FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 17, 2022
CONTACT: Kimberly Aguilar, (805) 341-4689
Thousand Oaks, CA – Compass Charter Schools (Compass) announces our 2021-22 Learning Coaches of the Year. At Compass, parents and guardians are known as the “Learning Coach” for their children, and they are an integral part of their children’s success at Compass. As Compass is a personalized learning public charter school, much of the learning is facilitated by the learning coach in collaboration with a supervising teacher.
Compass staff nominate learning coaches who have stood out as leaders and have excelled in supporting their scholars throughout the year. Join us in celebrating our 2021-22 Learning Coaches of the Year:
Los Angeles
Online Learning Program: Jack Ayers Alexei
“Jack has been such a joy to work with this past year,” shares Erica Angelo, middle school teacher. “He is passionate, caring, and knowledgeable. Jack supports his scholar Lily each and every day by monitoring her progress and always staying by her side to ensure that she can get through the materials. In addition, he is always available for connection meetings. Thank you for your excellent work as a learning coach Jack!”
Options Learning Program: Sarah Carney
“Sarah Carney has gone above and beyond in her role as a learning coach,” shares Brianna Attalla, supervising teacher. “She started her homeschooling journey last year hesitantly with many concerns about managing three scholars at different grade levels. I have seen her confidence grow tremendously, and her scholars have also grown in their confidence. Her eldest scholar, who used to avoid and despise writing, is now writing three-page research papers with joy! Her youngest scholar, who struggled with letter recognition, is now reading full books because of her support, encouragement, and guidance. Sarah is creative and willing to try new things. After trying so many different curriculums, she is now a curriculum expert! She is loud and proud about Compass and has encouraged other families to join our Compass family. She shares her son’s journey going through cancer with such strength and respect and is his biggest supporter! Sarah shares her knowledge with the community around her and seeks wisdom and guidance to continually better herself. It is an honor having Sarah as a learning coach, and I feel privileged to be able to cheer her on in her journey!”
San Diego
Online Learning Program: Maryse Bonniwell
“Maryse is a dedicated learning coach who supports her scholars with a great deal of love and focus,” shares Elaine Amari, high school coordinator. “She is always a pleasure to work with and has built strong relationships with her scholars’ teachers and counselor to lead her girls to confidence, self-advocacy, and academic success!”
Options Learning Program: Jessica Yglesias
“I believe Jessica Yglesias deserves learning coach of the year because even though she has four scholars enrolled in Compass, in four different grades, she goes above and beyond in the work she does with them,” shares Lisa Olsen, supervising teacher. “All of her scholars regularly engage in science experiments, and she reports on the results. They complete research projects on topics of their choice, and she even had her third-grader write out a business plan for a lemonade stand, complete with costs, pricing, and the potential profit. Not only are many of their work samples examples of deeper learning, but her feedback on these goes beyond just a score at the top. Jessica goes through her scholars’ essays sentence by sentence, and there are notes for feedback for incorrect questions as evidence of the care and time put into her scoring. In addition, every sample in Seesaw submitted for the month has the grade-level standard for that work added as a comment, going above and beyond what I expect of parents. Again, she does this even though she has four scholars to whom she uploads work for every learning period. Jessica deserves this award for the high-quality work she enables her children to do, the depth of care she puts into her scoring, and her willingness to add an extra step to her uploads to take a small burden off of me.”
Yolo
Online Learning Program: Jennifer Simoni
“Jennifer has been a great support for her scholar Sabrina,” shares Janae Smith, Director of Online Learning. “Through her efforts, Sabrina was able to graduate and earn the Presidential Award for Academic Excellence this year. Jennifer has helped to provide an opportunity for her scholar to find the best educational experience to continue to learn and grow.”
Options Learning Program: Marcie Franich
“Marcie Franich is amazing,” shares Robin McCarthy, supervising teacher. “This learning coach is new to the Options Program this year and has provided amazing learning for her kindergarten scholar. Her well-planned lessons have not only covered kinder standards but have provided enriching and engaging lessons for Nolan. Marcie has gone above and beyond by providing work samples of Nolan’s progress, lessons, and activities. I feel as though I have walked alongside this family since day one. Marcie exemplifies each of our school’s ARTIC values daily, weekly, and monthly. I am grateful to have partnered with their family this year.”
“Congratulations to our Learning Coaches of the Year: Jack Ayers Alexei, Sarah Carney, Maryse Bonniwell, Jessica Yglesias, Jennifer Simoni, and Marcie Franich, for receiving this honor. You each are an integral part of your scholar’s academic success and true partners along their educational journeys,” shares J.J. Lewis, Superintendent & CEO. “Your guidance, support, and teamwork with our teachers and staff are immensely appreciated; continue the incredible work as we equip our scholars to take responsibility for their future success together. Please join us in celebrating our Learning Coaches of the Year, thanking them for being our partners along this educational journey and for being role models for their fellow learning coaches!”
The Learning Coach of the Year Program started in the 2015-16 school year. Previous honorees are:
2020-21:
CCS of Los Angeles
Online Learning Program: Jessica Chouari
Options Learning Program: Barbara Baez
CCS of San Diego
Online Learning Program: Therese & Tony Christopher
Options Learning Program: Elizabeth Bettisworth
CCS of Yolo
Online Learning Program: Shaunna & David Green
Options Learning Program: Rubyann Arcilla
2019-20:
CCS of Los Angeles
Online Learning Program: Nicole Kiss
Options Learning Program: Brittany Thomas
CCS of San Diego
Online Learning Program: Kara Pingel
Options Learning Program: Amanda Cervantes
CCS of Yolo
Online Learning Program: Kimally Samuels
Options Learning Program: Annalee Petersen
2018-19:
Online Elementary School: Jack Ayers
Online Middle School: Gina Hansen
Online High School: Lisa Robotham
Options Learning Program: Shelby MacLeish
2017-18:
Online Elementary School: Tarah Howell
Online Middle School: Dawn Peeters
Online High School: Lisa Hunter
Options Learning Program: Juanita Murphy
2016-17:
Online Elementary School: Cherylan Reyes
Online Middle School: Crystal Fretz
Online High School: Jaime Ellman
Options Learning Program: Heather Schott
2015-16:
Online Elementary School: Robert Nahm
Online Middle School: Amber Cascadden
Online High School: Yolanda Vogel
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About Compass Charter Schools
Compass Charter Schools (Compass) is a WASC-accredited virtual personalized learning public charter school serving thousands of scholars throughout California. Catering to TK-12 grade scholars, Compass offers two personalized learning programs. Compass is committed to creating a collaborative virtual learning community, inspiring scholars to appreciate the ways in which arts and sciences nurture a curiosity for lifelong learning and preparing scholars to take responsibility for their future successes.
For more information, visit About Compass, and follow us on social media via Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.