The West Contra Costa Unified School District board renewed Summit Tamalpais’ charter for five years, following a scrutinous line of questioning from the trustees.
WCCUSD trustees, in a 3-2 vote, expressed disappointment that Summit fared worse in state school testing, particularly in math, compared to the district’s average. Summit administrators, however, highlighted their positive school culture, high rankings for college and career readiness and unique career pathway programs that differ from those in traditional public schools. Trustees Jamela Smith-Folds and Cinthia Hernandez voted no.
“All of the things that you highlighted still hasn’t moved your academic numbers,” Smith-Folds said at the Oct. 7 school board meeting. “I do believe that you should be outpacing the district because of all the things that you have set up … When I don’t see that over five years, or even before … it causes a point of pause.”
Summit Tamalpais, located in the Hilltop neighborhood, serves 659 students in seventh to 12th grade. The school is one of seven charter schools housed under a larger charter management organization, Summit Public Schools. The organization prides itself on using a personalized, self-directed learning model that combines hands-on projects, self-paced digital content and one-on-one mentoring.
Like traditional public schools, charter schools get public dollars based on per-pupil enrollment. What makes them different is that charters have the flexibility to use different learning models. The trade-in for that flexibility is they must meet certain standards to be allowed to operate.
Every five years, charter schools go back to their authorizing agency, such as a school district or county board of education, for renewal. A middle-performing school, such as Summit Tamalpais, is presumed to be eligible for a five-year renewal based on state metrics (meaning WCCUSD can only deny renewal if they prove the school has failed to make sufficient academic progress and that closure is in the best interest of students). A high-performing charter can ask for a seven-year renewal.
The WCCUSD school board, the authorizing agency for Summit, approved the five-year renewal at its Oct. 7 meeting on the condition that they receive an annual report tracking progress in academics, chronic absenteeism, teacher credentialing, special education and English learner outcomes. If the report doesn’t show improvements, WCCUSD will create a written improvement plan with measurable benchmarks and timelines.
Tiffany Reynolds, Summit Public School’s senior director of learning experience, said she was “thrilled, relieved and grateful” for the renewal and noted that improvements have been underway.
“Renewal hearings are kind of always intense because everyone in the room cares really deeply about education and their children,” Reynolds told Richmondside after the hearing. “It was long and it was a passionate night, but the important thing is we were renewed, and that means we get to remain a great option for students in Richmond.”
Reynolds also noted that the metrics don’t tell the full story. At Summit, English language learners are reclassifying at faster rates than at district schools as a whole, meaning they are becoming proficient in the new language. The school also outperformed WCCUSD traditional schools in college and career readiness by a long shot. All Summit students apply and get accepted into at least one four-year college or university, and 80% of college-enrolled students persist (meaning they make it past the two-year mark). All of the students also take at least one advanced placement (AP) class.
WCCUSD trustees acknowledged the charter’s strengths, primarily the culture of safety and belonging, as well as the Expeditions program, but said academic metrics need to match.
“The mentoring model for students is great, and the Expeditions program gives students some valuable career-connected experiences, and I think all of that matters. There’s some really good things going on,” trustee Leslie Reckler told Summit officials during the Oct. 7 board meeting. “However, all of this must be accompanied by strong academic data … Summit remains in the middle-performing category, primarily hanging on by your college and career indicator. That’s the only thing really that kept you from being classified as a low-performing school.”
Summit scores are below standards in math, English
Since the 2021 school year, Summit has averaged 113.6 points below state standards in math and 40.4 points below standards in English Language arts. The 2024-25 school year was the lowest yet — 121.8 points below standards in math and 56.9 points below standards in English.
By comparison, WCCUSD students overall scored 77.9 points below the standard in math and 52.4 points below in English in 2024-25. Every year since the pandemic, the district has seen improvements.
During the charter renewal process, Summit did not share embargoed state metrics for the 2025-26 school year with the district, stating that under state law they were not obligated to. But that information was released today and showed that their English scores fell by 6.6 points and math increased by 1.8 points. Comparatively, WCCUSD English scores fell by 2.2 points and math increased by 4.6 points.
Board clerk Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy, who ultimately voted in favor for renewal, said he wavered on his decision, primarily because the school refused to share embargoed date.
“To me, that’s saying that you’re hiding something,” he told officials.
Gonzalez-Hoy said without measurable improvements, he would advocate for the school’s closure in the coming years.
Reynolds attributed the low test scores to a number of factors, including learning loss from COVID and students transferring from low-performing WCCUSD elementary schools.
“More than 60% of our students entering Summit Tam in the seventh grade arrive below grade level in (English) and math,” Reynolds said. “So our job is to keep expectations high while serving students … Like any school improvement, what that means is finding the right set of supports to help each new class that arrives in seventh grade both catch up and keep up.”
She said Summit Tam math data fluctuated annually by roughly 10 to 15 percentage points because the school was trying different education technologies, curriculum and structures to fill those gaps.
“Over the past three years, we’ve been (trying new things and collecting data),’” Reynolds said. “This year we feel very like locked in.”
Summit Tam has implemented new “high quality instructional material” such as Illustrative Mathematics for math and Odell Education curriculum for English. In the classroom they have tools such as Course Mojo that seeks to improve English outcomes by giving students real time feedback on their assignments. They also have more assessment tools to help identify specific learning gaps in math to help determine why a lag is occurring.
Class schedules are different at Summit
The biggest change implemented is perhaps the school day structure, which looks fairly different from that of a traditional school.
Students start the day by meeting with their mentor group before classes start. This is when students can meet one-on-one with their mentor to check in on academics and personal life, or connect with students in their cohort. Mentors help identify learning gaps through different assessment programs and create a roadmap with the student to achieve long-term goals — including post-graduation plans.
“They are basically the champions or the students of their (personalized learning plan)” Izzy Mason, who manages public affairs at Summit Public Schools, told Richmondside.
Mentors also act as an advocate for the student. They can let teachers know if a particular student is having a rough day or help pick career-exporation programs that fit their overall goals.
Students then attend their core classes in a block schedule.
The last period of the day is a structured student support block, where students break out into smaller groups to focus on learning gaps or accelerations.
“You might be a student who is actually on track in your courses, and you need acceleration. And so you might actually be working on a passion project. . . or working on Tam TV (a student journalism and media reporting program),” Reynolds said. “There also are going to be students who need some small group math instruction and so you are grouped (with about 15 other students) and you’re working on the same five to six skills this week.”
This is also when English language learners meet for additional instruction with peers on the same level.
Reynolds said the success of this restructuring and new assessment tools should start to show in the upcoming years.
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“No matter what, like you’re always gonna be like someone important here.”
— Emilio Dominguez, Summit Tam student
She also noted that while the school’s state scores are lower than the overall WCCUSD scores, math and English scores at Summit are better than seven of the eight district high schools.
About 79% of Summit high school students live in neighborhoods zoned for Kennedy or Richmond high schools, and Summit outperformed those schools specifically.
The comparison was in the charter school’s initial report presented to the board in September and during the renewal hearing last week as well.
But that particular metric, however, drew sharp criticism from trustees who emphasized that WCCUSD schools serve a much higher percentage of English language learners, special education students, homeless students and newcomers.
For that reason, the WCCUSD staff report deemed such comparisons as unequal.
“That really bothers me, and it makes me mad,” Reckler told administrators. “These schools serve very different students with much more intense needs, and these comparisons unfairly cast a negative light on those schools.”
Gonzalez-Hoy also noted that most of the students who transfer out of charter schools to WCCUSD high schools come primarily from Summit.
“Why they’re choosing to go back to Kennedy High School or even Richmond High? That’s where they’re transferring,” Gonzalez-Hoy said to Summit officials. “And you pointed out tonight they’re much lower performing than your school. Why are they choosing that?”
He also raised concerns about high staff turnover rates and teacher credentialing. The percentage of credentialed teachers at Summit fluctuated with a low of 47.4% in 2022-23 to a high of 51.7% in 2020-21.
The school has consistently been behind WCCUSD and state in hiring and maintaining a teaching staff with Clear credentials, according to WCCUSD’s staff report.
100% of students graduate and get accepted into universities
Despite the lower state test scores, Summit students appear prepared for the next step in their education. All students take at least one AP class, graduate and get accepted into at least one four-year college or university. About 75% of students enroll in postsecondary institutions.
The charter administration credits that to a number of factors: significant support from staff, a career-exploration program called “Expeditions” and course offerings.
A Summit survey found that 90% of students say adults at the school care about them as a person and 94% of students have a positive outlook for their future.
When Richmondside visited Summit before the renewal hearing, several students expressed a similar sentiment.
Ninth-grader Ellaya Lawson said Summit is a “take-action school.”
“If the students want something, the teachers or the admin always find a way to make it happen,” Lawson told Richmondside.
For example, Lawson knew she wanted to be a student government leader in seventh grade, but Summit did not have a path for that. She worked with Gregory “Mr. B” Brookins Hinton, the middle school dean of culture and instruction, to establish a student government association by her eighth grade year.
Now, she is the ninth grade student body president. She also plays varsity volleyball, is on the track and field team and is a member of Tam TV.
“It was so cool,” Lawson said. “(Mr. B) gave us voting cards, and when you go vote, we had like little privacy stands like a real voting booth … and then we got the ‘I voted’ stickers.”
Brookins Hinton, the advisor for Tam TV, said creating that feeling of belonging is a central part of Summit’s mission and is something made possible in part through its lower student-to-teacher ratio, which this year is 26-to-1.
Junior Emilio Dominguez, who is also a part of Tam TV, said the smaller school makes the community more “tight-knit.”
“You are cared for here,” Dominguez told Richmondside. “Everyone knows each other, so like no matter what, like you’re always gonna be like someone important here.”
Dominguez said there are many opportunities to shine. Through Tam TV he was able to be a student reporter at an Oakland Roots game and sit in the pressroom at a Warriors game.
“I’ve been able to get many opportunities, to be in rooms where I never thought that I would be able to get into,” Dominguez said. “It just opened my eyes.”
Students get out-of-classroom experiences 30 days a year
Summit offers a wide array of student programming that is not typically offered at a traditional school. Both middle and high school students spend 30 days a year outside of a classroom doing “expeditions.”
Three times a year, students must sign up for a 10-day expedition to explore different career paths. The expeditions are unique and tailored to student interests. This could be anything from a day at barbershop to a high tech company. Through these expeditions, students can also earn industry-recognized certifications.
“Some (examples) include professional certificates in data management, program management, cybersecurity, UX and UI design (that) are recognized through Google,” Reynolds said. “And in our previous graduating classes, we know that these certifications have led to direct employment with Google.”
Other certifications include Washington State University’s Junior Vet Scribe certification to gain more experience and credentials in animal health careers. Summit also offers food handler certifications for those who are interested in pursuing culinary arts and hospitality.
Eighth-grader Jackson Bailey said he knows he wants to study architectural engineering in college because he completed an expedition exploring “how cities are built.” Students met with architects and engineers to learn more about city planning careers. They concluded the expedition by building their own city with different craft supplies.
“I knew I wanted to create stuff, but this expedition really made sure I knew exactly what I wanted to do, before I did not know what I was envisioning,” Bailey told Richmondside. “Before I did not know what I was envisioning … Now (there is a clearer path) to create stuff that can help people, whether that’s a homeless shelter or just a bridge to get across a big body of water.”
Bailey said while he was a student at Olinda Elementary School, he only went on one field trip a year. His sixth grade class didn’t go on any.
But this is only one perk of Summit, he said. The biggest aspect he appreciates is how the administration responds to bullying.
He said at Olinda he saw students be excluded and bullied and said complaints were unaddressed. Even if teachers did step in, the culture didn’t change. At Summit, he said while there is bullying, it is very quickly shut down and occurs less frequently.
“To me, (Summit) means a place where I get to experience opportunities I may not have experienced anywhere else,” Bailey said. “It means a place where I get to just be myself. It means a place where I feel comfortable.”
