The Compass School https://compassschool.org/ Nurturing Love of Learning, Self, Others, and Planet Wed, 14 Feb 2024 12:40:43 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 https://compassschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/cropped-Compass-Favicon-32x32.jpg The Compass School https://compassschool.org/ 32 32 Summer Camp Registration 2024! https://compassschool.org/2024/02/14/summer-camp-registration-2024/ Wed, 14 Feb 2024 12:37:17 +0000 http://compassschool.org/?p=6503 Week Times Camp Age Cost July 1st-July 5th (Thursday off due to holiday) HALF DAY 9AM-1:30PM Junior Chefs Camp Introduction to our campus, gardens, STEM...

The post Summer Camp Registration 2024! appeared first on The Compass School.

]]>

Week

Times

Camp

Age

Cost

July 1st-July 5th (Thursday off due to holiday)

HALF DAY


9AM-1:30PM

Junior Chefs Camp


Introduction to our campus, gardens, STEM and STEAM programming!

Incoming 

K- 3rd

grades

$130

Click here to register!

July 8th-12th

FULL DAY


9AM-4PM

Garden Grab Bag


Advanced programming for multi-aged campers!

Incoming 

1st-6th 

grades

$260

Click here to register!



July 15th-19th

HALF DAY


9AM-1PM 

YMCA Partnership Camp


Campus exploration and STEM in the garden!  Transit offered from YMCA to Compass.

Incoming

2nd-7th 

grades

Registration thru YMCA

Ask for member pricing!

July 15th-19th

AFTERNOON


2-5 PM

Sewing and Natural Plant Dyes


Introductory through Advanced 

Incoming

2nd-7th 

grades

$110

Click here to register!



July 22-26th

FULL DAY


9AM-4PM

Young Farm Stewards


Principles of ecology and outdoor adventure! 

Incoming 3rd-7th grades

$260

Click here to register!

July 29th-August 2nd

HALF DAY


9AM-1PM 

YMCA Partnership Camp


Campus exploration and STEM in the garden!  Transit offered from YMCA to Compass.

Incoming

2nd-7th

grades

Registration through YMCA Ask for member pricing!

July 29th-August 2nd

AFTERNOON


2-5PM

Dungeons and Dragons 


Introductory level  required

Incoming 4th-9th grades

$110

Click here to register!

August 5th-8th

HALF DAY


9AM-1PM 

YMCA Partnership Camp


Campus exploration and STEM in the garden!  Transit offered from YMCA to Compass.

Incoming

2nd-7th

grades

Registration through YMCA Ask for member pricing!

August 5th-8th

AFTERNOON MINI-CAMP


2-5PM

Culinary Arts 

Farm-to-table


Introductory through Advanced

Incoming

2nd-7th 

grades

$110

Click here to register!

Aug 12th-15th


FULL DAY

FULL DAY


9AM-4PM

Garden Grab Bag


Advanced programming for multi-aged campers!

Incoming 1st-6th grades

$260

Click here to register!






 

 

The post Summer Camp Registration 2024! appeared first on The Compass School.

]]> Winter Spectacular Success! https://compassschool.org/2023/01/23/winter-spectacular-success/ Sun, 22 Jan 2023 21:42:51 +0000 http://compassschool.org/?p=6324 Many thanks to all who were able to join us for  The Compass School’s Winter Spectacular 2023!  What an event! The evening was full of...

The post Winter Spectacular Success! appeared first on The Compass School.

]]> Many thanks to all who were able to join us for 
The Compass School’s Winter Spectacular 2023! 

What an event! The evening was full of song, dance, and laughter
from the following middle school groups:
  • Investigator (5th/6th) Symphonic Band
  • Navigator (7th/8th) Modern Band
  • Investigator Choir
  • Navigator Choir
  • The annual Shakespeare Production by the Navigator Drama Class: Much Ado About Nothing

Congrats to all of the performers and stage crew members for an excellent concert and play.  We were all so proud of their skills and their courage. We can’t wait for Arts Night (in May) where we’ll see even more Compass performers take the stage in our K-8 arts event!  

The post Winter Spectacular Success! appeared first on The Compass School.

]]> Barn Documentary https://compassschool.org/2022/12/20/barn-documentary/ Tue, 20 Dec 2022 00:32:10 +0000 http://compassschool.org/?p=6300   The Compass School’s barn was recently highlighted in a  RI Office of Energy Resources (RIOER) documentary!    NEW OER Video:Watch the Compass Schooltransform an abandoned barn into a schoolhousewith...

The post Barn Documentary appeared first on The Compass School.

]]> 
 

The Compass School’s barn was recently highlighted in a 

RI Office of Energy Resources (RIOER) documentary! 
 

NEW OER Video:
Watch the Compass School
transform an abandoned barn into a schoolhouse
with help from OER

The Compass School, located in Kingston, Rhode Island, is a public K-8th grade charter school. It was founded in 2002 by a group of parents who desired an environment where their children would be challenged to become problem solvers, critical thinkers, and life long learners. 

Compass School received a $500,000 award from the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources to help renovate an abandoned seed barn and transform it into a state-of-the-art schoolhouse, using the latest in energy efficiency technology.

Without further ado, here’s the video! 
Click here to watch a 4 min documentary about our barn’s transformation! 
We used to have the kids “talk to the barn” at Morning Gathering.  We’d turn and all say in unison, “Barn, we’re going to renovate you!” They thought it was crazy, but we did it! 

It’s incredible that this community pulled off such a daunting task! 

The post Barn Documentary appeared first on The Compass School.

]]> Amped Up for Our New Amphitheater! https://compassschool.org/2022/11/22/amped-up-for-our-new-amphitheater/ Tue, 22 Nov 2022 14:04:23 +0000 http://compassschool.org/?p=6260 In the last 8 years, we’ve tackled many projects from the construction of the Barn, to the renovation of Farm Headquarters, the pavilion build and more!  We’re...

The post Amped Up for Our New Amphitheater! appeared first on The Compass School.

]]> In the last 8 years, we’ve tackled many projects from the construction of the Barn, to the renovation of Farm Headquarters, the pavilion build and more! 

We’re not done yet! 

This summer, we’ve been working to install a new outdoor amphitheater located between Farm Headquarters and the Barn. 

It’s complete…for now!  Check out the beginning stages of the hardscape amphitheater and the finished product. It will be large enough to fit our whole school once complete! 

Beginning Stages of the Hardscape

Finished!

The post Amped Up for Our New Amphitheater! appeared first on The Compass School.

]]> Making Memories https://compassschool.org/2022/05/26/making-memories-2/ Wed, 25 May 2022 23:50:22 +0000 http://compassschool.org/?p=6206 The Family Dance at the Towers in Narragansett was a night dreams are made of. Students and their families danced the night away! You could feel...

The post Making Memories appeared first on The Compass School.

]]> The Family Dance at the Towers in Narragansett was a night dreams are made of. Students and their families danced the night away! You could feel the JOY!

 

The post Making Memories appeared first on The Compass School.

]]> Snowman Success! https://compassschool.org/2022/02/10/snowman-success/ Thu, 10 Feb 2022 00:06:31 +0000 http://compassschool.org/?p=6079   Thank you for the prep work that you did with your kids; they brought awesome energy and joy to the day.  While the kids will be...

The post Snowman Success! appeared first on The Compass School.

]]>

 

Thank you for the prep work that you did with your kids; they brought awesome energy and joy to the day. 

While the kids will be the first to tell you that it wasn’t the best “snowman snow”, they figured it out and solved the problem! 

We heard some teams say:

“This snow is like sand,so we just have to treat it like you’re building a sand castle!” 

 “Ours came out well because we brought a spray bottle to wet it down. 
Do you guys want to you want to use it now that we’re done? 

Perhaps the favorite comment was,
 
“You’re a really good buddy.  Thank you.” 
 

Measuring Success

Did we build the tallest snowmen? Nah…it wasn’t that kind of snow.

Did we build 100 snowmen? Well, we got pretty close but a lot of teams buddied up, which meant fewer snowmen. 🙂 

We measured success using this mantra: 



And through that cultivating community lens, we saw: 

  • 100% of teams were multi-age. 

  • 100% of students participated. 

  • 100% of the groups made squeals of joy during the event. 

  • 100% of the groups had zero behavior referrals during the activity. 

Plus, we were outside, so we could be ‘Rona Safe and Maskless – our favorite.

Snowman Success! 

With that in mind here are some (there are many more…) pics of our process and products! 

Mr. Iain (Discoverer TA) got caught up in the excitement too and made the biggest snow angel any of us had ever seen!  (He’s really, really tall 🙂 

I’m not sure what was cooler, his huge snow angel or that rockin’ snowsuit! 
Thanks for helping us bring joy and positive energy to our Compass Community! 

The post Snowman Success! appeared first on The Compass School.

]]> Sweet Surprise! https://compassschool.org/2021/11/10/sweet-surprise/ Wed, 10 Nov 2021 00:58:43 +0000 http://compassschool.org/?p=5971 We like to surprise our students with special experiences to validate their good work and kind efforts.  Rewards are always most effective and most appreciated when the...

The post Sweet Surprise! appeared first on The Compass School.

]]> We like to surprise our students with special experiences to validate their good work and kind efforts.  Rewards are always most effective and most appreciated when the kiddos don’t even know they’re coming! During our Buddy Walk About, the Compass community officially met its newest visitors.  Check out our adorable dwarf goat brothers that are here thanks to the Roche family’s connection. The kids are working on their names.

The post Sweet Surprise! appeared first on The Compass School.

]]> Social Responsibility https://compassschool.org/2021/11/10/social-responsibility/ Wed, 10 Nov 2021 00:50:56 +0000 http://compassschool.org/?p=5966 Compass is well known for our environmental sustainability mission due to the very visual impact of our gardens, greenhouse, and high tunnel; it’s great to...

The post Social Responsibility appeared first on The Compass School.

]]>
Compass is well known for our environmental sustainability mission due to the very visual impact of our gardens, greenhouse, and high tunnel; it’s great to hear that our social responsibility mission factors into families’ school choice decision-making as well.  While there are many layers of depth, in its simplest version, social responsibility is teaching our students to care about their community.  

Character doesn’t just happen; it’s explicitly taught through intentional activities and structures. Please read on to learn more about 3 ways we seek to support our students in the development of Compass Character: 

Buddies are Back! 

Students learn about social responsibility by being connected to those within and outside their immediate circles.  Through our older buddy/younger buddy matches, we bridge the gap between our lower school and our middle school.  The 5th-8th grade students take on additional responsibility for mentorship of a K-4th grade student.  Our first Buddy Meet Up took place last week. Buddies went on a leisurely stroll together across Compass campus.

Student Voice and Leadership has Launched! 

At Compass, we communicate that students’ contributions matter.  Each year, middle school students have an opportunity to join Student Voice and Leadership (SVL), a group that meets weekly with Ms. Brandee to improve/launch programs and provide feedback to enhance our school. Different than a student council format which is often very exclusive, we seek to include all those who express their interest and submit thoughtful applications to the program. This program also took a pandemic pause last year and is returning now.  The applications are in and woah! 1/3 of our middle school students signed up for SVL! 

Treats for the Troops 

Many thanks to Ms. Kristen from the Navigator step for spearheading this campaign for us! Did you know that a standard pillowcase can hold over 1,600 pieces of candy when fully stuffed? WOAH! Studies show that kids can consume as much as three cups of sugar per sitting eating Halloween candy. This equals almost 169 sugar cubes. The World Health Organization recommends we eat no more than 25 grams of sugar per day – which is about 6 cubes – total!  Of course, trick or treating is fun!  And we love to eat sweets on special occasions, but we don’t necessarily need all that we collect.

In an effort to support our community and give back to the troops, The Compass School collected any extra candy for Treats for Troops. On our final day, we made it all the way to the weight of an Investigator! 

1st Year Investigator= 82 lbs

Screen Shot 2021-11-05 at 2.03.30 PM.png

Cultivating a community of socially responsible citizens is a Compass mission written right into our school’s charter.  However, we know that words on a paper need all of us working together to bring the mission to life in everyday interactions and structured experiences. 

The post Social Responsibility appeared first on The Compass School.

]]> Pony Express! https://compassschool.org/2021/11/05/pony-express/ Fri, 05 Nov 2021 17:54:50 +0000 http://compassschool.org/?p=5961 We like to surprise our Compass students with special experiences to validate their good work and kind efforts.  Rewards are always most effective and most appreciated when...

The post Pony Express! appeared first on The Compass School.

]]> We like to surprise our Compass students with special experiences to validate their good work and kind efforts.  Rewards are always most effective and most appreciated when the kiddos don’t even know they’re coming! 

Today, class had  just 20 min (hence the Pony Express!) with the pony named Ruger and his owner, a 12 year old girl named Maddie.  Maddie is looking forward to teaching our students about her horse and their shared experiences.  Yay for student leadership! 

Here’s to Fun Fridays!

The post Pony Express! appeared first on The Compass School.

]]> Outdoor Classrooms! https://compassschool.org/2020/12/01/outdoor-classrooms/ Mon, 30 Nov 2020 20:18:45 +0000 http://compassschool.org/?p=5851 At Compass, we work hard to turn our lemons into lemonade.  This year, as we prepared to reopen schools in a pandemic, our team chose...

The post Outdoor Classrooms! appeared first on The Compass School.

]]> At Compass, we work hard to turn our lemons into lemonade. 

This year, as we prepared to reopen schools in a pandemic, our team chose to see the potential of using our beautiful campus more fully than we ever have before.  

With that in mind, we created outdoor classrooms for every Compass class! 

Check out our Explorers (K/1st) enjoying their new instructional space!

The post Outdoor Classrooms! appeared first on The Compass School.

]]>