Debate team competed at the NJSDL Districts Tournament March 21-22 at the Delbarton School. Several students advanced to elimination rounds, and the team won third place Sweepstakes and took home the Chapter of the Year Award.

Following the qualifying tournament, six students earned the honor to compete at the National Speech and Debate Association National Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa on June 14-21, where they will be among 6,700 competitors from 1,500 schools. NSDA Nationals is the largest academic tournament in the world.

Summit High School students competing at Nationals include Rory Gingeleskie, Oliver Henderson-Charilas, Amelia Jorek, Maddie Robb, Ben Strauss and Ainsley Valerio.

The Summit High School Speech and Debate Team won 2nd Place in Speech Sweepstakes and 2nd Place Overall Sweepstakes at the New Jersey State Championship Tournament on March 14-15. The team claimed three State Champions, 18 Finalists, 14 semi-finalists, and two quarter-finalists!

*State Champions

Students who advanced to elimination rounds:

Declamation

4th: Sarah Barber

Semi-finals: Lily Jacobson

Dramatic Interpretation

5th: Lucy Adams

6th: Ainsley Valerio

Semi-Finalists: Oliver Henderson-Charilas, Scarlet Mai Ashcroft Bale Dyer

Duo Interpretation

*1st: Sarah Walsh and Ella Macgill

4th: Ainsley Valerio and Rory Gingeleskie

6th: Mallory Reed and Nina Vachal

Semi-Finalists: Ben Strauss and Anna Przybylko

Humorous Interpretation

*1st: Matt Krunnfusz

3rd: Sarah Walsh

5th: Ben Schachne

Impromptu Speaking

3rd: Evan Markowitz

6th: Emma Vachal

Semi-Finalist: Rebecca Kampel

Improvisational Acting

*1st: Ben Schachne

2nd: Scarlet Mai Ashcroft Bale Dyer

4th: Sean Espeland

Informative Speaking

6th: Bettina Pangilinan

Semi-Finalist: Sarah Barber

Novice Lincoln Douglas

Quarter finals: Ruby Aldape

Novice Parliamentary Debate

Semi-Finalist: Ethan Vamvakis and Sarp Pilge

Novice Public Forum

Quarter Finalists: Karun Jain and Sarah Borkar

Oral Interpretation

4th: Amelia Jorek

6th: Juliette Medenica

Semi-finals: Zoe Gianni

Original Oratory

Semi-finalists: Ananya Ganti, Ben Strauss, Julia Gumny

Program Oral Interp

2nd: Amelia Jorek

Semi-finalist: Izzy Curiale

Varsity Parliamentary Debate

Semi-finalist: Kian Kamdar and Eylon Hotam

Varsity Public Forum Debate

Semi-finalist: Aditya Arora and Jackson Zarro

Preparations are underway for the Summit District Arts Festival, set to take place starting on Wednesday, April 2nd through Friday, April 4th! This three-day event will celebrate all of the hard work and creativity that Summit students have put into their courses this year. Attendees can expect to both see and hear wonderful works of art, ranging from music, pottery, painting, photography, video, fashion, woodworking, culinary, and more.

Karen Forgione, District Supervisor of Fine, Performing & Practical Arts stated, "We are thrilled to introduce a new format for this year’s District Arts Festival, which will showcase the incredible talents of our students in fresh and exciting ways. Arts education plays a vital role in fostering creativity, critical thinking, and self-expression, and this event is a testament to the dedication and passion of our students and educators. We can’t wait for the community to experience the work being created in our schools."

Each day of the event will have something new and different and parents and students are encouraged to enjoy all that will be offered and to get in on the fun themselves with in-house workshops being offered. The Summit District Arts Festival is a wonderful celebration of our district’s talented students and we are proud to showcase all of their wonderful works of art!

APRIL 9-11

Single Session Kindergarten Only

🌼 APRIL 14-18 🌼

Spring Break

Schools Closed

APRIL 24

Board of Education Meeting

LCJSMS Auditorium

6:30 p.m.

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