Summit Schools is committed to preparing our students to work in an evolving, information-centered, global community of the 21st century. Independent use of arts and information technologies empowers our students, and they can affect positive change in our global community. Children become architects of their own learning at Summit. Technology, fine arts, the sciences, mathematics, and communication arts are integral to our curriculum because they allow students to both acquire and apply knowledge in multiple modalities, or ways of knowing. Summit see the challenges our society faces, and aims to personalize learning to fit each child the way she or he learns best. We strive to instill a lifelong love for learning, and to promote personal interests as a necessary component of one’s education.
Summit Schools is committed to general education as common experience through a problem-focused, inquiry-based, broad fields approach to education. Each student at Summit learns at his or her own pace. The aim is to meet each child where she/he currently sits academically, socially, and emotionally, and progress from this point. Summit teachers work with parents and students to create Student Growth Plans at the beginning of each academic year. Your child’s Growth Plan serves as a helpful tool to guide Summit along your child’s educational path.
Our school functions within various communities: the community of teachers and learners within the school, the community of families and friends extending from each student, and the larger community of the Cedar Rapids area. In our daily lives these communities cannot be separated, functioning within each other and evolving together over time. Summit takes an innovative approach to the elementary school experience by capitalizing on the influence each of these communities has on the education of every student, breaking down traditional barriers between school, home and community. Project-based learning and Y.A.L.E. are examples of Summit’s efforts to educate the whole child. Summit encourages students to bring their home and community experiences to school and use them as tools for their education.
SUMMIT SCHOOLS 