Summit Scoop

Summit Scoop is a monthly newsletter for families and staff members in the Summit Public School District. Summit Scoop features stories of student achievement, events in the District, and positive news around the school community! The newsletter will be sent out on the last Thursday of the month. You can find an archive of newsletters sent throughout the year on the District website.

Summit Scoop can be translated into many different languages. All you need to do is open the newsletter in a web browser, and then click on the "Translate" button. If you open it on your phone, you will need to find the accessibility icon which will bring you to the translation option. It is usually at the bottom. If you open it on a computer, the option is at the top of the page.

Summit Scoop se puede traducir a muchos idiomas diferentes. Solo abra el boletín en un navegador web y luego haga clic en el botón "Traducir". Si lo abre en su teléfono, necesitará encontrar el ícono de accesibilidad que lo llevará a la opción de traducción. Suele estar en la parte inferior. Si lo abre en una computadora, la opción está en la parte superior de la página.

Staff members who could not attend the September meeting due to Back to School Night were honored at the October Board of Education meeting for reaching the milestone of 25 years in the District, as well as staff who have received tenure this past year!

State Assessment Report – Spring 2025
At the October 9 Board of Education meeting, Heather Rocco, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, shared results from the Spring 2025 New Jersey Student Learning Assessments (NJSLA) and Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM). The report summarized student performance trends, compared results to prior years, and discussed how the data will inform instruction and professional development. The presentation emphasized the District’s continued focus on using assessment results to support student growth and strengthen teaching and learning.

Student Safety and HIB Report
Also at the October meeting, Laura Kaplan, Director of School Counseling, and Superintendent Scott Hough presented the District's Student Safety Data System and Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying (HIB) Report. The presentation highlighted continued efforts to maintain a safe and positive school climate, reviewed district-wide incident data from January through June 2025, and shared outcomes of HIB investigations. It also outlined ongoing prevention programs and trainings that promote respect, inclusion, and student well-being across all schools.

The Adaptive Rock Climbing Wall at Wilson Primary Center provides a safe, inclusive, and engaging space for Summit's preschool and kindergarten students to enhance motor skills, sensory processing, emotional regulation, and social development through interactive, therapeutic play.

Communication boards were installed on the Primary Centers' playgrounds to create more opportunities for inclusion, positive social interactions, and further develop student's effective communication and language skills outside of the classroom.

The SEF provided funding to purchase classroom sets of Biotechnology equipment which included the pipetman, electrophoresis equipment (power supplies and gel box), transilluminator (machine used to visualize the DNA gel), centrifuge and heatblocks. Students are using them frequently in the Research in Molecular Biology class, Biotechnology class, and in the Biotechnology Research Club.

The students were practicing pipetting skills using the P200 and P20 pipettes. Students practice by setting the pipet for the correct amount, drawing up and dispensing exact volumes and repeating the skill. In early October, students grew bacterial cultures from cDNA library plates and prepared their samples for PCR by creating a dilution of their cultures. Shortly after, they used Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify their DNA insert from the plant they are studying (Landoltia punctata). The goal of the Waksman Student Scholars Program (RU) project is to sequence the DNA of the organism Landoltia punctata.

Boys Varsity Soccer

The boys celebrated their Seniors on Friday night with a 4-0 victory over College Achieve Central before falling to Westfield 3-1 in Saturday’s UCT semifinals. The Hilltoppers (11-3-1) close out the regular season this week with a home game against Johnson on Tuesday and a road trip to Livingston on Thursday. The state tournament bracket will officially be announced on Wednesday with Summit the projected #1 seed. But first things first: ALJ.

Sailing

The sailing team got an opportunity to sail up in Buffalo, NY at the MASSA Fall Invitational Regatta. Summit scored 10th overall and competed against schools from MD, NY, NJ, and VA. We got multiple top 5 finishes — Congrats to Brynn Penque, Elodie Hellmuth, Nikhil Ray, Dylan Raymundo-Neal, and Charlotte Leck for an amazing weekend in Buffalo!

Boys XC

Union County Championships - Full results/ Varsity - 3rd overall/ JV - 3rd overall/ Freshman - 5th overall

Volleyball

The Summit Lady Hilltoppers Varsity Vball Team and the entire Summit community helped raise over $6,000 for the Sideout Foundation in support of research into metastatic breast cancer, the least researched of all forms of the disease! The Summit community purchased over 500 Fight Like a Hilltopper Pink Out T-Shirts and generously contributed approximately $1,000 on game day through snack/drink and t-shirt purchases to make this event an impactful and entertaining event. The 9th graders were victorious over Cranford 2-0, JV came from behind in an upset 2-1 victory and the #7 county ranked SHS pushed the #4 Cranford Cougars but fell a little short of the victory taking set 1 but dropping the next 2 sets for the 1-2 loss. Of note, the 9th grade squad who was 4W-6L on October 6th has gone 6W-1L since and is now at 10W-7L for the year with one match left in the season!

Girls Soccer

Senior Night last Wednesday was a great celebration of our 10 seniors who have been part of the game since they were young. We faced our town rival, Kent Place, and came away with a hard-fought 2–1 win. On Friday, we hosted our Pack the Stands game against Morristown. Though we fell 0–1 after a double overtime battle, the focus of the day was supporting the One Love Foundation. Through our bake sale, we raised over $600 to contribute to this important cause. We also had an incredible turnout from the future Hilltoppers in our town, which made the night even more special.

Gymnastics

Gymnastics celebrated the end of the regular season with a win over Union HS at home and was able to recognize the 7 seniors in the class of 2026. Charlotte Callaway, Anneliese Claus, Quinn DeMuth, Catherine Fagan, Ally Festejo and Ella Mulligan plus Manager Wu Kessler. Next up, the ladies head to Manalapan HS on Saturday November 1st for the NJSIAA Sectional Championship.

The Summit High School Theatre Department brought the magic of Shakespeare to a younger audience this week during its Elementary School Workshop for fourth and fifth graders!

High school cast members from the upcoming play As You Like It taught acting techniques and stage fighting skills to 32 young actors from all five Summit elementary schools. After rehearsing scenes from the Bard’s charming romantic comedy, the elementary school students showcased their talents in lively performances for their parents. Each participant left with feather quills, stickers, and most importantly, a newfound appreciation of Shakespeare and the art of theatre!

Alison Caravano, K-12 Supervisor of Fine, Performing, and Practical Arts, praised the workshop, saying, “This event is such a meaningful way to give some of the youngest thespians in our district a positive first experience on the high school stage.” Theatre Director Anne Poyner agreed, adding, “We believe that it is so important to share theatre with all of our schools and embrace our elementary students!”

As You Like It will be performed in the Summit High School Auditorium on Thursday, November 13th, Friday, November 14th, and Saturday, November 15th at 7 pm. Tickets can be purchased at https://cur8.com/projects/hilltopper.

Recently, students from LCJSMS 7th & 8th Grade Choirs were invited to John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University to be students for the day! Our group served as a demonstration choir for Dr. Whitney Covalle's classes of Choral Methods, where music education students learn how to teach chorus.

Each future music teacher shared engaging ideas for reading music, warm ups, new songs and fun games. After lunch, we even participated in some community building by learning a fun line dance! Thank you to Dr. Covalle for hosting us and thank you undergraduates for teaching us - we learned so much and had such an amazing day!

Lawton C. Johnson Summit Middle School will present the silly comedy Witches?! In Salem?! on Friday and Saturday, November 21 and 22, in the LCJSMS Auditorium.

Step into Salem Village, 1692 - if you dare! It’s not exactly a welcoming time. Land-hungry elites are eyeing your property, magistrates are demanding confessions, and unpopular reverends are desperate for your respect (and your firewood). In a town where everyone’s looking to blame someone for something, a group of local children suddenly find themselves at the center of a spiraling hysteria—all because they wanted to sass their parents. Narrated by Jenny Anne Bishop, an overly intense eighth grader, this darkly comedic production offers a (mostly) historically accurate glimpse into the chaos of the Salem Witch Trials. With campy characters, outrageous humor, and a cast that may or may not include a real witch and wizard, this unforgettable play promises laughs, gasps, and a few broomsticks too many. Recommended for audiences in 4th grade and up, this spellbinding spectacle is best enjoyed by those brave enough to laugh through the madness.

Shows are scheduled for Friday, 11/21 at 7pm and Saturday, 11/22 at 2pm and 7pm. Tickets

are $15.00 each and may be purchased at https://cur8.com/projects/LCJSMS.

As part of the production, the LCJSMS Drama Club continues their outreach to give back to the Summit community and will be collecting non-perishable food items (listed below) at ALL performances. All items will be donated to the SAGE Eldercare Meals-on-Wheels program & SAGE Eldercare Spend-A-Day adult medical daycare program.

SAGE Eldercare Needed Food Items: (Individual portion sizes) Microwave soups / pasta / chili / mashed potato / mac & cheese / tuna snack packs / Nutrigrain bars / granola bars / individual cereal boxes / individual puddings / Ensure drinks / fruit cups / apple sauce cups / crackers / chips / sugar free cookies. For more information about SAGE, visit sageeldercare.org.

Led by drama club director and teacher Julia Storr, Lawton C. Johnson Summit Middle School has garnered several top honors at New Jersey state theater competitions, recognizing the excellence of its past productions. "It has been so fun to go back to this contemporary style of comedy, while very difficult the LCJSMS students have risen to the challenge and are creating such a fun and dynamic production that we cannot wait for everyone to see!" says Storr.

The Summit High School Speech and Debate Team took 77 competitors to our first New Jersey local tournament on Saturday, Oct 25. The team placed first overall out of 28 schools from New Jersey and Pennsylvania! Several team members are now qualified for the Tournament of Champions at the University of Kentucky in April.

Lincoln Douglas Debate

Novice LD

1st place Co-Champions: Fayzan Khan and Mikhail Kabanov

3rd Rithvik Kona

JVLD

3rd Deirdre de Burca

4th Zooey Smith

Public Forum Debate

Novice PF

1st Daniel Levington and Daniil Karotki

5th Justin Shen and Neev Patel

6th Yuchen Yang and Daniel Mazo

Varsity PF

3rd Ava Zahtila and Aanya Sood

4th Sean Au-Yeung and Aditya Arora

5th Eleri Davies and Iris Liang

Declamation

2nd Sammy Fishkov

Dramatic Interpretation

2nd Ollie Henderson-Charilas*

6th Callie Cukierman

Duo Interpretation

3rd Maddie Robb and Maia Seum

4th Ainsley Valerio and Rory Gingeleskie

5th Mallory Reed and Nina Vachal

6th Wyatt Bergner and Sloane Alford

Humorous Interpretation

1st Ben Strauss *

2nd Emily Vegter *

3rd Reid Whitley *

Improvisational Acting

4th Evan Markowitz

Informative Speaking

1st Bettina Pangilinan*

2nd Alex Gottstein *

3rd Ollie Henderson-Charilas *

Oral Interpretation

1st Amelia Jorek*

6th Zoe Gianni

Original Oratory

1st Evan Markowitz *

3rd Doga Demir *

Program Oral Interpretation

1st Amelia Jorek

3rd Zoe Gianni

TOC bid*

NOVEMBER 3

Single Session - K-5 Only

NOVEMBER 4

Schools Closed - Election Day

NOVEMBER 5

Single Session - K-5 Only

NOVEMBER 6-7

Schools Closed - NJEA Convention

NOVEMBER 13

Board of Education Meeting

Summit High School Library Media Center

6:00 p.m.

NOVEMBER 26

Single Session - All Grades

November 27-28

District Closed - Thanksgiving Recess

• Strategic Plan
• Family technology support
• School times
• Food services
• School counseling
• Athletics schedule
• Arts calendar