The Compass Notes
Compass Elementary Parent Newsletter
December 7th, 2020
Second Semester Class Assignment
Recently, all of our families completed their declaration for their student’s learning scenario for second semester (which begins January 11, 2021). More than 140 families district-wide, have chosen for their child to return to in-person learning from remote learning at the elementary level. As you can imagine, those changes have a significant impact on staffing for both the remote and in-person learning scenarios for our learners. We will need to make some alterations to class assignments for our students to create balanced and safe (in-person) learning environments for our learners for second semester. We want to keep families informed about our process. The graphic below shows our timeline for this process.
Process Timeline
November 2020: Families make remote or in-person declarations for second semester
December 2020: District Leadership identifies staffing needs for both remote and in-person learning
December 4, 2020: Buildings communicate class assignment process to parents (WE ARE HERE)
December 2020: Buildings create balanced class lists for second semester
December 2020: Buildings prepare building and classrooms for change in class sizes
December 18, 2020: Buildings communicate to families about student-teacher assignments for second semester (beginning January 11)
January 4, 2021: Students return from winter break to 1st semester teacher/class (to complete assessments and progress monitoring for report cards)
January 11, 2021: Students start with second-semester teacher/class - January 11, 2021
This process may result in your child being assigned to a different teacher for second semester. We will be alerting families on December 18 through email about that classroom assignment.
Important to Know
Not all students/grades will require a resort of students (due to varying numbers of staff and students returning from remote).
To avoid confusion, all families will receive an email on December 18 confirming each student’s teacher assignment for second semester.
We will not be accepting parent requests for change, or stay-in-place for this process.
All teachers want to keep all of their students, so they will not be the deciding factor on placements. Rather teachers will be involved in creating a balanced classroom using their current information about students’ academic, social, and emotional information.
No administrator wants to move students mid-year. This particular situation this year is certainly an exception to our current practices.
Your child will be looking to the adults in the home for guidance on their personal reaction to the assignment. We would ask that you find a positive frame to discuss this change (if there is one) with your child.
Requesting a chromebook for your student
Things to Note:
- If you already filled this form out for November 23rd and 24th, you DO NOT need to fill it out again.
- If you want a chromebook for future virtual learning days, you must fill out the form below to request a chromebook. The completion of this form serves as an official request, permission to send home a chromebook and acknowledgement of responsibility to return all technology and accessories that were sent home with the chromebook.
- All chromebooks and accessories should be returned on the next In-Person learning day and returned to the classroom teacher.
Technology Tips for Virtual Learning Days at Home
How to use Google Meet - Helpful Tips
Students will need to:
- Download the Google Classroom and Google Meet Apps.
- Sign into the Google Meet app using their student Gmail login information. This is the same information they use to login to a Chromebook at school.
- Have the Google Meeting ID provided by the teacher.
Please watch the attached video (first video below) for more information on how to find the Meeting ID in your Google Classroom.
After students and families have accessed their Google Meet, the second video provides tips that will be helpful during the Google Meet.
Additionally, we want to provide information on how to access the Google Classroom and Google Meets from a home computer (i.e. PC or Mac). Please see the third video below for guidance on this.
Car Rider Dismissal- Rotation of Car Tag Numbers
We want to continue to thank all of our families for your help in the car rider dismissal process. This process has been going very well, and has allowed our families to quickly and efficiently pick up their student(s). As mentioned in September, we want to offer an equitable process throughout the year as a whole for the time that families can move through the dismissal line. We would like to begin this rotation on Monday, November 30th. Again, thank you for your support as you in this process, we sincerely appreciate it!
The following will be the schedule for Second Quarter: (December & January)
- Families with car rider tags 36-70 arrive at Compass no earlier than 3:35 pm.
- Families with car rider tags 71-105 arrive at Compass no earlier than 3:40 pm.
- Families with car rider tags numbered higher than 105 arrive at Compass no earlier than 3:45 pm.
- Families with car rider tags 1-35 arrive at Compass no earlier than 3:50 pm.
Virtual Guest Readers at Compass
The Weather Is Changing
Information for All Families
Waiver Allows Free Meals for All Students
All students, whether in-person or remote, will be eligible for a free breakfast and free lunch each school day. Remote students and off-campus in-person learners can place orders for curbside pickup meals, which will include a lunch and a breakfast. Curbside pickup orders should be placed by 8am the day of pick up. Click here for further details and here to view our school menus/place orders.
Dates to Know
December 8th:
- PTA Meeting at Compass @ 6:30 pm (CANCELED)
December 9th:
- PLC Early Dismissal- 1:50 pm
December 17th:
- Board of Education Meeting- 6:30 pm
December 22nd:
- Winter Party Date
December 23rd:
- Winter Break Begins
School Messenger
The District, as well as Compass Elementary, uses text messaging and automated phone calls to notify parents of upcoming events and days off, school closings due to weather, and emergency situations.
Newly enrolled families will automatically receive an opt-in message from 67587. If you missed it, simply text "Yes" to 67587 to receive these text messages.
Thanks To Our Pirates R.O.C.K. Business Partners!
Compass Elementary School
Email: archerk@platteco.k12.mo.us
Website: https://www.plattecountyschooldistrict.com/site/Default.aspx?PageID=15
Location: 401 Kentucky Avenue, Platte City, MO, USA
Phone: 816-858-0172
Facebook: Facebook.com/CompassElementarySchool
Twitter: @CompassElemPCR3
Compass Elementary School Office Hours and Arrival/Dismissal Times
8:30-Students can enter the building
8:50-Official start time for the school day
3:35-Dismissal Processes Begin
3:50-Official End of School Day
4:15-Front Office closes
12 Days of Holiday Spirit and Giving
We are hosting the 12 Days of Holiday Spirit and Giving. Each of the days below has a dress-up holiday spirit day and a "donation of the day". All donations will go to the Platte County Treasure Chest, KC Pet Project and Wayside Waifs. We will have collection bins for each day in the front hallway.