Compass Connections

• Picture Day at Compass- Monday, August 26
  
• Back to School Night- Tuesday, August 27, 6-8 pm (see below for more information)
• Holocaust Museum Field Trip (Human Experience Seminar)- Wednesday, August 28, 9:15am-2:30pm
• Back to School Picnic- Thursday, August 29, 4:15-6:45pm
• Institute Day (No Students)- Friday, August 30
• Labor Day (No School)- Monday, September 2

Tomorrow, Monday (8/26), is school picture day at Compass Academy! Every student will have the opportunity to have their picture taken for the yearbook, for Compass IDs, and for families to order. To order your student's pictures, visit the HR Imaging site. For students who are absent, there will be a picture retake day in a few weeks, so watch future newsletters for that information.

Any students who do not take buses and are dropped off before 9:15 may enter door 1 or door 27 (formerly 17). Students who arrive after 9:15 must enter the building through door 1. Before the 9:15 start of day, parents are encouraged to drop students off in the Compass parking lot (the one with an entrance on Oak Street) to avoid blocking the buses. At the 2:10 dismissal, parents who are picking students up MUST do so on the Oak Street side to avoid interfering with Compass and Early Childhood buses on 9th Street and to ensure the safety of high school and preschool students who are walking to buses.

During the day, if you are picking your student up for an early dismissal due to an appointment or illness, please park in a visitor's spot along the front of the building on 9th Street and enter the building by ringing the bell at door 1. This is the new Compass entrance for ALL parents and visitors.

Compass Academy now has a main office! The office is located by door 1, so any parents or visitors who need to come in to school for meetings, medication drop-off, etc., should park in a visitor's spot by door 1 and ring the bell for entry. The main office is where you will find Ms. Chavira, the Compass administrative assistant, Mrs. Kearbey, the school nurse, and Mrs. Stanley, the Director of Compass Academy.

If you need to reach the Compass main office directly, you may call Ms. Chavira at (331)228-6638.

By now, all students should have received their bus route information, but if any students who are new to Compass have not found that information yet, they should be able to find bus route information through Home Access Center (HAC). Wednesday routes for part-time Compass students who attend periods later than 2nd period at East or North are being updated and will be viewable in HAC by Tuesday afternoon.

Bus routes are available for viewing by following these steps:

1. Log in to HAC using your username and password.
2. Once you are logged in, click on the Registration tab at the top of the page.
3. Scroll down to find the section titled "School Transportation." This will provide information on pickup and drop off times, as well as bus stop location.

PLEASE CALL (331)228-5180 IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR ISSUES WITH YOUR STUDENT'S BUS ROUTE.

All eligible Compass Academy students will receive District 303 transportation both to and from school and between school buildings if they are taking classes at their home high school or Fox Valley Career Center. The regular Compass shuttle bus from East/North to Compass after 2nd period may not appear in HAC, but all Compass students may take this shuttle as needed. There will also be a shuttle at the 2:10 Compass dismissal to take students back to East/North for athletics and other extracurricular activities.

If your student has physical forms or medication that needs to be dropped off at the Nurse's Office, Mrs. Kearbey, the Compass Academy nurse, will be in her office at Compass each student attendance day from 8:45 am to 3:45 pm to receive forms and medication drop-offs and to answer questions. Parents are also welcome to call or email Mrs. Kearbey with nursing and health care related questions at any time. Her extension is (331)228-2780 and her email address is lisa.kearbey@d303.org. The nurse's office is now located within the Compass main office by the student entrance to Compass, so please ring the bell at door 1 for building admittance and to meet with the nurse.

Connect with other Compass families and keep up-to-date on Compass events by joining this group that is only open to Compass students and families. The Compass Parent Advisory Committee (CPAC) will also have a table at Back to School Night, so you can hear about the upcoming Meet & Greet event and find out how to get involved as a Compass Academy parent then!

In the Geopolitics of Coffee & Chocolate seminar, an interdisciplinary social studies and culinary course, students explored different types of coffee drinks to identify what they want to learn to make in the upcoming week. In the Accident Reconstruction & Failure Analysis seminar, a physics course, Officer Ben Devol from the St. Charles Police Department visited class and brought some of the tools the police use in the field, introducing students to some of the observations, measurements, and calculations they make in order to investigate an accident.

In the Human Experience (Genocide) seminar, an interdisciplinary social studies and English course, students engaged with small groups to begin identifying prior knowledge, define key concepts, explore underlying values, and build academic conversation skills. Students in the Creating Children's Literature seminar, an interdisciplinary English and art course, visited the Early Childhood Center's LRC to meet with the library assistant and learn what books EC students love in order to choose mentor texts to guide them in the creation of their own children's books.

STUDENTS RECEIVED MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THESE OPTIONS LAST WEEK IN ADVISORY. PLEASE NOTE: FIELD TRIPS ARE TYPICALLY ONLY OFFERED ON WEDNESDAYS AND ARE ALMOST ALWAYS SHARED WITH STUDENTS AND FAMILIES WEEKS IN ADVANCE. IN THE COMPASS MODEL, THE EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING IN WHICH STUDENTS ENGAGE ON FIELD TRIPS IS INTEGRAL TO THE LEARNING IN THEIR COURSES, SO STUDENTS ARE EXPECTED TO ATTEND ALL FIELD TRIPS THAT ARE COURSE-ALIGNED.

STUDENTS MAY COMPLETE THEIR LUNCH ORDER FOR THE WEEK BY CLICKING THE BOX ABOVE AND MAKING THEIR SELECTION BY 9:45 A.M. MONDAY MORNING.

Compass Academy students pre-order their lunch, so if your student plans to order lunch, please have them complete the form that is linked above. Students are always welcome to bring food from home, if they prefer. If your student may qualify for free or reduced lunch, please complete this form or have them get a paper copy of the form from the Compass office.

To report a student absence, please call the Haines Center main line at (331)228-3400 and follow the menu options for Compass Academy. If a student who attends classes at both their home high school and Compass will need to miss a full day of school, parents only need to call Compass Academy for students' attendance to be entered. The Compass Academy administrative assistant, Alexandra Chavira, will ensure communication between buildings.

Are you interested in learning about the various career options available in St. Charles? Through the city's career pathway job shadow program, Compass students can shadow people in many career fields, including office administration, communications, accounting, firefighting, government, law enforcement, construction, forestry, water management, and vehicle maintenance. Students who participate in job shadowing during the school year, and then write reflections about their experiences, have the opportunity to earn credit for Career Exploration.

For more information about this opportunity, students should scan the appropriate QR code on the bulletin board in the academic hall or make an appointment to see Ms. Ohlson, the Compass counselor.

Sharon Stanley, Director

Email: sharon.stanley@d303.org
Website: https://compassacademy.d303.org/
Location: Compass Academy, South 9th Street, St. Charles, IL, USA
Phone: (331)228-3400
X (Twitter): @CompassD303