Compass Family Update
September 12, 2016
Upcoming Important Dates and Events
Monday, September 12th
- Eid-al-Adha: School Closed
Tuesday, September 13th
- First FULL day of school (4:00PM Dismissal)
- Kids Orbit After School Program Begins
Wednesday, September 14th
- 8:20AM: First Community Gathering of the school year (Students and Compass Staff Only)
- First Wednesday Half Day for Professional Development (1:00PM Dismissal)
Thursday, October 13th
- 6:00PM-8:00PM: Curriculum Night
FROM THE CO-DIRECTORS
Dear Families,
We have lots of information to share with all of you and you will receive most of this information in a weekly newsletter we call the Family Update. We send it out every Monday. Please take a few minutes to read through the information each week and let us know if you have questions. If your family would prefer a paper copy of the newsletter each week, please let Brooke (brooke@brooklyncompass.org) know and we will send one home with your child. Also, please let us know if notice that a family member is missing from our email list.
Social Emotional Learning
This week, each class focused on community building building, playing name games, and learning routines for the new school year. We draw much of our approach to the beginning of the school year from Responsive Classroom's First Six Weeks of School and Caring School Community. We are implementing both Caring School Community and Responsive Classroom this year as we focus on Social Emotional Learning. Social Emotional Learning in school can help children grow in the following areas:
- Social and emotional skills
- Attitudes about themselves, others, and school
- Social and classroom behavior
- Conduct problems such as classroom misbehavior and aggression
- Emotional distress such as stress and depression
- Achievement test scores and school grades, including an 11-percentile-point gain in academic achievement
Special Classes in the Studios
All classes visited the three studios: visual arts, music, and sustainability. These were short introductory sessions and full sessions will begin this week. The week of September 19th, our second and third graders will begin weekly dance classes with teachers and a musician from Mark Morris Dance Group . These classes will continue through January. Kindergarten and first grade will attend weekly dance classes in the spring.
Community Gathering
Our first Community Gathering of the school year will be this coming Wednesday morning at 8:20AM. Our tradition since our founding year has been to have students and Compass staff at the first two Community Gatherings. We invite you all to join us for our weekly community building ritual beginning Wednesday, September 28th. Community Gathering lasts from 8:20AM-9:00AM each week and takes place in the gym on the first floor of the school building.
Thank you for joining us for year three! We're looking forward to our work together this year.
Brooke, Michelle, and Todd
Save the Date: Curriculum Night
Compass Curriculum Night is an evening dedicated to sharing our approach to teaching and learning at our school. Our teachers will provide an outline of our curricular plans for the year as well as reflections from the first few weeks of school. There will also be time to ask questions.
Curriculum Night is an important event and we request to have at least one person from each child's family present to learn more about our curriculum and expectations for the children at our school. Please let us know if you have any questions.
We will meet in the auditorium from 6:00-6:30 as an entire school community and then families will disperse to the classrooms for curriculum presentations by the teachers.
Childcare will be provided. Children can be dropped off for childcare beginning at 5:45pm.
Thursday, Oct 13, 2016, 06:00 PM
300 Adelphi Street, Brooklyn, NY, United States
Update Your Family's Information
Please take the time to fill out this form so that we can update your child's records and plans for this school year.
This form serves as an annual check-in regarding important information (medical, emergency contacts, bussing) that we would like to update every year. You have all filled some of this information out for enrollment and may have even occasionally updated this information verbally or via email. This form will allow us to more easily maintain and input your child's records in our new student information system, PowerSchool.
Compass Uniform Policy: Spotlight on Shoes
Children at Compass are expected to wear sneakers or other closed toe supportive shoes to school each day. Please do not send your child to school in sandals. If you have specific questions about our uniform policy or need assistance with school uniforms, please let us know.
School Contact List: Opt Out Option and Date for Sharing Updated List
We will share the contact list on Monday, September 19th. If you do NOT want your contact information shared with the Compass community, please email Brooke (brooke@brooklyncompass.org) by September 18th.
Food Services
Every year, the DoE asks us to ask our families to fill out the Food Services application even if you have no intention of using Food Services. Please take five minutes to fill out this form, as this information about our community's demographics could help us with raising money for the school.
Administering Medication at School - Original Documentation Required
Important Reminder that medication of any kind can only be administered once an ORIGINAL COPY OF the DOE's Medical Administration Form (MAF) has been completed and accepted by the school nurse each year. Until that document is accepted by the nurse, Compass, nor the nurse will not administer medication. You can get a copy of the appropriate form (options 1, 2, or, 3 depending on the need) here.
No DoE-Bussing on Columbus and Veterans Day
Looking ahead to October and November, please mark your calendars and plan for the fact that there are no DoE yellow busses provided on Monday, October 10 and Friday, November 11. Unfortunately, you will be expected to get your child to school through other means. We apologize for this inconvenience.
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