As we finish the school year, I am reminded of all the incredible work that Compass scholars, learning coaches, teachers, and staff have accomplished this school year. Our school-wide WIG (Wildly Important Goal) this year focused on scholar engagement: 100% of our eligible scholars graduate by the end of the 2020-21 school year. With only eight days of the school year remaining, everyone deserves enormous accolades for an incredible school year! I want to extend a special congratulations to all of our graduating seniors, all 95, who will be celebrated during our Virtual Commencement Ceremony on Friday, June 18. We are sharing social media spotlights on all our graduates this month, so look out for our stellar seniors and join in the celebration!
We hosted the CCS of Los Angeles Scholar Awards Assembly and the CCS of San Diego Scholar Awards Assembly this morning. The CCS of Yolo Scholar Awards Ceremony is next Wednesday, June 9. Congratulations scholars!
It has been an incredible school year! In December, CCS of Los Angeles and CCS of San Diego were selected as 2020 National Association of Special Education Teachers (NASET) Exceptional Virtual Charter Schools in Special Education, the highest recognition level charter schools can achieve through this professional association.
Kudos to our Community Relations Coordinator Kimberly Aguilar for her blog series last year, which won two 2021 Excellence in Communication Awards from the California School Public Relations Association (CalSPRA). The awards were for the “April-May Blog Series – Support During the Covid-19 Pandemic” and the “May 2020 Compass Charter Schools’ Above and Beyond Campaign.” Compass is the Gold Standard in Virtual Education, and these awards illuminate our teachers’ and staffs’ expertise and support for families during difficult times, such as the past 15 months.
We had many things to celebrate this school year; in January, we celebrated National School Choice Week Virtually and celebrated our excellent board for Board Recognition Month. We celebrated Black History Month in February and highlighted our incredible African American staff and African American trailblazers! In March, we celebrated Women’s History Month, highlighting the amazing women at Compass and in our world. Last month in May, we celebrated National Charter School Week, posted daily blogs highlighting scholars and staff, and teachers and staff shared their love for Compass on social media!
Our Board of Directors has guided our work, asking insightful questions and providing guidance and direction, all with the notion of putting our scholars first and supporting them along their educational journeys. Our next meeting is on June 27, where we plan to discuss even more exciting future plans for Compass and celebrate our learning coaches and staff once more through our Learning Coach of the Year Awards and Employee of the Year Awards! We were also supported by a fantastic Parent Advisory Council and Scholar Leadership Council. The support of both councils and our board, combined with our scholars’ excellent work ethic, learning coaches, teachers, and staff, have made for a truly successful year!
Throughout June, we invite and encourage everyone to think about displaying compassion, understanding, and love for those around them. Compass encourages all of its scholars to see the true gift in every person they meet. This outlook can help everyone better serve our school and our community. Our teachers and Counseling Services team provides various resources and workshops to help middle school and high school scholars develop the social and emotional skills they need to accept others’ differences and positively impact our community. Our Special Education team helps scholars of all ages with learning or developmental disabilities gain the skills they need to express love, understanding, and trust for others.
As the 2020-21 school year comes to an end, I encourage everyone to share your Compass success stories or stories of overcoming this year’s challenges and pictures of their favorite moments on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with @CompassCS and #MyCompassExperience. We also want to hear about your favorite classes, clubs, workshops, and friendships!
The upcoming 2021-22 school year promises even more advancements at Compass. Let our collective accomplishments this year shout from the rooftops that we are genuinely invested in our scholars’ success and be a testament to the fantastic things we can achieve together. I want to assure our families that our passion, integrity, and transparency will remain consistent. Our top priority has always been to provide our scholars and learning coaches with a positive, engaging, and memorable experience at Compass.
If you have any suggestions on enhancing the Compass experience, please let us know through our Virtual Suggestion Box for Scholars and Virtual Suggestion Box for Parents.
Thank you for a great year! Finish strong, enjoy your summer, and I look forward to welcoming scholars, families, and staff back to Compass this fall!
Compass Charter Schools (CCS) is a WASC-accredited virtual charter school that serves families throughout California. Have a question about our Compass Experience? Explore our website, or feel free to visit my webpage at https://www.compasscharters.org/about-us/superintendent-of-schools/.