Staff Polar Bear Express
Updates for Week of July 17
Compass Rose Legacy Middle School
CRA Polar Bears do what's...
- Respect
- Ingenuity
- Growth
- Honesty
- Teamwork
Email: info@compassrosesa.org
Website: https://www.compassrosepublicschools.org/
Location: 3300 Sidney Brooks, San Antonio, TX, USA
Phone: 210-540-9265
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CompassRoseSA/
Welcome from your CR Legacy Middle School Leadership Team !!!
Hello Team!!
We hope you all are doing well!! Here are your weekly updates. This week the newsletter has a ton of updates regarding our reopening. Please make sure to read the Covid-19 updates and review the links. In addition, make sure to complete the action steps at the end of the newsletter. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer :)
Clear Goals, Full Hearts, All In!
Brittany Mike, Monica, and Vincent
Important announcement from Paul regarding reopening( information from email sent earlier this week)
Dear Compass Rose Team:
This summer has been a whirlwind of information, uncertainty, and change. We are excited to welcome you back to school in just a few short weeks, but as you have no doubt come to expect, that does not yet mean a return to complete normalcy.
At this moment in COVID-19’s trajectory, we believe that an extra layer of precaution is necessary. I’m writing today to let you know that like several other school districts around us, we will begin the year with at least three weeks of virtual learning. Some students will still come to campus each day – and leaders, teachers, and staff will work from campus – but teaching and learning will take place in our virtual learning environment.
We care deeply about our people. I assume (and hope) that is why you’ve chosen to work here. Schools like ours who truly care about all of our people – students, families, and staff alike – find ourselves in a very tough spot. We must protect our people against the spread of this virus as we also push to ensure our students do not lose any more valuable learning time. COVID-19 is no longer just a public health crisis; it is evolving into an educational equity crisis.
We know prolonged distance learning has disproportionately adverse effects on students from low-income families. We also know that in-person learning is our ideal instructional model – we do it really well, students learn better face-to-face, and it's the right thing to do in a world where we are fighting for equitable access for all. We love our kids. We love being with them. And we love seeing their faces light up when they are learning in our classrooms. We love that we get to provide world-class educational experiences for them every day. This is why we will work together to provide top-notch virtual learning during our first three weeks, and why we will transition in a few weeks to a top-notch hybrid model with our best precautions, safety protocols, and instructional plans in place.
Our ongoing pledge to you is we will do all of this with your safety, health, and wellness at the front of our minds. You are our people as much as our students and families are, and we care deeply about you.
Some important things to know:
· Compass Rose Professional Development will still take place, largely in-person, beginning on Monday, August 3rd. More details about how we will ensure health and wellness through mandatory social distancing, adapted social norms (masks, touchless greetings, etc.), and certain virtual sessions will be shared in the coming weeks.
· Our first day of school with students will still be on August 17th.
· Families may still send their students to learn on-site at our schools, if necessary (e.g., no internet access at home); however, learning will take place in an “on-site virtual” model.
· Teachers will engage in virtual lesson delivery on-site in preparation for our hybrid model launch.
· Staff will rotate monitoring the small group of students who will need “on-site virtual” learning.
We understand this is a lot of new information. Now more than ever, we hope you will join your school’s virtual Town Hall next week so we can continue to share our most current plans, clarify details on this operational shift, field your burning questions, and, ultimately, make decisions that are in the best interest of all of our people.
Virtual Town Hall times are as follows:
Legacy Middle- Monday , July 20 @ 3:30pm
Later today, we will send a letter to all of our new and returning Compass Rose families explaining this shift. A draft of the letter is attached here for your reference.
We look forward to seeing you at the Town Halls. For now, breathe and be well.
Most sincerely,
Paul Morrissey, Founder & CEO
Covid- 19 Updates from Brittany
We hope that all of you are staying safe and continuing to relocate safely to San
Antonio. We have been hard at work here working with new information every day from
local, state and federal agencies and have some significant updates to share. We have
shared the following documents with families and we are asking you all to read and
familiarize yourself with these documents:
• Letter from the CEO https://docs.google.com/document/d/18GlM_colJaeEHWHcpPiYqKv3i0TARnz7aAwLOITfBaM/edit?usp=sharing– this is a letter from Paul to our families connecting them to
the below resources
• Parent FAQ
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RVIByMGOk5QVoIHB697Ot1Z_k_rycR-R/view?usp=sharing– this is a quick one-pager for families.
• Reopening Plan https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rN9usloQZ9LRqq659H2shkek4rBxHqRdWWdvFnbiR88/edit?usp=sharing– this is a public document and you should be familiar with this
document as it has been shared with families.
• COVID Web page
https://sites.google.com/compassrosesa.org/instructionalhub/covid-19-our-plan-for-a-safe-return?authuser=0 – this is the public web site that we will continue to update and revise as we move forward.
Your role is to start to read and familiarize yourself with all these documents before we
come together on August 3rd.
CR Legacy Teacher Spotlight - Meet your team!
Jacqueline Harris, 6th Grade Social Studies
Favorite book: Becoming, The Hate U Give, Year of Yes, You are a Bad***
Inspirational quote: “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined." - Henry David Thoreau
"You is smart. you is kind. you is important" - The Help
What are you excited for this school year?
Meeting the new 6th graders and helping them achieve their goals.
Ydette Avina , 6th Grade ELA
College: UTPA/ Sociology/Business Admin
Favorite book: YA Esperanza Rising
Inspirational quote: Strengths and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle- Napoleon Hill
What are you excited for this school year?
Working with students and staff. Adult and student interaction.
Amber Rosales , 5th Grade ELA , EL support, 5th Grade GTL
Favorite book: The Sun also Rises
Inspirational word: STRENGTH
What are you excited for this school year?
I am most excited to meet my new fifth graders! It is my first year teaching this grade level and content so I am excited to start this journey with my new students.
Building Update - Check out images of the floor plan, cafeteria and a classroom!
Check out out the Academic Calendar !
Action Items
Upcoming Events ! Mark Your Calendars!
Teacher Townhall
July 20 @3:30 . Link is in calendar invite.
Upcoming Staff Virtual Happy Hour
July 29 @ 4:30pm
Summer PD Dates
- Compass Culture Camp - Find Your True North. Optional Summer Institute: July 29-30
- Network PD begins: August 3rd at 8 am Location: Port San Antonio Cafeteria
- School based PD: August 10 at 8 am Location: CR Legacy Elementary
Donors Choose Project - Optional but highly encouraged
Here are some quick steps:
1) Go to this site: https://www.donorschoose.org/teachers
2) Use your personal email and select Compass Rose Academy with the Outer Circle address.
3) Begin writing up your project.
Our budget is very tight and we have minimal funds around the following items:
a. Classroom libraries – this would consist of a bank of independent reading books for students that they could read or check out in your classroom.
b. Professional Development – these would consist of, now mostly online, opportunities for you to engage in content relevant to you.
c. Field Trips – a typical bus for a day costs from $1,000 - $1,500. Buses will also have spaced out seating so that means we need twice as many buses per field trip now. These may be limited now, in our situation.
d. Other classroom supplies tied to projects or resources that you may want for your classroom.
4) Once you have set up your account and posted a need, please let both Brittany and Monica know that you set up an account.