Background: Serving a Diverse Title I and IB Campus
Harris Middle School in San Antonio Independent School District is a Title I campus and an International Baccalaureate (IB) school. Ms. Catherine Coley teaches seventh and eighth grade science there. About 30% of her students are experiencing homelessness, and about 25% are Emergent Bilingual learners.
The campus serves a global mindset, but the needs are wide and very real. Ms. Coley came into the year with one big goal: get every student to finish their Personalized Learning Plan, no exceptions.
“My goal was pretty lofty. I wanted one hundred percent of my students to complete their PLP. The extra practice would line up directly with STAAR success, and that was very important to me.”
— Ms. Catherine Coley, 7th & 8th Grade Science Teacher, Harris Middle School
The Challenge: A Tool Sitting in a Classroom Versus a Tool Driving a Culture
In her first year using Summit K12, Ms. Coley had not yet attended the training. The tool was there, but it was not yet driving daily routines or student talk.
After attending professional development in January, everything changed. She understood the goals, the alignment, and how students should be engaging with Dynamic Science. She came into the new year with a much clearer vision.
She wanted Summit K12 to be a school-wide conversation. Not just something in her classroom. Something every student and every teacher was talking about.
The Search: Why Tier One Instruction Needed a Stronger Partner
Strong tier one instruction was already in place. But Ms. Coley believed her students needed more reps. They needed to see the science content from different angles, in shorter chunks, with repeated practice.
She wanted a program built directly from the TEKS, with videos, anchor charts, and lessons that broke complex topics down into pieces students could master. Dynamic Science delivered all of that.
The Solution: An Everest Theme That Made Growth Visible
Ms. Coley turned her classroom into a mountain-climbing journey. She built a large Everest mountain display in a high-traffic part of the campus. The mountain was split into 10% increments, color-coded by class, with small incentives at each level. Students could see exactly where they stood compared to their goals and their classmates.
She built daily classroom slides with Everest trivia, countdowns to deadlines, and links to TEKS like plate tectonics and the Himalayas. The theme became a full ecosystem of motivation. Students slowed down in the hallway just to see if their tracker had moved.
“Students would tell me, I worked on Summit last night. Did I move? That kind of investment in their own learning was something I had never seen to that degree before.”
— Ms. Coley
Family Engagement: Bringing Parents Into the Routine
Ms. Coley built family communication into her plan from day one. She made a trifold brochure with tips for home. She sent weekly emails with deadlines and expectations. She posted updates on social media.
She asked families to build a simple nightly routine: set a timer for seven o'clock, log in for fifteen minutes, and stay consistent. Cramming was not the goal. Steady practice was.
“At a track meet, parents were asking each other, where is your kid on Summit K12? That is when you know something has become part of the community.”
— Ms. Coley
Most Impactful Features
- TEKS-aligned Personalized Learning Plans built from a diagnostic
- Phenomenon-based videos that hooked student interest
- Repeated practice on dense TEKS like cell parts and plate tectonics
- Anchor charts and supplemental resources tied to tier one instruction
- Strong professional development that turned the platform into a daily routine
Impact and Results: Double-Digit Growth on the Interim
From the Cambium interim assessment to the end of the year, Ms. Coley's students moved scores by double digits. Tier one instruction was strong, but Dynamic Science pushed scores to the next level.
Students made real connections between Summit K12 lessons and the daily science class. During review, they would say, I am doing that lesson in Summit right now. I already know this. That background knowledge made every class period more effective.
Ongoing Partnership: A Program Worth Showing Up For
Ms. Coley said the training, the communication, and the support from the Summit K12 team made the difference. She had questions throughout the year, and everyone was responsive and helpful.
“It is aligned to the TEKS. It gives students extra practice, and it really drills down on the content. I don't see how it can't move the score. I love this program so much I told my husband I wanted to apply for a job at Summit K12.”
— Ms. Catherine Coley, Harris Middle School, SAISD
