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By Brian O’Shea, Plateau Daily News
After raising $7.2M and only 12 months of construction, the newly built high school at Summit Charter School was officially opened at a ribbon cutting ceremony on Aug. 22.
Summit’s new high school building after a ribbon cutting ceremony was held last month.
Head of School Kurt Pusch spoke a few words that included thanking the immense amount of support Summit received from the community.
Kurt Pusch said a few words at the Summit High School ribbon cutting ceremony.
“We are incredibly grateful for the heart and dedication of our community, parents, staff, and students in making Summit’s new high school campus possible,” said Pusch. “The project is truly the product and expression of a community’s commitment to the education of our students and the future of our school. We are so grateful for this support and inspired to carry the unique Summit spirit of pride and ownership forward!”
Josh Crawford hugs Melissa Hudson at the ribbon cutting ceremony after thanking her for her hard work and dedication.
Summit officially broke ground on the new high school and launched their capital campaign in August of 2023 after quietly raising $3.7M up to that point.
Students hold signs thanking the community for its support in building the new high school.
Less than one year later, Summit reached its $7.2M goal.
Students wait for class to begin at the new high school building.
“Since breaking ground on Summit’s phase II high school expansion in August 2023, our goal was to open the new building by August 2024 in time for the start of the 2024-25 school year,” said Pusch. “We recognized this was an ambitious timeline and would require a dedicated team effort to accomplish. We have so many to thank for being able to accomplish this goal, including the dedication of our board, staff, parents, students, and countless volunteers; our architects at Jumper Carter Sease and our builders at JDavis; and the immense generosity of our donors and supporters, including over $1 million in in-kind donations throughout the construction process that enabled us to dramatically decrease our costs and our time of construction to make the goal of opening for the start of the 2024-25 school year possible.”
Students head to class in the new high school building.
Also announced was the creation of a new award in recognition of Summit Development Director Melissa Hudson for her service throughout this project.
“Melissa Hudson’s service and dedication to Summit and our community is tremendous and truly a difference maker in the lives of so many,” said Pusch. “In honoring Melissa’s spirit of service, the Ms. Melissa Service Award will honor a high school student each year whose service to others makes a positive impact in our school and community.”
The new high school cafeteria.
Before passing the mic to Josh Crawford, Pusch said in honor of Crawford’s endless hours of dedication to the future of Summit School, Crawford has been awarded his own parking spot.
“In honor of Josh, and his countless hours shaping and perfecting the site on which this campus stands, and in keeping with his very practical nature, we dedicated a parking space that will be reserved for him in perpetuity—a reminder of Josh’s incredible love for this school and his impact on countless generations of Summit students,” said Pusch.
Josh Crawford then took the podium and thanked numerous members of the community, as well as JDavis Construction and Jumper Carter Sease.
Read more about the groundbreaking ceremony for Summit’s new high school HERE.
The new high school’s entryway.
Pusch thanked the community for their support including:
To our founders, thank you for your wisdom and foresight in building the foundation of Summit from which we have continued to grow and strengthen for 28 years. And, I want to specially thank Dr. Barbara Carlton, who has championed Summit since our beginning, and to this day, has attended every groundbreaking and ribbon cutting ceremony in Summit’s history.
To our Board of Trustees and Foundation Board members, our parents, and our teachers and staff— thank you for pouring your hearts into our students and our school, and for your partnership in advancing Summit’s mission each day.
To the countless parent, staff, and community volunteers who have gone above and beyond in their service, pitching in day and night to pull this project together— from furnishing our school to installing the landscaping and so much more–we thank you!
To our expansion committee—Ann Betty, Josh Crawford, Melissa Hudson, Sarah Jennings, Boris Krueger, Mark Letson, Roman Placko, Celeste Pratt, and Taylor Stewart—thank you for your selfless teamwork and tireless energy in leading this effort, and always keeping our students and the mission of our school at the forefront of every decision over the last year.
To our architects at Jumper Carter Sease and our builders at JDavis, most especially Frank Pursley and Ben Qualkinbush, who over the last year have become our family in this work, thank you for managing this project to completion— on-time, with the highest quality and care, and with the dedication that truly reflects the heart of Summit.
To our in-kind donors, thank you for so generously sharing your talents to bring the quality and scale of our new high school campus within reach, dramatically decreasing our costs and construction time to make today’s opening for our students possible.
To our many generous donors and supporters, thank you for your belief in our students and the growing impact of Summit’s mission. Because of your immense generosity, and the inspiring leadership of Melissa Hudson, we have achieved our 7.2 million dollar capital campaign goal in just over one year to fully fund our expansion and bring the dream of reaching Summit’s next chapter to life.
And finally, to our students, the center of why we are here. You are most deserving of all that this new campus will open up to you in your education. In the spirit of Summit, I challenge each of you to take ownership of your school and leave it stronger for the students who follow behind you.
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on Aug. 22:
