The Summit Ranch

04/24/2026

Year one: done. And wow.

Thank you to everyone who joined us at our 1st Annual Champions for Summit Ranch fundraiser. Together, we raised over $170,000 and blew past our $150,000 goal.

Every dollar goes directly to kids and families who count on Summit Ranch. We could not be more grateful.

Save the date for year two: April 16, 2027.

Thank you to our sponsors.
None of this happens without you.

Champions of Champions: Wachter

Heart of a Champion: Epic Landscape Productions, Felshaw Kueser Wealth Management at Edward Jones, Shook Hardy & Bacon, Twin Lakes Insurance Agency, McAnany Construction, Storycorder, Weichert Realtors Welch & Company

Champion for Change: Creative Planning, Van Meter, Arvest, The Kistler Family, Darrin and Sandra Karley, UMB, Macoubrie Zimmerman

Event Sponsors: Mano's, Spark, RD, Boulevard Brewing, Act 1 Productions, The Scoop Coupe, Lake Quivira Country Club, Mike's Wine & Spirits, Hotel Kansas City, CREATEDkc, Agenda USA

04/22/2026

Friday is Shawnee Chamber's Community Impact Day, and we still have volunteer spots at Summit Ranch (1-4pm)!!

Here's what you're signing up for: three hours outside on 100 acres, working alongside other people who wanted to do something useful with their Friday afternoon. No special skills needed. We'll put a tool in your hand and point you at our garden area projects!

This is the property where kids and teens spend their weeks learning regulation skills, working with animals, and figuring out how their brains work. Keeping it in shape is how we keep doing that work.

Link to register: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094FA4AA29A1F9CE9-62952682-shawnee?fbclid=IwY2xjawRUb-pleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETEzTmFYWUxlcUNmSlo0QzBEc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHoyV_XQPFJtRbIp63_J8W_420170yn2fJIJbc5isJLFUUf_AVWT5-sTu5JQr_aem_kxJ3dHVN9k60hVuw8vY7Gw #/

04/21/2026

Tonight! Our monthly Dyslexia Support Group meets at 5pm, and this month we have a guest presenter: Neal Zoglmann, a Reading Support Teacher and Doctoral Student in Special Education with Sunflower Literacy, presenting on advocating for effective IEPs for students with dyslexia. If you've ever sat in an IEP meeting and felt like something was off but didn't know what to push for, this one is for you.

This group is free and open to any parent or caregiver. Whether your kid was just identified or you've been in this for years, you're welcome.

Join us in person or virtually:
In person: Summit Ranch, 18555 Johnson Drive, Shawnee, KS. Adults meet downstairs, kids meet upstairs with Summit Ranch staff.

Register at www.summitranch.org/groups

Virtual: Register for Zoom at https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/-TV3A_T3SCa-mpQCpDLcMQ

Tuesday, April 21 / 5:00 to 6:00 PM Central

04/20/2026

The school says your kid is fine. You know they are not.

Or your kid has an IEP, and you cannot tell whether it is actually helping. You read the goals.
They sound reasonable. Reading is still a battle.

Tuesday at 5 PM, we're hosting a dyslexia group with Neal Zoglmann, a structured literacy specialist. He is walking parents through what schools are required to provide, how to tell whether an IEP is targeting the right skills, and what to ask for when it is not.

It is for parents who are done guessing and want to know what they can actually do.

Tuesday, 5 to 6 PM at Summit Ranch
www.summitranch.org/groups

OR

Via Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/-TV3A_T3SCa-mpQCpDLcMQ?fbclid=IwY2xjawRSESFleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFwb2g1bG1BM01zbVlGNmVVc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHk3dQwU16-E9HIUPr4rjWPJU44k9a0e8hHV1-fAAho9qU0ECwbmcxobe2yoy_aem_Jf2ozHzsaonikindmZZJNw #/registration

No diagnosis needed.

Bring the kids, they have their own space with our team.

Free.

04/17/2026

This Tuesday: our Dyslexia Parent Support Group is breaking down reading IEPs with guest speaker Neal Zoglmann.

Neal is a Reading Support Teacher and Doctoral Student in Special Education. He'll walk through what to look for in reading goals, services, and accommodations, and he does it without the overwhelm.

📅 Tuesday, April 21
🕐 5:00–6:00 PM Central
📍 In person or Zoom
👧 Kids welcome (we'll have activities for them)

Spots still open for both in-person and Zoom.
Register for in-person: www.summitranch.org/groups
Sign up for Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/-TV3A_T3SCa-mpQCpDLcMQ?fbclid=IwY2xjawRCNgBleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETE0OHN2VTZtRnk5N3JHUTR4c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHmuru_MaoMk6_M1lkd29YXOwaP7VOkRwZVjGKXG2MfsRNQCCrmMcATyp1piU_aem_hIyB9jmAj03d9gnT1SnJDQ #/registration

04/15/2026

Tomorrow night.

Champions for Summit Ranch

Wednesday, April 16

Date: April 16, 2026

Time: Doors open at 6:00 PM (VIP Sponsor Party begins at 5:30 PM)

Every dollar supports coaching, therapy, and group programs for kids in KC.

Tickets still available: https://summitranch.org/champions-fundraiser

04/13/2026

Here's what your support actually does.

Not in theory. Not in a brochure. In a kid's actual day.

Summit Ranch provides executive function/ADHD coaching, clinical therapy, and group programs for kids and teens ages 8-18 in Shawnee, KS. Every program is built around how the kid's brain actually works — not a one-size-fits-all curriculum.

On April 16, we're hosting Champions for Summit Ranch, our first annual fundraiser. Every dollar stays right here in KC, supporting this work for local families.

🎟️ Tickets and info: https://summitranch.org/champions-fundraiser

Thank you to our presenting sponsor Wachter and our community sponsors: MaCanany Construction, Storycorder, Twin Lakes Insurance Agency, Epic Landscape, Macoubrie Zimmerman, CREATEDkc, Act One Productions, Manos Wine, KC Scoop Coupe, and Spark Branded Solutions.

04/11/2026

A 10-year-old who told his mom he thinks he's stupid last week is standing next to a horse, explaining to the horse what happens in his body when he gets frustrated. He's not in a therapist's office. He's not sitting in a chair. He's outside on 100 acres, working with an animal that doesn't care about his report card.

His mom is walking her dogs around the trails while she waits. She can see him from a distance. He's calm. He's talking. He's not being asked to sit still and make eye contact.

This is what it looks like when you build around how a kid's brain actually works instead of asking them to force-fit into something that doesn't.

Champions for Summit Ranch is April 16. Every dollar keeps this work going for KC families.

🎟️ Tickets and info: https://summitranch.org/champions-fundraiser

04/09/2026

You get the IEP draft the night before the meeting. You flip to the reading goals and they're full of language you've never seen before. You don't know if 30 minutes of reading support a week is enough. You don't even know what questions to ask.

That's exactly why our April Dyslexia Parent Support Group is focused on understanding reading IEPs. Neal Zoglmann (Reading Support Teacher, Doctoral Student in Special Education, and dedicated Dyslexia Advocate) has a gift for breaking this stuff down without making families feel like they're behind.

📅 April 21, 2026
🕐 5:00–6:00 PM Central
📍 In person at the Ranch or via Zoom
👧 Kids welcome. We'll have activities for them elsewhere on the property.

Register for in-person: www.summitranch.org/groups
Sign up for Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/-TV3A_T3SCa-mpQCpDLcMQ?fbclid=IwY2xjawRCNgBleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETE0OHN2VTZtRnk5N3JHUTR4c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHmuru_MaoMk6_M1lkd29YXOwaP7VOkRwZVjGKXG2MfsRNQCCrmMcATyp1piU_aem_hIyB9jmAj03d9gnT1SnJDQ #/registration

04/08/2026

Here's the trajectory nobody talks about.

A kid who's smart but can't show it in a classroom built for a different kind of brain. They mask all day. They crash at home. The school says "try harder." The parent advocates until they're exhausted.

By middle school, the kid has internalized it. Not the "try harder" part. The "something is wrong with me" part.

That's not a character flaw. That's a kid who needed someone to explain how their brain works and help them build strategies that actually fit.

That's the work we do at Summit Ranch — executive function coaching and clinical therapy for neurodivergent kids and teens in Shawnee, KS.

On April 16, we're hosting Champions for Summit Ranch, our first annual fundraiser. Every dollar supports this work for KC families.

Get tickets here: https://summitranch.org/champions-fundraiser

04/06/2026

For Autism Acceptance Month, our EF Coach Katie Black wrote about something a lot of parents quietly wonder about.

You probably know this moment: your kid is completely lit up, talking at full speed about their one specific thing. The rest of the world falls away. Their whole body settles.

And somewhere in the back of your mind, you wonder if you should be redirecting them.

Here's what Katie wants you to sit with: when a neurotypical kid memorizes every batting average or spends hours planning a Taylor Swift concert outfit, we buy them trophies. We call it dedication. We call it fandom.

When a neurodivergent kid applies that same depth of passion to Pokémon or Warrior Cats or the wives of Henry VIII, old-school therapy calls it a "restricted interest." A behavioral problem to be managed.

Same intensity. Completely different response.

Their joy is not a symptom. It is one of the most important tools their nervous system has. When we restrict access to it, we are not teaching resilience. We are taking away the thing their brain uses to recover.

Katie wrote about this from her own experience as an AuDHD adult, and what the research actually says about why these interests matter.

Read it here:

Stop pathologizing neurodivergent passions. Discover how autistic joy serves as a vital regulation tool and why your child’s deep focus is their greatest strength.