Compass Chronicle

Dear Compass Families,

We look forward to the renewal of spring and the warmth bringing health and positivity into our lives. There is much to be proud of at Compass and so much going on virtually and in-person with our exciting engagement activities. I am incredibly proud of the Compass Experience we provide our scholars and if this experience meets their individual educational needs. This newsletter contains important information and updates about Compass Charter Schools’ activities and accomplishments.

This year, we introduced our Wellness for Educators series for staff, scholars, and families. The series includes workshops in trauma, stress, yoga, meditation, bilingual mindfulness, movement and poetry, dance therapy, and more! This gives our staff and families a chance to escape the stress of everyday life and the challenges in our world today, to take some time to de-stress and unwind.

Our Counseling Department has been providing incredible learning labs in topics including, ‘We All Make Mistakes,” “Diversity and Inclusion,” “March to Motivation,” and more! Our counselors do an exceptional job preparing our scholars for what is to come, whether moving to middle school or pursuing college or a career. Compass truly cares about our scholars’ well-being and success.

Semester 2 is well underway, and Compass continues to welcome new scholars into our family. Not part of the Compass family, but intrigued about the Compass Experience? Great news – enrollment is now open for the 2022-23 school year! Consider joining our family for the upcoming year!

Is there something specific you’d like to see in the newsletter? We have Virtual Suggestion Boxes for scholars and parents, where you can share your input on Compass Charter Schools. We review these monthly with our Parent Advisory Council, Scholar Leadership Council, and Staff Advisory Committee. Feel free to share your suggestion(s) today to help us continue to enhance the educational experience for our scholars.

Thank you for choosing Compass. Our goal always remains to put our scholars first. So continue to keep up the great work as we continue with our second semester.

Forever Loud & Proud,

J.J. Lewis, Superintendent & CEO

jlewis@compasscharters.org

@lewis1jj

AVID Tutorials - Our AVID elective scholars have accepted the challenge of the rigorous Tutorial Process. The goal of AVID tutorials is to use the Socratic Method to guide their learning as all scholars reflect and think critically on questions they have in their core courses. In a group setting, the scholars present their “Points of Confusion” and share their 30-second speech, where they provide an overview of their pre-work and current level of understanding. This allows the scholars to practice their public speaking skills as they build confidence and take ownership of their learning. In addition, group members provide support and engage in higher-level questioning as they interact with the scholar presenter.

One scholar, in particular, has shown tremendous dedication, focus, and bravery, Jeremiah Franco. Jeremiah is an online scholar who displays excellent leadership and preparedness skills week in and week out. In addition, he is an active listener, organized, and invests in his future.

What do you enjoy about AVID?

I enjoy the collaboration and engagement in class. And also the encouragement.

How has AVID helped you with your schoolwork this year?

I have been getting excellent grades my first semester, and I was awarded an Honor Roll Award. I believe AVID has helped me achieve that.

Would you recommend AVID to another scholar? Why or Why not?

I would highly recommend this program to other scholars because it is helpful in school and gaining a head-start into the future past high school.

What is one goal you have for your future? How does AVID fit into your future?

I would like an engineering job in the future; AVID helps me understand what colleges look for in an engineering course.

We are happy to announce AVID 7! This Middle School Elective course will be available to motivated scholars who want to collaborate with peers and learn WICOR (Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, and Reading;) strategies that build scholar ownership and confidence. During learning labs, scholars have fun working together on inquiry projects and gaining knowledge on note-taking and processing notes. This learning experience is an opportunity to be a leader of your class and have fun working with others who are driven for success in their future endeavors.

The Counseling team continues to add additional vlogs and resources to our Compass Counseling Virtual Office. These short videos provide scholars information in academic, social-emotional, and college/career support.

What is your job title and job responsibilities at Compass? How long have you worked for this organization?

I am one of the counselors here at Compass. I work with grades 6-12 with last names beginning O-Sh. I have been a school counselor for nearly a decade, and I have been with Compass since 2016. This is my sixth school year here. As a counselor, I help scholars in three domains, academic planning and support, solution-focused brief social/emotional counseling, and college/career topics (alongside Ms. Olson, our College and Career Readiness Counselor.) These supports range from individual sessions to small groups to more extensive learning labs and VLOG production, to name a few modes of service delivery.

Tell us your “why” for doing what you do here at Compass.
My “why” for doing what I do at Compass is always the scholars. I find great joy in helping them overcome barriers, self-doubt, and the like. Most often, success starts first with assisting scholars in realizing they have all that it takes to do well already; it’s simply tapping into their own belief. Then, seeing their progress and heightened self-confidence throughout the school year gives me all the energy I need. Also, our team here at Compass is supportive, scholar-centered, and all-around fantastic. There is no better school to work for.

As a counselor, is there a piece of advice you’d like to share with learning coaches or scholars?

Take each goal and each day one moment at a time. What is that saying? “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Be patient with yourself and find grace in the errors.

Share one thing about you that very few people know.
Before receiving my school counseling degree and credential, I worked as an in-home ABA behavior consultant for children on the autism spectrum and other related diagnoses (my caseload was mainly aged 2-7.)

What do you and your family like to do during your free time?
We love to explore local parks, restaurants, and museums with our cousins and close friends.

We are so proud of our seniors and wanted to share some exciting milestones from our Compass Class of 2022! We had a total of 28 scholars who have completed all the necessary graduation requirements so far this year! Our senior class has also received several early acceptances to the following universities:

• San Diego State University

• San Francisco State University

• Pepperdine University

• Cal Poly Pomona

• Concordia University

Go Firebirds!

It has been a busy and exciting year for scholar engagement so far! Scholars have visited locations all over California including iFly San Diego, Knott’s Berry Farm, the Gardens at Heather Farm, Sherman Library and Gardens, San Diego Air and Space Museum, Big Bear Ski Trip, Astrocamp, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, and Chabot Space and Science Center. Check out the Monday Morning Update (MMU) each week for our latest field trip offerings!

Scholars have continued to impress us with their many talents through our Virtual Scholar Workshops including our Spelling Bee, Spring Virtual Club Open House, Black History Month Assembly, Silky Chickens, Forensics with the Spy Museum, Spy 101, Doodle Pop with Luther Burbank, Women’s History Month Assembly, Spring Scholar Talent Show, and Career Day. Check out the Monday Morning Update (MMU) each week for our Virtual Scholar Workshop releases!

Our scholars have been meeting every Monday afternoon for our scholar clubs, and they’ve been having so much fun! Our wonderful club advisors have created some wonderful, engaging activities for their club meetings. Scholars explored the food, landscapes, and the top 10 cities to visit in Mexico during their Virtual Field Trips Club meeting, scholars made vegetable soup, learned chopping techniques during Cooking Club, scholars learned how to start seeds indoors to prep for the upcoming spring garden season in Gardening Club, and scholars used an app to create and share their own tempos during Music Club!

Our learning coaches have been joining our Orientation Coordinator, Ashley Daugherty, every Monday at 10 am for tips and information. During these live sessions, anxiety solutions, testing tips, cyber security, and utilizing engagement offerings during these live sessions!

We had a beautiful celebration of Black History Month on Friday, February 11. Scholars joined our assembly to learn about Black History Month's importance and learn about African American historical figures Shirley Chisholm and Gordon Parks. In addition, they heard directly from our scholars as they performed their original poetry. We are excited to highlight a poem written by scholar Avery S. of CCS of Los Angeles titled, Racism below.

The Special Education Department is proud to welcome three new staff members to our team, LaTonya Thomas and Jill Missner, education specialists, and William Gee, Special Education Administrator. They will be great assets to our continuously growing Special Education team!

March 21 was Down Syndrome Day, and April is Autism Awareness Month. We love working with these incredible scholars. We honor and celebrate our special needs community!

Compass Charter Schools is a non-profit charter school. Your donation helps enhance and expand the Compass Experience for our scholars, learning coaches, and staff.

The easiest way to give is online at https://www.compasscharters.org/giving/.

If you can make a gift, the Compass family will benefit greatly.

Do not forget to check if your company will match your donation to Compass. It is an excellent way to SUPER-SIZE your donation! Thank you!

Are you enjoying the educational experience at Compass? Tell us! We want to hear from you. Why did you decide to join the Compass family? Or, what do you love most about being part of our community? Share you comments and all of your wonderful experiences at Compass with us! Click here to share.

Visit our website for more information about our academic programs. Want to get connected? Give us a shoutout on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram: @CompassCS #CompassExperience

Email: info@compasscharters.org
Website: www.compasscharters.org
Location: 850 Hampshire Road, Suite P, Thousand Oaks, CA, United States
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CompassCS/
Twitter: @CompassCS

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