Summit Charter Application Summative Renewal Report.pdf (323 KB)

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Summative Report Authorizer Staff Recommendations and Areas of Concern Summit Middle School Charter School Renewal Application CHARTER RENEWAL SUMMATIVE REPORT for Summit Middle School School Name:

Summit Middle School

Executive Directors and Principals:

Principal: Adam Galvin, Principal Administration: Meredith Changeux, Assistant Principal Joseph Gutierrez, Assistant Principal Tara Waters, Business Manager

Chair, Board of Directors:

Governing Board: Molly Stauffer, President Erica Stone, Vice President Erin Robbins, Secretary Wendy Dunning, Treasurer Marine Siohan, Board Member Lana Kimayeva, Board Member Chong Shen, Board Member Katie Schwalb, Board Member

Grace Koo Wickersham, Board Member Review Committee:

Dr. Bianca Gallegos, Charter Authorizer & Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships Dr. Emma Herzog, Executive Director of Academics Lynette Welk, Director of Career and Technical Education Kristin Nelson-Steinhoff, Director of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education Michelle Brenner, Executive Director of Special Education Katie Mills, Director of Professional Learning Dr. Neil Anderson, Executive Director of Southwest Network Dr. Jessica Alzen, Executive Director of Accountability & Evaluation Dr. Elizabeth Lundell, Equity Counsel / Title IX Coordinator Sennen Knauer, Director of Student Support Services Mike Wilcox, Director of Student Enrollment Bill Sutter, Chief Financial Officer

Recommendation from Charter Authorizer:

The Summit Charter Contract is recommended for renewal.

Charter Renewal Application Section / Body of Evidence Academic Performance School Performance Framework

Strengths

● SPF ○ Strong overall score (91.2) ○ CMAS Achievement: Meets or Exceeds on all subgroups ● Charter Application - Part 1

Questions or Concerns

● None - questions answered in application

And Part 1, Section 1 of Charter Renewal Application

School Calendar

Summit 25-26 Master Schedule Semester One Summit 25/26 Master Schedule Semester Two

○ Clarity on mission but also actions to actualize the mission ○ Balance / addition to academic rigor and caring for students ○ Variety of curricular opportunities both required and supplemental ○ QUEST PD program for educators allows for differentiation with targeted support & coaching ○ Use of instructional rounds to learn from colleagues Calendar shows 174 student contact days with 1,076 instructional hours over the course of the school year. This is below the 1,080 instructional hours target but meets CDE’s minimum instructional hours given conferences and potential snow days of 1,056. ● The master schedule reflects efficient use of personnel. ● Students all share a common lunch time. ● Teachers have the ability to meet in grade level teams on Wednesday late starts. ● There is built

Staff Roster

Clarity and transparency in staff roster.

Curriculum Overview

Robust description of course options by content area

● Wondering when content teams are able to meet to vertically plan

no concerns ● Wondering about alignment between in-house created course offerings and current CDE standards: as crosswalks are completed in each content area, what analysis has

emerged about areas of strength with standards alignment and areas of opportunity? ● Course catalog section did not load and says will be updated in January 2025 Multilingual Learner Self-Reflection

The school has reviewed their CDE data specific to student growth and achievement

● Proposal appears to ask for a change in the district supported model currently in place. ● Does the school understand that being Latino does not equate to being a multilingual learner? ● What support would the BVSD CLDE department be asked to provide? ○ Screening, progress monitoring, ACCESS testing ○ Professional learning for a school-based ELD teacher? ○ School visits and support across the building to ensure that NEP and LEP designated students are receiving language development services ○ FEP monitoring for students in year 1 and year 2 of being exited from the program ● What is the school’s specific plan for serving multilingual learners? Options might include: ○ English Language Development class with CLDE endorsed teacher ○ CO-teaching with CLDE endorsed teacher ○ PL for all content teachers

○ Curricular materials designed for language development as IXL and Orton-Gillingham are not designed for English Language Arts and math, not language development ○ What kinds of support and/or oversight would be provided by BVSD CLDE department? SPED Self-Reflection

Professional Development Plan & Teacher Effectiveness Rubric & Evaluation Plan

● Holding high expectations to accelerate growth while providing differentiated intervention opportunities. ● Summit has been a great partner with BVSD special education. Their unique model attracts a subset of our BVSD community that desires rigor and acceleration and this attracts our twice exceptional students.

Professional Development Plan: ● Connected to the educator’s evaluation process ● Support for new educators ● Connection to Research Based PD through partners ● Partnerships with universities

● This is merely a comment that the increased students with IEPs and 504s is a national trend and not unique to Summit. Summit has been responsive at adding intervention classes and bringing in the special education department to work together for problem solving as needs have increased. ● No questions, their model is working. Keep doing what we are doing and continue the strong communication about their model to families so they know what to expect. That works so that we have a plan to meet student needs for the right group of students at this school. Professional Development Plan: ● Is there a comprehensive plan or structure used for Wednesday late start to help guide/focus learning and conversations? ● Is there a comprehensive PD progression/timeline that is updated annually?

● How are you measuring the impact of your professional development and team/department meeting times? ● What support systems are in place for educators who are struggling? ● How are decisions about school wide PD focus areas made? ● How many days per year are reserved for Professional Development? ● Does your induction program have a structured curriculum or is it solely based in mentoring? ● How are your highly effective educators continuing to grow their practice? Teacher Evaluation Plan & Classroom Observation Protocol

● Includes: School, Teacher, and Student No concerns growth goals for each educator. ● Incorporates a consistent school goal (differentiation) ● Template is clear, concise, and outlines expectations ● Rubric is focused on educator actions that impact student academic and social/emotional growth ● Standards/Elements/Look fors are clearly established ● Innovating level assesses students actions as a result of instruction/climate designed by educator ● Reflective practice by the educator is part of the evaluation process

School Leader Evaluation

● Overall, a detailed process that incorporates a variety of data points, including faculty, student, community, and Board feedback. ● Clearly established timeline and goals of the evaluation process. ● Collaboratively developed metrics related to school goals in the evaluation.

● I recommend quantifying the “small cross-section of employees” for the stakeholder input and also holding qualitative input sessions. For example, “__% of teachers, front office specialists, para-professionals will be interviewed and will be made up of a diverse cross section of positions and years of experience.” ● I recommend including interviews with student groups in the stakeholder input process. ● I recommend that specific student groups be analyzed and goals developed to ensure a focus on each student subgroup, broken down by ethnicity and learner type, and how they are achieving and growing. ● It is unclear how disagreements are addressed within the evaluation process. This may be covered in the linked policy, but I was not able to review it. If this is not made clear, I recommend that it be.

Employee Handbook

Comprehensive and detailed handbook that covers employment, leave, conduct, grievance procedures, and compliance with state and federal law. Clear expectations for professional conduct and attendance.

Consider having a quick reference guide that is an executive summary as this may improve usability.

Assessment Plan Fall and Spring Finals schedules ACCESS Building Plan

Finals schedule is stacked so that students should not have more than two finals within a day.

I wonder about interim assessments (tests or other standardized assessments such as common projects) that could be used in addition to summative

(including Interim Assessments)

CMAS schedule is similar to what other BVSD schools do with adequate time allocated for both the math and ELA assessments per CDE requirements.

final and CMAS exams to both monitor progress throughout the year and inform instruction.

WIDA ACCESS building plan approved by the BVSD Accountability & Evaluation Office with a CLDE TOSA planned to administer the assessment. Unified Improvement Plan

The school demonstrates measurable progress toward its UIP goal for Hispanic/LatinX student growth, with ELA Median Growth Percentile (MGP) increasing from 51 to 53 and Math MGP increasing from 67 to 73 between 2024 and 2025. Increasing Hispanic/LatinX student N-count over multiple years (26 → 34 → 39) strengthens the reliability of growth data and reflects intentional monitoring of an expanding student population. The UIP identifies a clear Priority Performance Challenge and aligns root causes directly to improvement strategies, particularly in differentiation and literacy support. Implementation of research-based instructional practices, including differentiated core instruction and Orton-Gillingham literacy interventions, demonstrates alignment to best practices for supporting diverse learners.

Opportunities exist to further document how family and student voice, particularly from Hispanic/LatinX communities, inform UIP implementation and refinement.

The adoption of a standards-based, on-grade-level math pathway addresses previously identified gaps in access to grade-level instruction. The school utilizes systematic progress monitoring and data review processes, including BOY/MOY/EOY diagnostics and regular grade pulls to inform instructional and intervention decisions. Strong governance and accountability structures, including an active School Accountability Committee and Academic Support Team, support ongoing UIP monitoring and continuous improvement. Bylaws

The bylaws establish a clear governance structure with defined roles, responsibilities, and authority of the Board of Directors, aligned to Colorado Charter School Law and BVSD expectations. Board powers explicitly include budget approval, personnel decisions, policy-setting, and school accountability, demonstrating appropriate oversight and autonomy. The bylaws include strong fiscal governance provisions, including controls over contracts, loans, checks, deposits, and alignment to a defined fiscal year. Regular meeting requirements, quorum definitions, and notice provisions support transparency,

The bylaws do not explicitly reference open meetings, public records, or transparency requirements, which may warrant clarification to ensure alignment with current BVSD and state expectations.

accountability, and consistent Board operations. Staggered Board terms and continuity provisions promote leadership stability and institutional knowledge over time. The inclusion of a School Accountability Committee and Board representation on key committees supports shared governance and continuous improvement. Clear conflict-of-interest protections are implied through the prohibition of Board compensation and nonprofit asset protections. The bylaws outline formal processes for Board member nomination, election, removal, and amendment, supporting democratic participation and organizational stability. Dissolution and asset-use clauses align with public purpose and nonprofit requirements, ensuring assets remain within public education. Board Goals / Self Evaluation

Board goals reflect clear strategic leadership, addressing long-term sustainability through facilities development, charter renewal, and community engagement. The School Construction goal demonstrates forward-looking fiscal and operational planning,

While action steps are identified, the goals would benefit from clear success metrics or indicators to measure Board effectiveness and goal completion.

including fundraising, staffing, and budget closeout responsibilities. Explicit focus on successful charter renewal indicates Board awareness of accountability requirements and alignment to BVSD timelines and processes. Establishment of committees and designated teams (Governance Committee, Negotiations Team) supports effective delegation and governance capacity. The 30th Anniversary goal promotes community connection, stakeholder engagement, and school identity, supporting enrollment stability and long-term viability. Goals are time-bound and aligned to the 2025–26 school year, demonstrating intentional planning and accountability. Board Meeting Schedule, Agendas and Minutes

Meets monthly with published dates and times (6–8 PM) — supports public participation and planning. Transparency with consistent public access supports community engagement. Summit posts current and previous meeting agendas, helping stakeholders prepare and follow issues discussed.

Are approved minutes of each board meeting posted?

Provides continuity over academic years (24-25 and 25-26), important for tracking long-term discussion and follow-up. Board Roster

The site names all current board members with roles (Chair, Vice Chair, etc.) and contact emails, which supports transparency and accountability.

The roster does not show term lengths, start/end dates, or board member bios/qualifications, which are helpful for understanding experience and continuity in governance.

The board is identified as a nonprofit educational corporation with nine voting members and the Principal as a non-voting member, clarifying governance roles. Board members are elected by families, faculty, and staff, which aligns with participatory governance norms. Strategic Plan

Highlights rigorous academic curriculum and high levels of student effort and achievement.

What specific measurable goals is Summit committing to? How will progress be tracked? What strategies does Summit use to support access and outcomes across diverse student populations?

Board Member Policy

Summit’s Board Member Policy is built on a strong governance framework with clear financial responsibility, ethical standards, legal compliance and clear policy making.

How does the Board ensure its composition reflects Summit’s families and community? What onboarding and annual training expectations exist for board members? Are there standardized disclosure forms and annual affirmations?

How is emergency decision-making documented to ensure accountability? Policy Index 2025

This portion will be part of the negotiations process.

Policy Waiver Requests and Rationale New Replacement Policies State Law Waiver Requests and Rationale Organizational Chart

General org chart with the Board of Directors overseeing the governance of the school.

Wondering if departments/grade levels are supported by different admin

Complaint/Grievance Policy

The complaint and grievance policy is strong and is designed in an orderly approach based on informal resolution, respectful communication, and clear governance boundaries.

What are the formal steps, timelines, and documentation requirements once a concern becomes a grievance? Are safeguards in place to ensure that individuals can raise concerns without fear of retaliation?

Title IX Plan/Policy

Same as BVSD’s

n/a

Student Discipline Policy

Use of BVSD policy

None

Student discipline data by subgroup for previous four* years *included 3 years of data due to distance learning/pandemic

Use of BVSD tools in Vizlab

Program Data: Proportionality (embedded in application)

● Summit ELA MGPs range from 47 to 60. ● Summit has recognized an area of growth for multilingual and hispanic students to achieve an MGP of 55, as this is an area of disproportionality. ● Summit boasts Math MPGs of over 63 for all sub groups. ● As Summit increases the number of students who qualify for FRL enrolled, they maintain high achievement- ELA 84% achievement percentile rank and Math at 98%.

Parent/Student Handbooks

● Very thorough parent/student handbook with all appropriate information in it. ● The flow chart for “Summits communication pathways for parent concerns” is so clear who to reach out to first. ● The Summit communication agreements are clear for both parents and students.

Student Enrollment by Subgroups

Lack of data and a gap between policy and expected practices. I recommend that Summit begin attending Vortex and AP/Dean meetings so that their practices for following BVSD policy in this area are aligned. This includes using the BVSD office discipline referral (ODR) form and documenting all ODRs that go to the office. This also includes the use of investigation procedures and support plans. ● No disaggregated data for students on IEPs/504s. n=16. ● Students on IEPs= 4.5% of school population compared to a district average of 14%. What are goals to mirror district demographics in enrollment?

Summit’s low income preference is helping to Their combined sibling preference is difficult to destratify the school, one entry year at a time. As manage and tries hard to grant a legacy preference most of their acceptances happen at 6th grade a 10% to any family with a student passing through the

low income quota will take three years to show a 30% school increase for all grades. Last year’s data, provided, has them @ 13%, I would expect that to jump to 20+% for 25-26 data.

school. As this was contested at P2P it might be worthwhile to examine the need for that preference. They include sib-assigned, sib-attends and summit of a graduate in a single sib preference.

Requests for Contract Modifications

These requests will be addressed during contract negotiations.

Financial Performance - Financial Key Performance Indicators - 2017 - 2025 (embedded in application)

Two committees (Finance and Development Committee and Audit Committee) review fiscal conditions, meeting “regularly and report to the board at monthly meetings.”

No financial KPIs included.

Long-term budget (5-years if available)

Completed 5 year budget projection.

● Given Colorado’s current state budget outlook and legislative discussions about modifying the new school finance act, assumed revenue growth may be optimistic. ● Financial policy requires a Financial Outlook that presents the assumptions used for the key drivers of the Financial Outlook. Key drivers not presented in the long-term budget. ● Financial policy requires a 10% operating reserve. Fund balance exclusive of the TABOR reserve is declining over the 5 year projection and is not equal to 10% of expenditures. ● The budget projection utilizes an increasing transfer from an unidentified source. ● The contract requires a $150K Special Education Reserve. This reserve is not identified.

● Under “Transportation Funding”, a statement indicating the removal of that funding stream but the budget includes that revenue in the 5 year projection. Financial Policies and Procedures

Financial policies are included.

Internal procedures are not included. Given limited staff and limited opportunities for segregation of duties, written procedures to ensure compliance with law and policy are recommended.

Annual Independent Audit - FY24 (Previous years’ audited financial statements are available on the school’s website.)

Clean opinion from CLA for FY25 audit. FY25 audit is found on the Summit financial transparency website.

FY25 had a negative unrestricted fund balance of $45K, indicating a potential violation of board financial policy.

Per audit: “In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the respective financial position of the governmental activities, each major fund, and the discretely presented component unit of the School, as of June 30, 2025, and the respective changes in financial position for the year then ended in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.”

Per audit commit: Fund Balance Policy - The School's policy is to maintain a minimum fund balance reserve equal to 10% of the annual operating expenditures budgeted for the fiscal year. The School has not established a formal policy for its use of restricted and unrestricted fund balances. However, if both restricted and unrestricted fund balances are available for a specific purpose, the School uses restricted fund balance first, followed by committed, assigned and unassigned balances.

Audit Management Letter

Cannot locate on the website. Should have FY25 information linked.

Unaudited Financial Statements

Unable to find statements on schools financial transparency website. Required to review quarterly statements with the board, not sure if they are included with board minutes or not.