Seasons Greetings from The Summit Prep!

Warmest thoughts and best wishes for a Happy New Year.

Enjoy these holiday carols sung by our Lower School students, and we'll see you back here at The Summit on Wednesday, January 5th!

Questions? Contact the Front Desk.

The Summit's phone line will be temporarily down tomorrow, Wednesday, December 22nd, from 12-4pm for scheduled maintenance. If you need to contact the school during this time, please email frontdesk@thesummitprep.org.

Summit offices will be closed for the holidays on the following dates:

12/23, 12/24, 12/27, and 12/31

Please note office hours are adjusted to 9am-3pm during school breaks. We will resume our normal office hours of 8am-4pm on Tuesday, January 4th. Students return to class on Wednesday, January 5th.

Photo Credit: Owens Photography, veridianevents.com

Mark Your Calendars!

You are invited to The Summit’s Black and White by Candlelight Gala!

When: Friday, March 4, 2022 from 6:00-9:30 p.m.

Where: Veridian Event Center, 209 South Ave, Springfield, MO

Parents, Alumni, Friends, and Community Partners are invited to join us for an unforgettable night of fun and giving to help support our school. We look forward to sharing more event details in the New Year!

We are also excited to introduce two new faces around campus, Anne Tegerdine and Monica Guerrant, from AnnaBelle Events, who will be leading and organizing this year’s event. Please join us in welcoming them to the Summit Community. If you have any questions, feel free to reach them at Anne@AnnaBelleEvents.com and Monica@AnnaBelleEvents.com.

Congratulations to Maren B. (10th) for a stellar kick off to the 2021-2022 Swimming and Diving season!

Maren competed in the 50 and 100 free-style races and the 200 and 400 free relays at the Winnetonka Holiday Invite Meet. She very nearly beat her personal record of 29 seconds in the 50 free-style, and it's only the start of the season! Congratulations, Maren, and good luck at the All-City competition today!

Keep an eye on this Raven... she's diving into greatness!

Kindergarten culminated their study of patterns with a “Candy Cane Exchange” in their classroom. Each student supplied a box of candy canes, and the class ended up with a plethora of different pattern combinations! After “ooo-ing” and “ahh-ing” at the beautiful colors and patterns, each student took turns selecting candy canes for their own collection. Students then used a recording sheet to mimic their candy cane patterns and identify the pattern cores.

When students learn to recognize and make patterns, they are also learning a lot of important skills like recognizing regularities, noticing sequences, making comparisons and predictions, and understanding that the whole can be broken down into parts. Candy canes host a variety of colors and patterns, perfect for celebrating and culminating their mini-unit. It was a morning full of engaged learning!

Fourth grade has been discussing how we can change the world. And they have some pretty amazing ideas! Next time you are in the building, take a look at the fourth graders' "Gifts to the World" writing. Use your smart phone to scan the QR codes for each piece and hear each student reading their writing out loud.

Some of their gifts to the world include...

Estella: "I would change the prices of healthcare from out of reach to sitting in the palm of your hand like a feather."

Cyrus: "Just imagine what the world would be like with peace. Less chaotic, not a single crime."

Solace: "If you could give a present to the earth, what would it be? I know mine, it would be the gift of caring because the earth needs more care."

Grace: "If I could give a gift to the world, it would be for every person to know how to read. Because you learn things; you can read amazing things."

Connor: "If I could give a gift to the world, I would give the gift of cheaper gas, so me and my family can save money and go on more vacations."

Vivien: "I think it would be a pencil and a piece of paper because it would give them creativity, show something grand, and inspire."

Johnathan: "Imagine a world with more trees everywhere in the rainforest. I bet the animals would be happy and thankful."

Samantha: "If I gave a gift to the world, it would be helpfulness! Helpfulness is a great environment to the world and to the people who need it."

Tyler: "My present would be infinite materials. That's so we don't keep destroying the earth so it can be a safe society."

Raphael: "My gift would be recycling because if you recycle, you can help save the oceans. If you recycle, you can reuse it and eliminate climate change."

Matt: "I am going to give the gift of books, but probably an entire library. It think it is a great idea because books improve your imagination, inspire people to become writers, and give a break from the world and its problems."

Miles: "The one thing that I would give is shelter. I would choose shelter because people can feel safe, they can stay warm or cold, and they don't feel like anyone is watching them."

Be sure to share your own "gift to the world" on the inspiration wall when you visit!

Upper School students have wrapped their Film Fest projects for 2021! Every year, students work together to develop, script, create, and edit short films based on a central theme. This theme for 2021 is "What Moves Us?" Students gathered together today for a special screening of their completed projects as part of their winter party celebrations.

Film Fest is one of the yearly highlights of The Summit's Upper School program and represents project based learning at its finest. Students take full ownership to create humorous, impactful, and truly unique short films that are entirely student-driven, from conception to creation to conclusion. It's a tradition students look forward to each year, and we even have our alumni return to take part in the Fest-ivities!

Click on the link below to enjoy their short films and see what moves our students here at The Summit!

Over 65 Summit parents and students were in attendance at the Winter Glow Movie Night last Friday to snuggle up and watch Abominable together with cozy blankets and glow sticks.

Movie Night Co-Chair Nikki Keiper said, "The Winter Glow Movie Night was a glowing success! Thank you to everyone who came out. Due to your generosity, we raised $276 for Gathering Friends for the Homeless. A special thank you to Summit Parent Joe Easter for his audio/visual support and to the volunteers who helped make this happen."

Thank you to SPO Event Chairs, Nikki Keiper, Jennifer Black, Tess Hemphill, and Kelsey Jenkins! What a fun way to build community and spread some winter magic while supporting the unsheltered population in our area!

Teachers and staff were in for many delicious sweet treats today! Thank you to all the parents who organized the Cookie Shine, brought in special baked goodies, and set up the tables to look so festive and inviting for school employees to enjoy as the perfect end to a successful first semester!

Thank you to all our parents, grandparents, and volunteers who made the last day of first semester a warm, laughter-filled day of celebration for students. We are so grateful for each member of The Summit community and look forward to creating many more memories together in the New Year! Thank you for soaring with us!

We have almost wrapped up 2021, but our Annual Campaign is still going strong! Each gift made between now and July 31, 2022 makes a difference for our students and faculty in our classrooms today.

Remember, The Summit Prep is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. All gifts made to The Summit are deductible to the extent provided by state and federal law. It's not too late to claim those deductions for your 2021 tax return if you make your donation to the Raven Fund by December 31st!

Help us reach our $100,000 goal, and soar into a bright New Year!