Summit Academy Newsletter

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Summit Academy Newsletter

Greetings from Paula Donahue, Program Director

With the school year underway, we continue to thrive in our bright, cheerful, new school. In early fall, we had a fire safety demonstration from our local station #16, and a presentation on weather from Jacob Wycoff, meteorologist with WBZ Channel 4 News. The group picture was featured on the Saturday Morning edition. Our primary grade students visited the Worcester Art Museum, the Worcester Main Library and local parks. Our middle school students took a field trip to Old Sturbridge Village to explore life in the 1850's while enjoying the Halloween theme of the village.

Our high school students have been out and about on foot, exploring the city neighborhood including walks through the WPI Campus and to Summit Campus nearby. They have been learning about natural flora and fauna of the city while hiking in Institute Park, and have enjoyed stopping in at local businesses for snacks! Our transition program, based on community service, is outstanding!

We had a great turn out for our annual "Trunk or Treat" and parents visited with our teachers and staff at the recent "Open-House." It is always wonderful when students, staff and families join together.

Please continue to view our website News & Events

and read our blog.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Paula

Notes from Michelle Peters, Director of Special Education

The first quarter in our new school has been a transition and our students have done well overall. Our teachers continue to provide new learning opportunities tied to the curriculum.

The primary and middle school classes are honing their writing skills with letters to their pen-pals at a local senior center. This is tied into learning about the mailing system. Each of these classes have adopted a class pet calf through a program run by a

dairy farm in Vermont. As the calf grows, the students get updated information and pictures, with lessons on the importance of dairy farming.

Our high school students are working hard on various academics and enrichment classes. A focus this year is on learning about personal finances. They will be exposed to everything from grocery shopping to investing; learning the basics that will introduce them to the world of adult finances.

Please enjoy the class updates below!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Michelle

What's Happening in High School!

History Class-A historical time to learn about the election process in the Unites States! During this first quarter students learned about the difference between the electoral college and the popular vote, voting requirements and the requirements to become an American citizen. They studied the political parties, candidates and watched speeches and debates. They also reviewed and discussed the questions on the Massachusetts ballot.

The ELA class has completed the "Time Machine." Their favorite assignment was creating their own SciFi narrative that was an extension of an already existing book or movie. Our next book is the classic, "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee.

The Computer Science class is diving into the world of Python programming with a mix of curiosity and excitement! Python is the students' gateway to understanding the fundamentals of coding. Students are enjoying collaborating on projects, debugging each other's code and sharing tips and tricks they've discovered. The classroom has become a space of innovation and creativity where each line of code written is a step towards mastering a powerful tool that can shape the future and perhaps their own as a possible career!

Biology- Students have been introduced to the fascinating world of living organisms and their processes.

Chemistry- Students are learning basic concepts and will begin to experiment.

In Transition Skills Class students have just completed a month long budgeting and bill paying project. During the month, they had to track their money, and pay their bills on time independently. Their current community service project is collecting Thanksgiving dinner fixings for the community fridges and local shelters.

Lou, our companion dog, loves to participate in all the activities and food deliveries!

Middle School Update

The middle school has been busy learning about histograms and box plots. They have also studied the weather and the thirteen colonies. As we are preparing for Thanksgiving at home, we have been preparing for it here as well. All of the students wrote about what they are thankful for and what Thanksgiving means to them. Letters were sent home to their families.

Students enjoyed their second annual Friendsgiving. The class created a menu, went shopping and cooked together. It was a wonderful time for them to truly feel like friends and not just classmates!

In the social skills class with Ms Grieco, the students have engaged in group projects that focus on developing problem-solving, reasoning, creativity, and cooperation skills. The class was divided into two teams, each tasked with the scenario of being stranded on a deserted island while creating a diorama. The students demonstrated remarkable collaboration throughout the process. During an outing to collect materials, they exhibited commendable teamwork by sharing resources with the other group. Upon completion of the projects, students will present their dioramas to the class, and the entire school will participate in a voting process to select the best diorama.

Primary School is full of learning and fun!

The primary class is excited about Hanukkah and Christmas! The first week of December, they will learn about Hanukkah and the lighting of the menorah. The second week of December, they will learn about the spirit of Christmas and the lighting of the Christmas tree. They will be engaged in holiday crafts and activities, and learning Jingle Bells on their recorder. A holiday party is planned for December 20th and we hope they are ready to perform for their parents!

Academically, the class is learning about multiplication, prefixes, suffixes and the main idea of a story. Every Tuesday, a member of the high school class visits to read with the students. This is a big hit!

We can't forget to mention our class pet, Bonnie. Bonnie is a calf that lives on a dairy farm in Vermont. We learn about her as she grows and develops into a dairy cow to provide milk.

News & Events

December

December 10th-Virtual PAG Meeting at 6pm

A time to meet fellow parents and collaborate with us!

December 18th-1/2 Day for Professional Development

December 16th-20th-Spirit Week

December 23rd-January 1st-Holiday Break

Calendar & Events Page

Address: 73 Lancaster Street

Worcester, MA 01609

Phone: 508-751-8500

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