Monday Morning Update
Options Program - May 27, 2019
Memorial Day
Compass Charter Schools will be closed today in honor of Memorial Day. We take this time to pause and remember the brave fallen men and women who served in the Armed Forces and fought for our country.
Memorial Day became an official federal holiday in 1971. It is a time to thank and remember those who sacrificed their lives to fight for our country. Many cities and counties across the U.S. recognize this important holiday by visiting memorial monuments and sites, hosting honorary parades and gathering with loved ones.
COMPASS & OPTIONS SCHOOL NEWS
ASSESSMENTS
Istation: Our Diagnostic Testing Window is just around the corner. Scholars in grades K-8 should log into Istation starting this Saturday, June 1 to access the assessments for reading and math. View our Getting Started guide and our Parent Portal information for more support. View additional resources for Istation in the Parents & Scholars page on our website, under Academic Resources. (Please note: Due to program specifications, Istation diagnostic assessments will not be available until Saturday, June 1. The Year-End Diagnostic Testing Window is June 3 - 7.)
Physical Fitness Testing (PFT): This is the last week for PFT assessment activities! Help your scholar finish strong and enter their results into the PFT Form when they’ve finished their activities.
Score reports for CAASPP, ELPAC, and PFT will be sent out to families during the summer. Please visit the following websites for information and examples of the score reports:
BLOG ~ The average military child changes schools once every three years, which means finding new friends and adjusting to new teachers and a new school culture. That's why this week on the blog, were discussing 5 Reasons Why Independent Study is a Great Choice for Military Families.
EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR NOMINATION(S) ~ Scholars and learning coaches - a friendly reminder that we need your help to nominate, recognize and celebrate our staff through our Scholars’ Choice Employee of the Year Program! Honor your teachers by nominating them as Compass Employee of the Year! Nominations close this Friday, May 31!
CONNECTION MEETINGS ~ As we approach the end of the 2018-2019 school year, your connection meetings with your EF will focus on year-long course progress, semester grades, and attainment of scholar goals that were set earlier in the school year. We are excited to see the results of the goals that were set!
END OF LEARNING PERIOD ~ Learning Period 9 ends this Friday, May 31. Please be sure you are up to date with all of your activity logs in ParentSquare. Also, please be sure to upload your scholar’s work samples into Seesaw by Friday, although before is better! Here are some helpful work sample guides for TK-8 and high school. Contact your EF if you have any questions.
ENERGY BUS ~ Energy Bus tip of the week: “A Champion is defined not by their wins but by how they can recover when they fall.” - Serena Williams.
OPTIONS HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT ~ Concurrent Enrollment, page 33 - Concurrent enrollment in another public or private K-12 school is prohibited at CCS. If a scholar is found to be enrolled in two (2) schools he/she will be withdrawn from CCS. This does not include pre-approved college-level courses. In some cases, it is possible for high school scholars to enroll concurrently at a community college. If you are a high school scholar interested in taking a community college course, let your EF and counselor know!
PARENT & SCHOLAR RESOURCES ~ This is a friendly reminder to visit our website to view a number of great resources for our scholars, learning coaches and families. Click the orange button labeled “Parents & Scholars” near the top right of the website and then use the password, “loveCCS” to access all the information and resources. You will find information on academics, field trips, technology, records, counseling and more!
PLANNING SURVEY ~ Compass Charter Schools is making great strides in 2019. Every day, we strive to improve the quality and integrity of our virtual program, but we cannot do it without your feedback. CCS has created a survey to help us continue this forward momentum. We encourage you to participate in the survey and respond before the survey closes this Friday, May 31, as it will help shape our planning for the upcoming 2019-20 academic year!
RE-ENROLLMENT DEADLINE ~ Our 2019-20 re-enrollment window closes on Friday, June 14! If you have not done so already, please be sure to share your response in ParentSquare or share your plan with your supervising teacher!
NAVIGATORS' NEWS
DRAMA PRESENTATION ~ Our Drama elective class will be sharing their awesome drama skills at our Drama Assembly this Thursday, May 30 at 9:30 am in the Parish Hall. All are welcome to join the fun at the OCLC in Santa Ana this Thursday.
FREE RESOURCES
Donna Young - Printable Handwriting Lessons
Grab a fresh cup of coffee and get comfortable before visiting this website, as you might be glued to the screen for awhile! Started in 1998 as a place where homeschooler Donna could keep her homeschool and household files online, the website has flourished into a one-stop shop for everything from lesson planners to handwriting lessons to printable worksheets. While the website does charge for many of the files -- with two subscription levels -- the articles are free and full of information from a veteran homeschooler.
Donna Young also provides free handwriting lessons, called YoungMind Printable Handwriting Lessons. The site provides resources sorted by the handwriting style desired, cursive vs. printing, letter size, and stage in the handwriting learning process. There are also a variety of printable filler papers, handwriting tips, and handwriting-type fonts if you would like to create your own practice sheets.
COUNSELING SERVICES
COUNSELING SERVICES WORKSHOPS/PRESENTATIONS
Our middle and high scholars are invited to attend our College Career Success Cafe, “Time’s Not Out: 14 Days Until School Ends!” tomorrow, Tuesday, May 28 at 12:30pm. Join us for the last College Career Success (CCS) Cafe of the year! We will share tips to help plan out your remainder of the semester to increase success in your classes. Remember, it is not always about having a lot of time, but rather how you plan for and use that time that will make all the difference. Planning and organization are vital skills in preparing for life after high school, too!
MULTI -TIERED SYSTEMS OF SUPPORTS SPOTLIGHT (MTSS) ~ This week’s MTSS spotlight expands how to use Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) at home. This week we will tackle the third parameter, Positive Reinforcement. It is important to provide consistent positive reinforcement of expected behaviors inside and outside of the “classroom.” Some ideas to set up a positive reinforcement matrix at home is to have a point system or sticker chart. Scholars will earn one point or sticker for meeting each expectation. With the system in place, scholars would earn a reward for reaching their goals. There could be a “menu” of rewards, some big, some small, that scholars can choose with their points. These rewards do not have to be monetary--the rewards can even expand to having more family time, such as a family picnic, camping in the backyard, game night, and more! We encourage learning coaches to create a list of rewards that their scholars would benefit from or enjoy, as they will be more inclined to reach that goal.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING (SEL) SPOTLIGHT ~ This week we continue to explore the decision making process by weighing in on the choices scholars have and the consequences that come with it. Scholars are invited to Join Mrs. Gonzalez in our final SEL video spotlight for the year to better understand the importance of this step. This spotlight will also show scholars a simple method they can use to help them organize and think about the choices they have and the consequences that come with them.
Enjoy a detailed list of Spring 2019 helpful college and career planning resources for middle and high school scholars.
EXCEPTIONAL SCHOLAR SERVICES
FEATURED WEBINAR ~ Lower Scholar Stress, Higher Scholar Outcomes for Struggling Readers a webinar for learning coaches tomorrow, Tuesday, May 28 at 10am. Research shows that the effects of stress on learning are profound, part of the rich research on the neuroscience of learning. Stress literally halts learning. This edWebinar will give learning coaches a clear understanding of the neuroscience, the effects of stress on learning, and how they can help their scholar reduce stress while learning.
FEATURED ARTICLE ~ It’s not uncommon for children to refuse to use their accommodations, and there are many reasons why. Our learning coaches are invited to read the 9 Reasons Kids Might Refuse to Use Accommodations to learn about these challenges.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Visit our ParentSquare Calendar for more information on our upcoming events.
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