Compass Family Update
November 20, 2016
What's happening this week (and next week) at Compass?
November 21st-25th, 2016
- No School for Students: Thanksgiving Break (School is closed for students this week. The teachers will be at school for professional development at the beginning of the week and then the building will be closed for the Thanksgiving Holiday.)
November 28th, 2016
- Half Day for Students (12PM Dismissal)
- 7:00PM: Compass Board Meeting
November 29th, 2016
- 8:15AM-9:00AM: Third Grade Parent Meeting (Community Room)
- Second Grade (Pine and Elm Classes) Field Visit to BAM
Wednesday, November 30th
- 8:20AM: Join us in the gym for Community Gathering
Thursday, December 1st
- Half Day for Students: 12PM Dismissal
- 1:00PM-8:00PM: Family Conferences
Friday, December 2nd
- Half Day for Students: 12PM Dismissal
- 1:00PM-6:00PM: Family Conferences
FROM THE CO-DIRECTORS
Dear Families,
Happy Thanksgiving week! We hope you enjoy the holiday with your families and children and we will see you all on Monday, November 28th. If you haven't already signed up for your Family Conference for next week, please do so as soon as possible. Our teachers are looking forward to sharing your child's growth with you.
At the beginning of this week, our entire staff will participate in Responsive Classroom training. This is a week long training that we are splitting up into two parts. We will have two days of the training this week and the remaining days in early January.
What is Responsive Classroom?
Here's their definition of the approach:
Responsive Classroom is a research-based approach to K-8 teaching that focuses on the strong link between academic success and social-emotional learning (SEL). We believe that a high-quality education for every child is built on the foundation of a safe and joyful learning community. We provide professional development for elementary and middle schools worldwide.
Why Responsive Classroom at Compass?
The Responsive Classroom approach is based on increasing teacher effectiveness in order to increase student achievement and strengthen school climate. We are still a very young school and school culture takes several years to build and create. We have worked collaboratively to bring our mission and vision to life and have had some success in creating a consistent school language, yet we know we need to continue to work on strengthening this cohesive language and approach. We elected to use a large portion of our professional development funds for training in the Responsive Classroom approach because this approach has a proven track record for supporting schools in creating a cohesive school culture and climate that is based on positivity, safety, a sense of belonging, and fun. This week is just the beginning of many trainings that we will do with our Responsive Classroom consultants in the coming months and years.
What does the Responsive Classroom approach look like in practice?
Below are two videos that provide additional information about the Responsive Classroom approach. The first video provides an overview of the approach and the second video provides a window into responsive schools. You may notice that we already do some of the aspects of this approach. Our trainings will help us to expand on the practices that are already in place and provide consistency in teacher language and structures across the school.
If you have additional questions, please feel free to reach out to the co-directors.
Sponsor A Family Holiday Gift Drive
For the third year in a row, we have organized a Sponsor-A-Family Gift Drive to support families in need in our community this holiday season. With the growing size of our school, we have decided to focus on supporting families in our school community this year.
We are grateful for any donations that you are able to make, no matter how small. Donations (gifts should be unwrapped) can be brought to the Compass Main Office (Room 431, 4th floor) on or before Friday, December 19, 2016. Please click HERE to sign up to provide a gift for the drive. The gift drive will end on December 19th.
Donations can be made via check (made out to "Friends Of Compass Charter School", checks can be left in the FSC mailbox in room 431) or via Square Cash to the “cashtag" $FSCCompass (you can also go to this website to make a square deposit. https://cash.me/$FSCCompass). Please write Holidaysponsor in the notes section. Monetary donations will be used to purchase items that are not signed up for during the drive or to purchase gift cards for families.
Please contact our Community Support Coordinator, Stephanie, at stephanie@brooklyncompass.org if you would like to make a donation in cash or in another way.
Thank you so much!
Community Closet
Please take a look at the info above about our Community Closet. The Community Closet is a free store that is available for families to use as needed. The closet is open on Wednesdays and is also open by appointment. Please reach out to Stephanie, our Community Support Coordinator, for more information or to schedule an appointment. Her email is stephanie@brooklyncompass.org.
4-6 Volunteers Needed: Holiday Gift Wrapping Fundraiser at Greenlight Bookstore
Holiday Gift Wrapping Fundraiser at Greenlight Bookstore on December 22nd, 2016
Each year, Greenlight Bookstore invites local schools and other nonprofit organizations to have volunteers wrap holiday gifts at the bookstore and collect tips on the busiest days during the holiday season. In addition to helping out the hardworking bookstore staff, this is a great opportunity for fundraising and awareness-raising for our school. Compass will receive money from tips from wrapping gifts and we will also receive a gift card with 20% of the total sales from the day.
Interested in helping? Here are some ways to help out:
- We need two volunteers at a time (no more, no less) signed up during the giftwrapping times listed. Please sign up for a volunteer slot HERE.
- We need one alternate volunteer for each time slot. This person will be on call in case one of the volunteers is unable to come at the last minute. Please sign up HERE to be an alternate.
- If any volunteers are under 18, Greenlight requires that there be 1 adult and 1 child giftwrapping at a time.
- Volunteers should plan to arrive about 10 minutes before their scheduled shift.
- If you aren't interested in wrapping gifts and/or all of the volunteer slots are taken, please stop by Greenlight Bookstore to shop for books on the evening of December 22nd. 20% of the proceeds will go back to our school!
Square 1 Art Fundraiser
Most of our classes are participating in the Square 1 Art Fundraiser (all classes except the Tulip class). Please click HERE for more info about how to order items printed with your child's artwork. Catalogues were sent home on Thursday and all children in participating classes received a FREE sheet of stickers with their art printed on it. All orders will be shipped in time for the holidays. Please reach out to Rasha (rasha@brooklyncompass.org) if you have questions.
Our Healthy School Fund: November
If you have not already contributed to the Healthy School Fund for September and October, please do so as soon as possible. We ask that you contribute $30 per child per month. Directions for payment are listed below. Please let us know if you have questions. If you need support in making contributions to the Healthy School Fund, please let us know and we will do our best to support you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Various ways you can make payments to Compass (for the Healthy Snack Fund, t-shirts, school lunches) include:
- Mail or hand-deliver a Cash, Check, or Money Order to Todd or Chelsea (For the time being, please only give money to these two Compass employees. Haleema, our new Finance Manager, will be setting up a new process for receiving funds in the near future.)
- Venmo: username = compasscharter
- Square Cash = send your contribution to Todd’s work email address: todd@brooklyncompass.org.
- Here are slightly sophisticated directions for how to setup an automatic payment through Square Cash if that helps you.
- Chase QuickPay = send your contribution to Todd’s work email address: todd@brooklyncompass.org. Chase's platform allows you to easily setup a recurring payment.
- Online: https://brooklyncompass.org/donate/
2016-2017 School Year Calendar
Click HERE to access our public Compass calendar.
Compass Charter School
Follow us on Instagram @brooklyn_compass
Feel free to reach out anytime with questions or to catch up. Our contact info is listed below.
Brooke Peters, Co-Director of Curriculum and Instruction
718-310-3588, extension 503
Michelle Healy, Co-Director of Curriculum and Instruction
718-310-3588, extension 504
Todd Sutler, Co-Director of Strategic Development
718-310-3588, extension 501
Email: info@brooklyncompass.org
Website: brooklyncompass.org
Location: 300 Adelphi Street, Brooklyn, NY, United States
Phone: (718) 310-3588
Facebook: www.facebook.com/CompassCharterSchool
Twitter: @compasscharter