Summit High School

Dear SHS Families,

This week 9th grade students will meet with their counselors to select courses for the 2024-2025 school year. Please make sure that your 9th grade student has checked their e-mail for the date and time of their appointment.

Please take some time to review the updated information from the health regarding changes in guidelines for COVID, flu, and RSV.

Please follow these safety precautions to take when dropping off your student at school.

- Do not drop off students on the opposite side of Kent Place Blvd.

- Do not make K-turns or turn around in driveways on Kent Place Blvd.

- Pull all the way up when dropping students off in the driveway in front of the school.

- Do not pull through the visitor spots and the first row of the parking lot to avoid traffic.

- Do not pull into numbered spots to drop off students.

The building is open before 7am each morning. With everyone's assistance drop off in the morning can be safer for everyone.

It's a great day to be a Hilltopper!

Stacy Grimaldi

Principal

The Summit Wellness Symposium will provide an opportunity for the entire community to come together to recognize that Community Health is Everyone’s Responsibility. Aligned with Summit Public Schools' District Goal, the Summit Wellness Symposium will feature a keynote speaker and breakout sessions for parents/guardians to attend. Each presenter will target their topic towards elementary parents/guardians in one breakout session and middle and high school parents/guardians in the other. Attendees will leave the event with a toolkit of skills and strategies to support their children’s mental health and wellness. To further engage the community in this event, dinner and babysitting will be provided. Local non-profit organizations and other local agencies will have tables set up in the lobby to offer additional resources and information.

The CDC has recently updated its guidance on respiratory viruses, including COVID-19.

If a student or staff member tests positive for COVID 19, the flu or RSV, or if they are exhibiting COVID, flu or RSV-like symptoms, they should remain home and away from others for at least 24 hours post diagnosis and may return to school when symptoms are improving. A 5-day isolation period is no longer required following a positive COVID test.

If a fever is present, students and staff must remain home until they are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications such as Acetaminophen or Ibuprofen.

Masking post COVID-19 diagnosis is encouraged as an additional prevention strategy, but is not required.

Additional recommendations include:

• Staying up to date with vaccinations to protect people against serious illness and hospitalization. This includes flu, COVID-19, and RSV (if eligible) vaccines.
• Practicing good hygiene by covering coughs and sneezes, washing or sanitizing hands often, and cleaning frequently touched surfaces.
• Taking steps for cleaner air, such as bringing in more fresh outside air, purifying indoor air, or gathering outdoors.

On-line COVID reporting is no longer required. Please contact your child's school secretary and/or school nurse to report any student absence.

• When reporting an absence please specify what symptoms or illness your student is experiencing (for example: COVID, flu, respiratory illness, GI illness, etc...) This allows our district nurses to monitor for and track outbreaks.

The information below was emailed to all families of 9th through 11th grade students.

Course Selection Timeline:

• February 23, 2024: Honors/AP eligibility letters will be mailed home to students
• Week of February 26, 2024: Junior course selection appointments
• Week of March 4, 2024: Sophomore course selection appointments
• Week of March 18, 2024: Freshman course selection appointments

Preparing for Course Selection Appointments:

• To best prepare for these scheduling meetings, students should:
• Review the Program of Studies for course descriptions and prerequisite requirements.
• Complete the Elective Sheet (with alternate choices) and bring it to their appointment.
• Students should be confident in their choices as no changes will be made to electives once course selection is complete.
• The date of a student's course selection meeting does not influence the likelihood of them getting their top elective choices.
• Students and parents/guardians will have access to review course requests in Genesis following their appointment.

Honors/AP Eligibility:

• Students will be provided with a list of AP and/or Honors courses for which they are eligible to take based on the following criteria:
• Students presently enrolled in an Honors/AP class in a discipline will be eligible to take an Honors or AP course the following year if they have a B- (80) or better midyear average (Q1, Q2, X1) with no grade less than C+ (77).
• Students currently enrolled in a non-honors College Prep course in a discipline will be eligible to take an Honors or AP course if they have an A- (90) or better midyear average (Q1, Q2, X1) with no grade less than B (83).
• There are several Honors/AP courses that have additional or different eligibility requirements. These courses are listed in the Program of Studies on page 4 and in the course descriptions.
• We encourage students to make thoughtful and balanced decisions when increasing the rigor of their schedule. Being eligible for a course does not require students to take that course.
• Students should be aware that when enrolling in an Honors and/or AP course, the following applies:
  • No schedule change requests for dropping an Honors or AP course will be considered until the end of Marking Period 1.
  • Grades (unweighted) are carried from the old course to the new course if a level change is made.
  • Level changes are based upon available space and administrative approval and thus are not guaranteed. Approved changes can result in disruption to the schedule overall (ex: other courses and/or teachers being changed, electives being dropped or changed, etc).
  • If approved to drop from an AP-level course, students will be considered for the college prep-level equivalent (except for Chemistry).
  • Students taking an AP course are required to take the AP exam in May.

Summer EBT is a new-to-NJ child nutrition program intended to reduce hunger and food insecurity for children who lose access to free school meals through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) during the summer when school is not in session. This summer, NJ will be sending an EBT card to every eligible child to purchase food at participating retailers.

Sleep Awareness Week falls between March 13th and March 19th. Did you know that sleep has a huge impact on a person’s mental health? Sleep deprivation can impact the body and mind in many different ways such as weight gain or increased food intake due to more waking hours. There is an increased risk of potential mental health disorders. A person will struggle to cope effectively due to lack of sleep which puts students at a high risk for anxiety, depression, and in severe cases, suicidal ideations. Students also need sleep to be successful in school! Sleep is so important that it even impacts our cognitive skills such as attention, learning, and memory. Our teens between 8-10 hours of sleep per night. Check out this website for additional information and habits that can help our teens get more and better sleep every night!

Did you know that you can view your student's check-ins on Genesis? Students scan into the bathrooms, library, help centers, counseling office, and nurse's office when they visit these locations during the school day. You can view these check-ins in Genesis. Log into your Genesis account, and click check-ins on the left side of the screen. Please discuss with your student any excessive time out of class.

You can also view how many times your student did not have their ID badge with them in school. Please help ensure that your student has their ID badge with them each morning.

If your student is absent from school or will be late to school, please contact the attendance office by emailing shsattendance@summit.k12.nj.us or calling 908-273-1494, option 1. Please be sure to include the student's name, grade, and reason for absence or lateness. Please contact the attendance office before 10am on the day of the absence or tardy. If reporting a late to school, please also include the time the student will arrive at school.

If your student will need to leave school early please contact the attendance office by emailing shsattendance@summit.k12.nj.us or calling 908-273-1494, option 1. Please be sure to include the student's name, grade, reason for dismissal, time of dismissal, and if the student will return to school.

Starting at 7:30am each morning, there will be three entrances to the building open for students. They are the entrances along Kent Place Blvd., the main office entrance, and the entrance by the gymnasium. Prior to 7:30am, all students must enter the building using the main office entrance.

When dropping off your student in the morning along the driveway, please pull up all the way before stopping to let your student out of the vehicle. Please do not cross the double line along Weaver Street if you are trying to bypass the traffic line for drop off. If you drop your student off on Kent Place Blvd., please drop off only on the school side of the street. For the safety of all students and drivers, please do not make K-turns or turn around in driveways along Kent Place Blvd.

Appointments must be made in advance to see teachers, counselors, administrators, and other staff. Please be prepared to announce your name and purpose in order to be granted access into the building. In the event an emergency visit is necessary, please call the school’s main office ahead of your arrival so we are prepared to accommodate your needs. Drop-off items (lunch, instrument, Chromebook, etc.) may be dropped off in the bin outside the main entrance vestibule.

Our academic help centers are up and running during each period. Please encourage your student to visit the academic help centers during their study hall period.

Interested in purchased a 2023-2024 Yearbook? If so, please click the link below.

Yearbook Purchase Information

Demolition continues on the shell of the library space. Parts of the roof have been removed and this process will continue this week. The courtyard between the library and the math hallway has been closed to student and staff use to ensure everyone's safety.

We are also in the process of selecting the finishes for the spaces.

Monday, March 18th

B Day

Tuesday, March 19th

Advisory C Day

Period 3: 7:45am - 8:35am

Period 4: 8:39am - 9:29am

Advisory: 9:33am - 10:13am

Period 1: 10:17am - 11:07am

Lunch: 11:07am - 12:07pm

Period 8: 12:11pm - 1:01pm

Period 5: 1:05pm - 1:55pm

Period 6: 1:59pm - 2:49pm

Spring PE Independent Study Hall Applications Due (Google Form was emailed to all students)

Wednesday, March 20th

D Day

Faces of Forensics, 7pm, Auditorium

Thursday, March 21st

A Day

Board of Education Meeting, 6:30pm, LCJSMS Auditorium

Friday, March 22nd

B Day

Deadline for Submission of Eligibility Appeals (Link to Google Form was e-mailed to all students)

• Monday, March 11th: Single Session A Day
• Tuesday, March 12th through Friday, March 15th: Special Schedule - NJGPA Testing
• Friday, March 22nd: Deadline for Eligibility Appeals
• Monday, March 25th through Friday, March 29th: Spring Break, No School
• Friday, April 5th: Last Day of 3rd marking period
• Tentative Final Exam Dates: Monday, June 10th - Thursday, June 13th (assuming there are no more snow days)
• Tentative Last Day for Students: Friday, June 14th (assuming there are not more snow days)