About

We are committed to assessing and working with students’ strengths, offering support and structure to give students the tools for success at school and in the community. 

Our responses to students are guided by a deep understanding of the connection between behavior and environmental reinforcement. We are committed to cultivating and maintaining a culturally responsive school environment. 

Our goals are designed to: 

• Empower students to articulate their challenges and build the skills that address those challenges. 
• Give students the tools to proactively engage with mentors, teachers, and employers constructively. 
• Build skills that facilitate envisioning a successful post-secondary transition, taking into account students’ specific needs and resources. 
• Partner with families to bolster students’ ability to navigate the transition from adolescence to early adulthood. 
• Provide a rigorous curriculum that is modified to meet their learning needs while preparing them to meet graduation requirements 
• Provide students with a foundation of life skills that will enable them to be prepared for the challenges of independent life. 
• Work with students and families to articulate and navigate pathways to success that are reflective of benchmarks students have achieved at Summit. ○ Partner with the district and the town to promote positive and constructive relationships and learning opportunities. 

Program Components: 

The goal of Summit’s overall program is to build social-emotional skills and increase classroom engagement through targeted, structured instruction and interactions. Communication among teachers, students, clinicians, and paraprofessionals is essential to the work of teaching and reinforcing social-emotional skills, studentship skills, and academic content mastery. 

• Students are in 7th-12th grade 
• Formal intake interview has taken place with a parent/guardian 
• Student is on a signed IEP with a placement for a separate Day School
• Primary disability is social/emotional 
• Referral process is complete (see below) and it has been determined that student’s needs can be effectively met while maintaining the integrity and fidelity of Summit’s programming OR 
• Student is returning to district from private day school or other therapeutic program and requires a continuation of substantially separate programming or would benefit from therapeutic services during the transition back to district OR 
• Student requires a high degree of supervision, intervention, and a high level of family engagement due to acute safety concerns 
• Note: Students are occasionally referred to Summit for 45-day extended evaluations. Summit utilizes the IEP process to conduct an intake of students in need of extended evaluation.

A referral packet shall be submitted for consideration of placement at Summit Academy.  Information that is beneficial to include is: 

• A current IEP 
• A brief description of the presenting concern 
• Data-driven documentation indicating the level of need that could include an FBA, student assessments, documentation of intervening strategies that addressed the social-emotional and behavioral health needs
• Recent evaluations (psychological, academic, speech/language, etc.) and other relevant documentation.  

The referral packet is the first step in the process of considering a student for placement.  

To ensure the integrity and fidelity of our instructional and therapeutic services, the referral process also takes into account: 

• The complexity of the student’s individual needs and the capacity of the program to manage and meet those needs effectively 
• How current staffing, census, and cohort could be influenced by the complexity of the student’s individual needs 

Other considerations in the referral process: 

• Assessment information makes clear that a student has completed a formal intervention process aimed at managing the identified behaviors in their current placement 
• Summit staff has had the opportunity to observe the prospective student in current placement. 
• Summit clinician/staff is present for any team meetings where potential placement is discussed 
• Collaboration with referral source early in referral process to determine/explore remaining interventions in LRE

• If a transfer is to ARHS, the student and family/guardian have completed the Summit Academy protocol 
• The transfer is preferably student-initiated 
• Marked progress on IEP goals is evident (which means that IEP goals should be reflective of placement/reasons for placement) 
• Students can engage with the IEP team and members of receiving programs about progress they have made, areas of vulnerability that they will need to attend to, and needs for support.  
• Students can identify short-term and long-term goals of the next placement
• Student attends school and individual classes 80% of the time 
• Student effectively utilizes therapeutic program supports and demonstrates increasingly less reliance on supports over time (this demonstrates skill acquisition and generalization of skills)
• Student’s classroom engagement and studentship skills are consistent (this will often translate to grades in the B/C range across classes) 
   

Summit Academy believes that its Mission and Goals are best met when staff works in collaboration with the community and family in a culturally responsive environment. As such, Summit Academy works with families and students on an individual and group level to support the students in learning to be a part of and work within, their communities. We aim to leverage student growth and studentship skills into successful transitions to post-secondary settings. Summit Academy achieves this vision by: 

• Absenteeism framing 
• Partnership with local community mental health agencies and the Department of Mental Health (DMH) to facilitate trust in systems that deliver wrap-around services that support families. 
• Family Center liaising 
• Town-school partnership, where possible. 
• Vocational programming (MRC/Pre-ETS) 
• Special Events with the family 
  • Thanksgiving Meal 
  • Graduation 
  • Presentation of Student Achievements 
• Field Trips 
• Environmental Program 
• Work with Food Services