College. Career. Life.
Equipping every student to lead a fulfilled life.
We Believe
that every child is capable of college and career success. Summit Public Schools is a leading network of public schools that collectively prepares a diverse community of young people with the skills, knowledge, and habits to attain economic empowerment and success in a chosen concrete next step towards a fulfilled life.
We founded our inaugural school, Summit Prep, in 2003. Today, we are proud to operate some of the best public schools in the country, serving diverse communities throughout California and Washington states.
On the Blog: Senior Voices
Join us in celebrating Summit’s class of 2022! On the blog, we’re sharing senior voices from across the Summit network as this year’ graduating class prepares to embark on their Concrete Next Step.
Enroll Today
Summit schools are tuition-free public charter schools open to all students that prepare every child for a fulfilled life. Learn more and enroll your student today.
Join Our Team
We’re looking for educators and school leaders who believe every student has the ability to succeed and live a fulfilled life. View our open positions.
Our Schools
Our Results
of all graduates are 4-year college ready
of graduates are accepted to 4-year college
Summit alumni complete college at nearly twice the national average
1:1
Mentoring
Mentoring helps students develop the trust and confidence that allows them to take risks, ask for help, and persevere. Students meet one-on-one with a dedicated mentor who knows them deeply and supports them in setting — and achieving — their goals, all the way through college acceptance. Students also join a mentor group, which provides a safe and close-knit setting for building community and developing Habits of Success.
Real-World Projects
Students apply their acquired knowledge, skills, and habits to exercises that broaden and deepen their passions and prepare them for what they’ll encounter after graduation. Students participate in hands-on projects in class and eight weeks of expeditionary learning each year. Experiential learning exposes students to new career and volunteer pathways, while nurturing their sense of purpose.
Self-direction
With teacher support, students are guided through a Self-Directed Learning Cycle to develop a skill set that will help them well beyond their years in school. Students learn how to set goals, make plans, demonstrate their skills and knowledge, and reflect on their progress.
A Parent
Summit Schools
“I am continually thankful and so happy that my kid, who used to always dread school now LOVES his school and his teachers. He came home yesterday and said, “I had the best day!” The whole staff is amazing, and we are so thankful to have found Summit!”
Laura Ochoa
Summit Tahoma Teacher
“I love Summit. I love it because it is such a community. It is small. I know my students and they know me.”
A 12th Grader
Summit Tahoma
“I never saw myself applying to more than one school, and I never saw myself being accepted to more than one school. Summit encourages you and gives you the opportunity to grow.”
Payal Patel
Parent of Summit Tamalpais
“I like being able to work collaboratively with my son’s mentor… to know that there’s somebody outside of his family that is there for him makes me confident that [Summit] is the best place for him to be.”
Ernie Batrez
Summit Tahoma Teacher
“[At Summit], they embrace all of our views and I feel part of a team — a whole team. I’m not just assigned an area or a person. I feel valued. As a whole community, we have a school and staff that are very mission oriented and motivated.”
A 11th Grader
Summit Tahoma
“Even though I will be the first in my family to go to college, I am confident that I will succeed because of all that I learned at Summit, and through everything my teachers at Summit did to prepare me for this next step.”
Summit Blog
Here is why I stayed
I’m a Founding Teacher at Summit Atlas. Here’s Why I’ve Stayed. By Rachel Henty When I joined the Summit Atlas team in 2016, it was my third time helping found a charter school. I moved to Seattle to be closer to the mountains and the great outdoors. When I got here, I didn’t know what…
Summit Atlas teacher, Mandy Vu, shares his story
Mandy Vu, a high school social studies teacher at Summit Atlas, teaches his students that discovering one’s purpose in life can take unexpected turns. Mandy understands this from his own lived experience. He grew up in the Rainier Vista neighborhood, one of the most culturally diverse neighborhoods in the country. After graduating from high school,…
Student Voices: Social capital can go a long way. Here’s why we need equitable access.
Written by Papani Ellison When I started my senior year of high school, I didn’t have the expansive network of relationships as many of my fellow classmates. I didn’t know too many professionals to ask for help or serve as mentors after I graduated. Here is what we do know: Building those relationships through networking…
Forty Percent of Bay Area Recipients of the Prestigious Posse Foundation Scholarships Awarded to Summit Public Schools Students
Of the 10 Bay Area recipients of the Posse Foundation Scholarship award—a four-year, full-tuition, leadership scholarship—four came from Summit Public Schools’ Bay Area schools. The highly sought-after scholarship is awarded to high school seniors across the nation who show extraordinary leadership potential. This year, over 500 students from around the Bay Area were nominated for…
Teach With Us
We put students in the driver’s seat, empowering students with the skills and habits they need to be successful in college and life. In order to achieve our mission, we need a diverse, driven, and dynamic group of teachers and leaders.
Learn More About Teaching at SummitSummit Learning Program
We are pleased to share that the Summit Learning Program has moved to a new home. A new nonprofit organization, called Gradient Learning, now independently leads and operates the Summit Learning Program.
