The Summit School is a state approved, private special education school in the Queens borough of New York City. It operates on two campuses in Queens and surrounds the St. John's University campus. The Lower School, which educates elementary and middle school students, utilizes space in the Hillcrest Jewish Center, and the Summit's Upper School serves high school students. It is currently directed by John Renner with Richard Sitman as executive director (in affiliation with Summit Children's Residence Center in Nyack). In contrast to most private schools, which are independently operated, Summit is tuition-free and accepts students from all five boroughs of New York City as well as from Westchester, Nassau, Suffolk, and Rockland Counties.
The school employs a faculty and clinical staff of 150 professionals, and has a student to teacher-assistant to teacher ratio of 12:1.5:1. It features a staff of job coaches, social workers, speech and occupational therapists, teachers, as well as 1:1 aides as needed. They provide full therapeutic support as well as "focus[ing] on the academic, social, emotional, and prevocational development of each child." According to a section of New York Magazine in late 2003, the school had the highest number of student admission forms receivedâ€"more than 1,000â€"in the city among "special schools for special kids," with only 35 spaces available, and approximately 300 students overall.
Work-based learning
High school students participate in a work-based learning program; they work as interns at businesses participating in the program. Freshman, sophomores, and juniors work part of the school day once a week with their job coaches (who are often assistant teachers), while seniors travel independently and work the entire school day on Fridays.
Student activities
Students participate in a host of extra-curricular activities organized by the school.
Athletics
The school has interscholastic sportsâ€"soccer, basketball, track and field, and softballâ€"as part of the Metro League.
The Summit Sun
The Summit Sun, currently published every other Friday, is the school's official newspaper. The paper was founded in January 2010, and is primarily student organized. On January 10, 2014, the paper published its 100th issue. Its motto is "All the News that Matters, when it Matters." The paper publishes articles about school events and sports, current events, and opinion pieces.
Student council
The school's student government, known as the student council, is elected early in the school year. It is composed of four executive positions: the president, vice president, treasurer, and secretary, in addition to a representative from each homeroom.
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