Hello Summit Community,

Are you eligible for a Corporate Low-Income Tax Credit Scholarship to Summit School? Summit families with a child entering kindergarten may qualify. If you do not meet the requirements (see attached chart), please pass the information onto another family who may be interested in attending Summit School. If they are transferring from a public, charter, or homeschool the kindergarten requirement does not apply. And, don't forget that you can qualify for a $1000 tuition referral credit for each child you refer to Summit School.

For more information, reach out to Carrie Slade in our business office at carrie.slade@summitschoolaz.org.

Sincerely,

Dr. Stephanie Nardi

Head of School

Dear Summit Community,

Spring is just around the corner and so is Summit's Spring Gala and Auction! Please see the attached Save the Date. We hope you join us as we come together for dinner, drinks, silent and live auctions, and to celebrate and support our amazing school, faculty, and staff.

Back by popular demand, our silent auction will include a piece of artwork from every grade level, created collaboratively by all students! In addition, join us for teacher experiences, amazing gift baskets, special live auction items, and lots of fun.

You won't want to miss it!

Gratefully,

Spring Gala Auction Committee

Summit Board of Trustees

Some shifting of teaching staff for 2023-24 has taken place due to enrollment numbers. Kristin Pepiton, our current KB teacher, has been offered a teaching position in the preschool for next school year. Our kindergarten team will be Erin Vosseller and Lori Phillips (moving from elementary science). See the short introduction from Mrs. Phillips below.

As the saying goes, “All I really need to know, I learned in Kindergarten,” so back I go!

I am excited to rejoin my original Summit teaching partner, Erin Vosseller, to build strong educational foundations for the graduating class of 2036. I have been teaching for 29 years; 23 of them here at Summit. I began my career in the Preschool and Kindergarten classrooms. I am looking forward to going back and seeing those kindergarten faces light up when they realize they can accomplish something new.

We are both experienced kindergarten teachers, having taught together for several years when Summit first started. Kindergarten is a year of exploration, discovery, and growth, which is something that we both enjoy about working with five and six year old children. Summit affords us the opportunity to be creative as teachers and to develop hands-on learning experiences that will help children to engage more deeply with the content. We are both looking forward to seeing what your children will accomplish next year!

I am David Preston, and I am pleased to accept my new role as the elementary science teacher next year! In the 16 years I have been an educator, I spent 9 of those teaching science. While living in Seattle, I helped Westside School develop a 5-8th grade science curriculum and am excited to put my flair into our current curricula at Summit. I currently hold my Bachelor of Science degree in Education with a minor in early childhood education. I am also a big space nut and even completed an education space camp in Huntsville, Alabama. It is my goal to help students achieve their highest potential, and to have fun doing so. I very much look forward to the opportunity of helping students expand their knowledge of science and open their minds to all things science related.

Greetings! My name is Craig Kroupa and I am excited about the opportunity to join Summit School of Ahwatukee as the basketball coach this season. Overall I have over 20 years of coaching experience. My coaching career began at the middle school level and progressed to the high school level in the state of Wisconsin. Upon moving to Arizona in 2012, I continued coaching middle school basketball at each school I taught at. Currently, I coach my two young elementary boys as well as conducting skill development clinics. I look forward to meeting everyone and sharing my passion for the game of basketball with your child.

I have coached basketball for almost 20 years now. I have coached kids from kindergarten all the way to high school. I arrived at Summit in 2012 and started our first ever basketball team. Since then, I have coached a team every year here (except for 2 years during Covid) and look forward to it again this year.

Hello everyone, my name is Coach Ryan, and I am beyond thrilled to be the new

elementary school boys basketball coach at Summit School! Basketball has been my passion

since I was a young boy growing up in Los Angeles, and I’m ready and eager to share that

passion with your students!

Like most kids, I began playing recreationally. Soon after that, I enlisted the help of a

private trainer and began playing club ball. I played for a number of programs in Los Angeles’

San Fernando Valley, and continued on playing at Notre Dame High School (SO), the number

seven-ranked team in California. Not only did I get to sharpen my skills and knowledge on a

daily basis, but I was able to surround myself with future collegiate and professional athletes, as well as some of the best coaches in youth and school athletics. During my time playing, one thing that never wavered was my passion for the game, and I hope to instill that same love for the game for each of my players!

As a coach, I’ve worked with hundreds of young athletes in Arizona alone. Formerly, we

might’ve crossed paths at PickUp USA Fitness in Chandler, where I was the head trainer for

over a year! In my spare time, I train players privately and help them develop the necessary

skills to grow their game. Now, I feel the next step in my basketball journey is leading a team of young, passionate athletes, and I’m so grateful to have this opportunity here at Summit School!

As a coach, I believe in creating a culture that aligns with the mission, vision, and values

at Summit School. First and foremost, basketball has changed my life like nothing else;

basketball can provide many things outside of just athletic prowess, and I believe that every

child deserves that opportunity.

Aside from being the start of a long basketball journey, I hope that this experience

encourages our students to be curious, to encourage others, and to see the value of their

hard work. At the end of our season, not only will we be skilled dribblers and defenders, but

master communicators and respectful leaders. I’m looking forward to the season ahead!

To celebrate the diversity of the Summit School community we are launching ‘Summit Eats’ cookbook - a collection of family recipes and the stories that go with them.

We are seeking recipes that tell the story of your family’s origins, culture and history. This might be a recipe from the four corners of the globe, a Southwest favorite or quintessential soul food.

Your recipe alongside those of our community will become part of the 2023 ‘Summit Eats’ Cookbook, which we will be releasing this May! Proceeds from the sale of this book will go directly to Summit School D&I Fund (learn more about Summit’s D&I Committee below).

Keep an eye out for Pre-Sales at Global Awareness Day on April 14.

SUBMIT YOUR RECIPE NOW.

We invite you to submit a recipe that is of significance to your family here and include a short story along with it (optional). Your family will receive full credit for your recipe contribution.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

• We ask you to ensure you carefully check the information is correct as we will be unable to alter or modify once submitted.

• If credit for the recipe belongs to another copyrighted cookbook, it is not eligible for publication. By submitting your recipe for publication, you are declaring that you own the intellectual property rights to the recipe.

• We are unable to include pictures at this time, so please do not include photos with your recipe.

• You may submit up to 3 recipes for consideration. At least 1 recipe from every participating family will be included.

• Each recipe will be allocated one page in the book. Please keep the total word count including ingredients list, directions, and any family story you want to include, under 250 words.

• We intend to continue publishing Summit Eats in future years so if you have more recipes, there will be more opportunities to be included!

ABOUT THE SUMMIT D&I COMMITTEE

Summit School acknowledges and celebrates the unique differences within our community. In doing so we recognize the diversity of our community and larger world while preparing our students to become global citizens.

The Summit D&I Committee, led by the Head of School, is composed of parents and representatives from the Board of Trustees, the PTO, and the wider Summit parent community.

The funds raised through this initiative will support D&I led experiences. Past examples of this include the HOPI-R2 built by electrical engineer Joe Mastroianni and painted by Hopi-Tewa artist Duane Koyawena that visited Summit during Arts Night 2022, the presentation from Navajo artist Jonessa Reid and Loteria Night.

Students in grades 1-8 will be visiting two of the following career presentations.

• Sandy Anderson, Felony Prosecutor for Maricopa County
• Malisa Cagney, corporate lawyer
• Kendra Riley, PR agency owner
• Amy Lecky, teacher
• Mary Oakley, psychologist
• Varsha Prasad, therapist
• Randi Garcia, associate broker/realtor
• Sharby Kennard. Voya Director of Customer Experience
• Wendi Lane, engineering
• Ana Catalina Carvajal Kottman, engineer
• Nicole Ray, material science engineer
• Susan Lawson, architect
• Jessica Yeck, IT Executive
• Julie Massoud, emergency medicine physician
• Stephanie Vanden Bosch, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)
• Jennifer Hoeppner, optometrist
• Heather Thomas, physical therapist
• Charlene Bower, professional driver (off-road)
• Adrienne Fairwell, general manager of Arizona PBS
• Kriselle Covin, Arizona Game and Fish Field Supervisor
• Tausha Bentz, dance instructor
• Kelly Kraft, acting instructor
• Jennifer Turk, Human Services Programs Director with the City of Phoenix
• Murti Nauth, PhD Candidate in UC Berkeley’s Earth and Planetary Science department and a member of NASA’s MAVEN mission at the Space Sciences Lab
• Zena Foster, Master motorcycle technician/instructor

Summit parents who utilize the Arizona Private School Tax Credits for tuition need to complete their preferred School Tuition Organization (STO) new application each spring. Please find the Institute For Better Education, IBE 2023-24 application here. Upon completion, please submit it and any required documents directly to IBE at Services@ibescholarships.org before June 1, 2023. IBE will only release tax credits towards tuition in July if they have a completed 2023-24 IBE application by that date. For questions regarding the application please visit www.ibescholarships.org or call 520-512-5438. If you use a different STO, please visit their website to find their 2023-24 application form.