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Editor’s note: A previous version of this story included the incorrect year year Summit Everest opened.
A dozen teachers stood in front of Summit Everest, a Redwood City charter school, on Friday, March 7, to protest the Summit Public Schools Board’s lack of support toward the staff’s transition and future employment after it introduced a recommendation to close in January at the end of the school year due to insufficient funds and low enrollment.
On March 6, the board voted unanimously on the official closure, according to local teachers.
During the protest, school faculty held signs that read “Justice for Teachers,” and “United for Our Students.”
While all students at Summit Everest are guaranteed enrollment at the school’s sister campus, Summit Prep, teachers are in the unknown on what the next school year will look like for them.
“It’s been a great experience here and it’s sad that the school is closing, it’s hard for this community,” said Spencer King, AP United States History teacher at Summit Everest. “It’s important that teachers and students feel supported through this process and we feel that hasn’t been the case.”
Summit Everest, opened in 2009 with 100 students and had welcomed has many as 400 students over the years. Since 2019, the school has struggled with a declining enrollment rate and for the 2023-24 school year, 293 students were enrolled. It now joins a list of other California Summit Public School closures including Summit Rainier in San Jose which closed in 2020 and Summit Denali in Sunnyvale which closed in 2023.
The Summit school model encourages relationship building between students and teachers through a mentorship program. Every student has a mentor who guides and supports them throughout all four years of high school, according to the school’s website.
“We want the chance to continue being with our kids, which I think is a rare thing for a lot of teachers to say,” said Dawn Towers, visual and performing arts teacher. “One of the tenets of Summit is mentoring and building relationships and we want to keep those relationships going.”
English teacher Matthew Sigler said since the board’s vote, teachers have been in a “weird limbo” feeling unsure whether they should start applying for other jobs or wait to hear about opportunities to transfer to Summit Prep, located a mile and a half down the road.
Despite feelings of disappointment around the school’s closure, teachers say they were not surprised. Sigler said that the process leading up to the board’s vote was similar to that of Summit Denali. He said there was instability and inner turmoil within the school as enrollment continued to plummet.
Students were devastated to hear about the closure, and some stood by their teachers on Friday morning supporting them through the difficult transition. Sophomore student David Luna said Summit Everest is like a home for him.
“These teachers have helped us in every way that they can and they work hard for us to get a good education,” Luna added.
Before enrolling in Summit Everest, Luna didn’t have the motivation to work hard and pursue a successful future, but through the mentorship and support from his teachers, he said his mindset changed.
“I’m learning now that these people are here to help and I should take more advantage of that,” he added.
Cristel De La Cruz Bonilla, a senior at Summit Everest , attributes her strong public speaking skills and personal growth to the teachers and environment of the school. Through the school’s Expeditions Experiences program, De La Cruz Bonilla said she was able to join debate and other activities which helped her come out of her shell and encouraged her to be more social at school.
Others are worried for their teachers’ futures as they hear about the lack of transparency from the school board and the uncertainty of teachers being able to transfer to Summit Prep.
“The teachers here genuinely care about the students and it sucks how some of them will not be able to transfer to a school where we have already built a community and have to uproot,” said Gie Ruiz, a junior.
Summit Everest teachers were given the opportunity to apply for a position at Summit Prep, but there have been no further details on what positions are available.
“At the end of the day, we came into this career to help the next generation and we’re keeping this up every step of the way. (We’re keeping) the students center, just making sure that we’re supporting them with this uncertain time,” said AP government teacher Chris Beggs.
