Compass Chronicle
Online Elementary School | Summer 2018
Happy Summertime!
At the beginning of the school year, I ask myself these questions: Who are schools for? What change do I seek to make? The answer to number one is very easy. Schools are made for children. For my second question, the change I seek to make in education takes a lifetime.
I have been privileged and honored to have been able to serve our elementary school scholars and families at Compass Charter Schools. As an administrator, I have come to realize that if I am not working with scholars, then I am not fulfilling my purpose as an educator. This year, working with scholars has brought me a tremendous amount of joy. Together with you and a talented, dynamic group of teachers, we had multiple school rallies at Halloween, Thanksgiving, New Year’s, and Valentine's Day. We displayed our art skills in our Virtual Art Fair, and our writing skills at our Writers Festival. Each week scholars also joined our virtual recess and showcased their leadership skills. And our wonderful team of teachers even created our own virtual curriculum, Compass Lanes, that allowed our scholars to produce first-class academic content. What each and every scholar did and accomplished is valuable!
I leave you with the following charge: Learning coaches, I value what you do, and I see you. It is challenging to go against the grain and help your child learn at home. Your decision is a tough one, but you have made a courageous choice. A choice that will pay dividends in the future. To our scholars, I give you these tips: Stay curious, read often, look for problems to solve, contribute, write daily, and choose yourself. In life, you will face people who don’t believe in you, but I encourage you to pay them no mind. Find the people who will support you, and value your dreams. Look for those who will move you towards your passions, and just know that I believe in you. I value you. Thank you for a great year!
Sincerely,
Steven Thompson, Elementary School Coordinator
“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Table of Contents
- What's New
- Family Spotlights
- Scholar Projects & Assignments
- Staff Spotlight
- Share Your Story
What's New in Elementary School?
If you missed any of our exciting activities, visit our YouTube channel to watch the On the Road with Mr. Thompson video series. Each week scholars were given a new learning experience that they could try at home. We also debuted Under The Hood, an overview of our lesson plans for learning coaches to reference. You can catch up with Under the Hood or On The Road with Mr. Thompson in previous editions of the Monday Morning Update!
FAMILY SPOTLIGHTS
We are featuring the Rockett Family.
Learning Coach Bart Rockett and his elementary school scholars, Kadan & Brooklyn Rockett, share their experience at Compass.
CCS: We know that often with our scholars each day is different, but what would a typical day look like for you and your scholar?
Bart: If we are on tour, they actually do school aboard our tour bus where we have a private back room with satellite wi-fi. Sometimes they learn while driving across the country, and sometimes they study while sitting near one of the theaters that they are performing in later that night. They do school work while our crew sets up the show. The rest of the time, when we are not traveling, we are usually on set working on TV projects where we have a dedicated room for our schooling. When we are at home, they are pretty much like normal kids and do their school work there.
CCS: What has been your greatest joy in schooling your scholar at home?
Bart: Getting to spend more time together as a family and having the flexibility to learn around our busy schedule is awesome!
CCS: Share a challenge that you have experienced and how you have worked to overcome the challenge.
Kadan & Brooklyn: Our greatest challenge was while we were in China doing a television show because we were blocked from the Internet for almost three weeks. We were unable to do school work. We, of course, got to see so many amazing sites and learned so many things. When we finally arrived in Germany, which was our next stop with Internet, we had a LOT of catching up to do! Occasionally when traveling, we will lose Internet access on a plane or the bus and lose all of our progress on a test or assignment and then have to start over. That's frustrating, but we deal with it!
CCS: Why did you decide to school from home with Compass Charter Schools?
Bart: Online schooling gives our family the flexibility to travel and schedule school around our unique lifestyle. We simply could not do what we do without it!
CCS: What do you enjoy most about being part of our Compass community?
Kadan & Brooklyn: Having the flexibility to do our school work regardless of whether it's a holiday, weekend, or evening.
CCS: Share a piece of advice you’d give to a parent thinking about taking their child out of school to school at home.
Bart: A LOT of time is wasted during the day at traditional brick-and-mortar schools. Waiting, changing classes, transportation to and from, etc. all add up to a lot of time that could be devoted to other things. Kids learn at different paces and are stronger in different academic subjects. Online learning allows scholars to focus longer and more heavily on a subject that might be more challenging for them and move through lessons that they have already mastered. As long as you make sure to get out of the house for activities, have good friends, and a good social life, you will never look back at traditional schooling!
CCS: What do you, your scholar, and the family enjoy doing together during your free time?
Bart: Kadan & Brooklyn are pretty normal kids when they aren't doing TV or live shows. They enjoy video games, swimming, playing with their new puppy, and making fun Youtube videos for their new channel. As a family, we love traveling together and we always make sure to put in extra time to visit cool places that are nearby.
This month we’re also featuring the Howell-Manos Family.
Learning Coach Tarah Howell and her scholars Kyrah and Lincoln Howell-Manos share their experience at CCS.
CCS: We know that often with our scholars each day is different, but what would a typical day look like for you and your scholar?
Tarah: A typical day with our scholars begins by waking up slowly, getting dressed, washing up, and about 15 minutes of Cosmic Kids Yoga and meditation. Next, the kids help make some healthy breakfast choices as we discuss food preparation and how our choices benefit our bodies and the environment. Then, we talk about which school subjects we will be learning and gather the necessary materials. After about an hour or two of learning, we head outside to our garden for a sunshine break, play, and snack time. If the weather isn't favorable, we play board games and read a few books together. Finally, we work for another two hours or so on school subjects. Just about every day we include some sort of craft project and every night a story is read before bed.
CCS: What has been your greatest joy in schooling your scholar at home?
Tarah: My greatest joy in schooling our scholars at home has been the true quality of each day. More time is invested in family and nurturing.
CCS: Share a challenge that you have experienced as a learning coach and how you have worked to overcome the challenge.
Tarah: I faced challenges a few years ago when I was a new learning coach. Our family was new to schooling at home and our degrees are not in teaching. All of the curricula that were delivered to our home was a bit overwhelming but also exciting. Our daughter was starting Kindergarten, and it just seemed like too much for her. With a slightly panicked phone call to our assigned teacher, we were quickly reassured that we would be OK. We purchased an eight-cubby bookcase and set up a spot for each subject which is a system that we still use even after three years of schooling at home. We have been able to stay very organized this way! We worked through our challenges by communicating with the teachers through calls, texts, or emails with any questions or concerns, and they really helped boost our confidence!
CCS: Why did you decide to school from home with Compass Charter Schools?
Tarah: We started by learning about the local public schools in our area. The public schools in our community do not have the high ratings that we desire, so we toured a public brick-and-mortar charter school in the town next to ours. We weren't very impressed with the curriculum and would also have to factor in gas and commute time five days a week. I had heard about the K12 program almost everywhere. After some research, I found Compass and got started with the online application for our daughter. That was the best choice for our family!
CCS: What do you enjoy most about being part of our Compass community?
Tarah: What we enjoy most about being part of the Compass community are the field trips. There are multiple field trips to choose from each month and our daughter is able to learn so many interesting things.
CCS: Share a piece of advice you’d give to a parent thinking about taking their child out of school to school at home.
Tarah: A piece of advice I’d like to give to a parent who is thinking about schooling their child at home is to really consider how much time they would need to contribute to their children's education. It does take a lot of involvement from the parents!
CCS: What do you, your scholar, and the family enjoy doing together during your free time?
Tarah: During our free time, we visit our local library, our favorite used bookstores, Underwood Farms, Zuma Beach, Universal Studios, or we hike on one of the many trails in our community and go out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants. Schooling at home makes it easier to get out in public during less busy or crowded times.
SCHOLAR PROJECTS & ASSIGNMENTS
STAFF SPOTLIGHTS
Meghan Fisher, an elementary school teacher at CCS.
CCS: What is your job title, and what are a couple of the things you do at Compass Charter Schools? How long have you worked for this organization?
Mrs. Fisher: I have been with CCS since October 2014, and I currently teach second-and third-grade scholars in our K-5 Compass Lanes Program.
CCS: Tell us your “why” for doing what you do here at CCS?
Mrs. Fisher: My role as an educator is to help scholars find their gift, then encourage them to share it with others. That is "why" I teach at CCS!
CCS: As an educator, is there a piece of advice you’d like to share with learning coaches or scholars?
Mrs. Fisher: Give yourself grace. Schooling at home is both rewarding and challenging. Enjoy the good days, and let the bad days go.
CCS: Share one thing about you that very few people know.
Mrs. Fisher: I wanted to be an actress when I was a kid. After a few years of auditions and meetings with agents, I realized it wasn't for me.
CCS: What do you and your family like to do during your free time?
Mrs. Fisher: My family and I love camping. We have gone on several road trips in our Volkswagon Vanagon. The vehicle doesn't move very fast, but we get to spend a lot of time exploring and sightseeing!
Katie Hooper, an elementary school teachers at CCS.
CCS: What is your job title and what are a couple of the things you do at Compass Charter Schools? How long have you worked for this organization?
Mrs. Hooper: I have been at Compass for three years and have loved getting to know all of my amazing scholars and their families.
CCS: Tell us your “why” for doing what you do here at CCS?
Mrs. Hooper: I enjoy meeting and guiding our scholars' learning during school field trips, clubs, and other committees. I love teaching at CCS because I get to meet and talk to parents who are committed to their child's education. I also get to work with an incredible team of teachers who have become great friends of mine, proving that distance really does not matter when it comes to common goals!
CCS: As an educator, is there a piece of advice you’d like to share with learning coaches or scholars?
Mrs. Hooper: As a teacher, I encourage learning coaches to balance their time during the school day by giving lots of breaks to their scholar to help make the day run more smoothly. I also encourage learning coaches to take time for themselves; this is the time they will need to avoid feeling burned out and overwhelmed.
CCS: Share one thing about you that very few people know.
Mrs. Hooper: Something many people may not know about me is that I taught swimming for nine years in high school and college. I now enjoy watching my girls swim on their swim team!
CCS: What do you and your family like to do during your free time?
Mrs. Hooper: In my family, we like to watch movies, go to swim meets, and work on the yard together. I love CCS because I feel I can make a difference in my family’s life.
SHARE YOUR STORY
Compass Charter Schools
Email: info@compasscharters.org
Website: www.compasscharters.org
Location: 850 Hampshire Road, Suite P, Thousand Oaks, CA, United States
Phone: 855-937-4227
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CompassCS/
Twitter: @CompassCS
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