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Summit Public Schools

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Summit Public Schools reviews

3.3

47% would recommend to a friend

(147 total reviews)
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Diane Tavenner

42% approve of CEO

39% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

3.6

Compensation and benefits

3.3

Diversity & inclusion

3.2

Culture & values

3.2

Career opportunities

2.9

Work/Life balance

2.6

Senior management

Summit Public Schools has an employee rating of 3.3 out of 5 stars, based on 147 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Summit Public Schools employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Education industry (3.7 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Reviews by job title

147 reviews
5.0
Dec 14, 2015

Amazing culture and commitment to excellence

Math teacher
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The best part of working at Summit Public Schools-Sierra is that we are building a school and with that come great reward. We are working in the heart of the International District of Seattle with some of Seattle's most at-risk students. We have a diverse community of students where inclusion and school culture is our focus. In Summit Sierra, all staff is valued and our opinions are truly heard. All staff is committed to making our school and our students be successful. We also get 40 days a year of professional development where teachers get to work on curriculum development, collaborate with colleagues from other schools, and plan for the future. There are always opportunities to take on responsibilities and grow as a leader. Overall, I have loved working at Summit Sierra and it has been the best career move I have made.

Cons

Starting a small school is always going to be a challenging. The work load is manageable and I always feel very supported, it just takes a lot of energy. As a new school with a small, but mighty staff, we do take on many different roles and responsibilities, but as we grow, these responsibilities will lessen.

4.0
Dec 4, 2015

A good place to grow, even if not perfect

Teacher
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Mission-driven organization - no one is there just for the paycheck or the benefits. Everyone cares about kids and families first. - The best professional culture I've ever experienced - positive, upbeat, and supportive faculty and administration. - Useful and productive meetings and meeting processes/norms. I actually looked forward to and enjoyed the meetings. No, really...I did. - Able and willing to change quickly in response to students' needs and teachers' ideas. - I learned a TON about how to build culture, diffuse conflict, collaborate on a professional team, grow my teaching practice. - After I left Summit and went to work for a regular district school, I appreciated Summit even more: No gossip about students and their parents. No endless whining in the lunch room. No grumpy "just get to me retirement" teachers. No clueless and ineffective administrators. No racial or sexist slurs or discriminatory categorizations of students. And guess what: I worked just as hard and long at that district school as I did at Summit, in part because I had the "least seniority" and was given 4 different preps to prepare for every day, without much/any support. This would never have happened at Summit, where new teachers work hard, yes, but are seen as more in need of support/easier loads than more experienced teachers.

Cons

No question, it's a lot of work. Teachers are asked to wear many hats - teacher, mentor, admin-assistant. This is not necessarily a bad thing, and can be empowering and wonderful in that you get to work with colleagues and develop different skills. But it is a lot of time and work. There is some question about whether the rate of change is a good idea or not. It might be better to iterate slowly by trying different things out at different locations.

5.0
Dec 4, 2015

Great place for mission-driven, reflective, educators; great colleagues and collaboration

Teacher
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I truly believe my colleagues that are recruited by Summit are some of the best in the world, both in terms of skill and dedication. A lot of the interview is based on your values, mindsets, beliefs towards kids, and experience differentiating to serve all students. If you want amazing colleagues and leaders who will both support and push you, this is a good place for you. Like the other reviews say, you need to be willing to work hard to make a difference, and recognize the sheer amount of work, passion, and dedication it takes - from leadership to teacher to student - to build an amazing school. Every week brings a desire to get better collectively. Your classroom is not an "island" here. Collaboration is built into everything that is done at Summit. And, as a teacher, you have a direct hand in shaping and being part of the discussion around the culture of the school as a whole. It's cool to be part of an organization that is leading the charge of personalizing learning in our country.

Cons

It is hard work, and you need to really want to both teach and iterate on your classes and the school as a whole. Constantly looking at how your students are performing and doing in school takes a lot of work, just like all teaching does. Summit does ask a lot of you - being a mentor, camping with students, taking students on study trips, meeting with parents when it is needed, etc. That said, these are some of the most fulfilling parts of the job for me, even though many categorize them as "additional responsibilities." It is not a great place for people who want to check-in and check-out or be comfortable teaching the same thing in the same way year after year. Responsiveness is great for our students and the culture of our schools, and fairly, is harder for a teacher who is used to a constant routine.

Viewing 139 - 141 of 147 Reviews
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Glassdoor has 159 Summit Public Schools reviews submitted anonymously by Summit Public Schools employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Summit Public Schools is right for you.