Summit Trail News and Notes

Christine Buenger, Assistant Principal, is coming to Summit Trail from Shawnee Mission. This is her 13th year in education having formerly taught English and FACS in addition to her administration intern position. Christy completed her undergraduate degree at Kansas State University and her Masters at Fort Hays State University. When she is not working, Christy enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time with her family. (Pictured: husband, Derrick and step-son, Kobi.)

Diana Iannetto is joining Summit Trail Middle School as a 6th Grade Resource Teacher. She has worked in education since 2001 in both general and special education, serving students and educators in a variety of classroom and support roles. Diana earned Master’s degrees in Elementary Education and Special Education and is excited to return to the classroom. Outside of work, she enjoys exercising, traveling, and spending time with her husband, Dave, their sons, Aiden and Ryan, and their dogs.

Emily Chappuie (pronounced shuh-pay), School Social Worker, is joining the Summit Trail team! Emily has 20+ years of experience as a Social Worker, including 12 years as a School Social Worker in Olathe Public Schools. She has served in multiple buildings within the district over the years and will be splitting her time each week between STMS and Woodland Elementary. Prior to working in OPS, Emily worked in settings focused on treating, supporting and advocating for children's mental health, including foster care and adoption, children's psychiatric care, and clinical therapeutic services. Emily is passionate about awareness, inclusion, and acceptance of mental health, neurodiversity, and other areas affecting the social and emotional well-being of youth. When she is not working, Emily enjoys spending time with her family, reading, crafting or diy-ing, crocheting, and obsessing over her two Corgis, Chloe and Cash.

Resource Teacher Kyle Lathrop makes the move to Summit Trail after five great years at Olathe South High School, marking his sixth year in the Olathe district. A proud Pitt State graduate with a master's in special education, Kyle is dedicated to student success. Away from school, you can find him traveling with his family, playing pinball, or adding to his collection of retro games and vintage finds.

Laura McGuire, is coming to Summit Trail from Overland Trail in Blue Valley School District. This is her 34th year in education teaching Spanish in high school and middle school. Laura completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Kansas; Rock Chalk Jayhawk, Go KU!

She has worked at Walmart for 35 years and continues to do so on the weekends. When she is not working, Laura enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time with her children, and three dogs.

If you participated in Watch Dogs in Elementary School, been an active father as a dad, coach or mentor to kids, or simply want to be more present in the lives of your kids, then Father's Club is a place for you. Father’s Club creates simple, intentional ways to be actively involved in the lives of their children, other dads, and the community. Through intentional presence, Father's Club fosters deeper connections between fathers and families, while promoting positive male role models.

Whether it’s greeting students at school, organizing events, or mentoring youth, members of Father’s Club show up with purpose. Their mission goes beyond just showing up—it’s about being fully present, engaged, and committed to making a lasting impact.

Sign up at Join - Father's Club. You will receive a subsequent email that allows you to choose Summit Trail Middle School and up to 4 other schools should you have kids at other secondary schools as well.

Summit Trail teachers reported to the building for the first time today for pre-service. The energy is back in the building! We can't wait for students to start next week!

• Middle and High School: Personal electronic communication devices, if on school premises during the school day, must be stored in a student’s locker, in a school-designated storage solution, in the student’s vehicle (high school only) or other area designated by school administration.

At Summit Trail, if students bring a personal electronic communication device to school, they will store them in their assigned hallway locker that can be found in StudentVue and ParentVue. This includes cell phones, smart watches, wireless headphones or earbuds, smart glasses, tablets not issued by the school, and similar devices.

We look forward to a year full of engagement and learning. Thank you for your cooperation!

Please refer to district communication for the full release regarding the policy updates.

Summit Trail students and families,

As you may be aware, earlier this year the state Legislature passed a new cell phone law for schools. As part of this legislation, the law prohibits two-way messaging between staff and students on platforms that are not fully monitorable.

As a result of this legislation, as of July 1, Finalsite Two-Way Chat is the district’s official and ONLY approved platform for two-way “text style” communication between staff members and students/families. This replaces platforms like Band, Remind, Gamechanger, etc., which we have used in the past.

Finalsite Two-Way Chat is now ready for use and can be accessed through the existing Olathe Public Schools mobile app. The platform provides:

• Secure, district-monitored communication
• Translation support for multilingual families
• The ability for coaches/sponsors to create group chats or individual chats within a fully monitored and secure system.

To help you get set up on the Finalsite Two-Way Chat system:

1. Review the training/log in resources for parents/guardians

2. Review the training/log in resources for students

Your child’s coach/sponsor will provide additional information regarding their communication preferences and the communication tools they intend to utilize for your group/team/activity.

If you have any questions, please let me know. Thank you for your support in helping us provide safe, compliant, and effective communication with our students and families.

Sincerely,

Summit Trail Administration

Important note: Student schedules are subject to change between now and the start of the school year.

If there is an error in the schedule, change requests may be sent to the Counseling office through this link: https://forms.gle/5GTUq2ZoMqPCc4YM6

Summit Trail will have some new features this school year.

Our mission stays the same. We are here to inspire and empower our students to grow, achieve, and prepare.

New Electives: Olathe middle schools will have some new electives and existing electives with new names this year. The new grade level specific semester-long electives are required for all students. In addition to these meaningful courses, more options for PE and updated curriculum in other electives are all a positive for our students.

6th Grade Smart Start (Required): Students build a strong middle school foundation by practicing essential reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills while developing executive functioning, empathy, kindness, and conflict-resolution strategies. They explore personal interests and strengths, connect these to academic goals and future opportunities, and begin creating an Individual Plan of Study to guide informed choices throughout middle school, high school, and beyond.

7th Grade Future Ready (Required): Students focus on personal well-being, emotional regulation, and building positive relationships through empathy, respect, and conflict resolution. Students continue to explore interests and strengths that connect learning with future opportunities through their Individual Plan of Study. Students will investigate high school options and career pathways in Olathe specific to their current and future personal, academic, and career goals.

8th Grade Foundations For Success (Required): Students will engage in collaborative learning that builds teamwork, leadership, and interpersonal skills as they prepare for high school. Through reading, writing, speaking, and listening activities, they will refine their interests and strengths to guide high school course and career programming opportunities, linking middle school learning to high school academics and future success.

New Idea of Teaming: Summit Trail has historically operated with two teams (black and silver) per grade level. We will no longer operate with a clean two teams per grade level due to staff changes. This will not impact our students and their learning. The impact is seen in our internal organization and scheduling on the backend. Student schedules have the same structure of four core classes and three electives. Teachers will still have collaboration time to plan high-quality learning activities, meet with students and families, problem-solve, and work together to make ST a great for our students to learn. A common phrase at the start of the year is "what team are you on?" The easy answer is "I'm a Sabercat!"

Alphabet Split: Our counselors and assistant principals will divide roles based on student last name. Mrs. Buenger, AP, and Mrs. Adwell, Counselor, will serve students with last names starting with A-L.

Mr. Munson, AP, and Mrs. Swezey, Counselor, will serve students with last names starting with M-Z. This is a common way of balancing students for administrators and counselors. The associated administrator or counselor will be the first point of contact for parent meetings, office referrals, schedules, counseling services, problem solving, etc. Dividing the student population for this purpose will help with efficiency. Of course, all three administrators and both counselors are here for all students!

Thursday, August 13th Summit Trail staff and W.E.B. students welcome all 6th graders to their first day of school! The day is all about 6th graders as they start their middle school journey. The entire ST staff and student leaders can focus on our 6th grade students as they make the big transition to middle school with no other grade levels in attendance. Students will learn about being a Summit Trail student and have plenty of fun! Lunch will be served. Students will be dismissed at 12:55.

Friday, August 14th is the first day for our 7th and 8th graders. It is the first day all three grade levels are in attendance at the same time.

Tuesday, August 18th is Back to School Night at Summit Trail from 6:00-8:00 PM.

• Hear from the Principal
• Meet the teachers
• Learn about Summit Trail
• Walk the schedule
• Enjoy a night at Summit!

Summit Trail provides many opportunities for students to get involved with athletics. In addition to athletics, ST also provides many activities and clubs. More information will be provided about these opportunities as the school year begins. Below is a list of athletics and time of year they take place.

6th Grade Sports

Cross Country (Fall)

Wrestling Club (Winter)

Track & Field (Spring)

7th Grade Sports

Cross Country (Fall)

Football (Fall)

Volleyball (Fall)

Girls Basketball (late Fall)

Wrestling Club (Winter)

Boys Basketball (Winter)

Track & Field (Spring)

8th Grade Sports

Cross Country (Fall)

Football (Fall)

Volleyball (Fall)

Girls Basketball (late Fall)

Wrestling Club (Winter)

Boys Basketball (Winter)

Track & Field (Spring)

If you are looking for a rewarding way to connect with your community, consider working as a paraprofessional at Summit Trail. We have openings in Resource, CBR1 and CBR2. If you, or someone you know is interested, or have questions, please reach out. Call 913-780-7200, email mdmunson@olatheschools.org , or text 913-732-3290.

https://fa-ewbu-saasfaprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX_1/jobs?keyword=summit&mode=location

Thank you for your partnership in keeping our students safe!

No drop-off or pick-up is allowed on Roundtree or 118th Street in front of the building.

Morning student drop-off:

• This takes place in the northwest loop only (shown in purple on the image below). Vehicles enter the campus from 116th Terrace.
• When dropping students off in the morning, please pull forward as far as possible before allowing your student to exit the vehicle. Vehicles are allowed to exit into the double lane if vehicles are delayed ahead. All students enter up the stairs and through the west commons doors.
• Students entering the building before 7:50 a.m. will sit in the auditorium. At 7:50 a.m., students may eat breakfast in the commons or hang out in the library. At 8:10 a.m., students are dismissed to the halls and on to first period.

Afternoon student pick-up:

• All car riders will exit the west commons and down the stairs.
• Please pull forward as far as possible before allowing your student to enter your vehicle. Vehicles are allowed to exit into the double lane if vehicles ahead are delayed.
• The front parking lot is reserved for buses, special needs and office visits. The southeast entrance is reserved for staff and event parking only. There is no crosswalk for walkers and bike riders.

Thank you for your cooperation to keep our students safe during arrival and dismissal.

With warmer weather bringing more students outdoors, we wanted to share the newly-updated rules for bikes, e-bikes and scooters from the City of Olathe. Here are the key points for our students:

• All riders under 18 years old must wear a helmet when riding on an electric scooter or e-bike.
• Electric scooters cannot be ridden on the road unless the speed limit is 30 MPH or under and there’s no sidewalk.
• E-bikes may be ridden on roads with speed limits up to 40 MPH.
• Riders of bicycles or any motorized device must yield to pedestrians and warn them before passing (ring the bell, say “excuse me” or “on your left”, etc.)
• There is a 15 MPH limit for electric scooters and e-bikes on the sidewalk.
• It is illegal to ride a bicycle, e-bike, or electric scooter in a careless, reckless, or negligent manner or weaving in and out of traffic. Stay as close to the right side of the road as possible except when turning left.

• An electric scooter or e-bike must have proper lighting and be visible in order to ride at dusk or at night.

• Electric powered “bikes” that cannot be pedaled are actually motorcycles or motor-driven cycles and require a license to ride.

• If you get into an accident while riding on a bicycle, electric scooter, or e-bike where someone is injured or property is damaged, you must provide contact information to other parties involved and report the accident to the police.

• Parents may not authorize or knowingly permit their children to violate any Olathe bicycle, e-bike, or electric scooter regulations.

We encourage families to have a conversation at home that will help keep everyone safe. Please read the complete list of updated rules by visiting OlatheKS.gov/RollSafe.

Thursday, August 13th- 6th Grade Only First Day (Dismiss 12:55)

Friday, August 14th- All Students Attend

Monday, August 17th- Fall Athletics Tryouts/Practice Begin

Tuesday, August 18th- Back to School Night

Monday, August 24th- School Picture Day

Email: truder@olatheschools.org
Website: olatheschools.org/summittrail
Phone: 913.780.7200