Compass Newsletter -- September 10, 2008

Submitted by Eric Rhomberg on Thu, 09/11/2008 - 10:57

Exploratories

Exploratories started up this week, and occur on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays at 2:30-4:00pm. Students are engaged in a huge variety of activities, from soccer and volleyball to surfing, yoga, animation, song writing, rock band, photography, farming, writing, furniture painting, comics, WOOL radio, and more. Students can also get exploratory credit for physical activities and arts activities which they pursue outside of school (eg.- dance or music lessons, sports teams, martial arts, etc.) There is a form to submit to get exploratory credit for these outside activities. Please direct questions to ron@compass-school.org<!-- pagebreak -->

Author Jeffery Smith Comes to Compass School! September 18th, 10:00 AM

Compass School is pleased to host this year's Common Ground Fair key-note speaker Jeffery Smith, international spokesperson on the health dangers of genetically modified organisms (GMO's). Please join us as he discusses his work in the field of GMO's at our All School meeting (from 10:00-11:00), and then after a short lunch break, he will be delving deeper into the science of GMO's with Beth and Eric's 11-12th grade science classes. He will touch on his experiences as a researcher and author of several books/columns, (such as Seeds of Deception, Genetic Roulette, and Spilling the Beans) and his work producing the docu-video series The GMO Trilogy. We hope that community members, local farmers, and friends will be able to join us at this amazing event!

 

This Friday at 1:15pm at the Saxtons River Rec Area, the 9th-10th science students will be attempting to cross the pond in their cardboard boats. (Part of their studies on buoyancy.) Come check it out if you like a good laugh!

 

Middle School Theater Trips: On Thursday, September 11, 2008 the 7-8th graders will be attending As You Like It at the Weston Playhouse in Weston, VT at 10am. On Thursday, September 18 we will attend a Carnival of Taiwanese Hand Puppetry performed by Happy Puppetry, a multi-generational family company of Taiwanese puppeteers, a performance that is part of Sandglass Theater's Puppets in the Green Mountains Festival. This show will be in Bellows Falls at 12 noon. Please send $15 to Janice or Anne in the office to cover the cost of tickets to both of these shows. Please contact Lauren (lauren@compass-school.org) if you are interested in attending one of these shows with us.

**Julia's 11th-12th grade Shakespeare class will also go to As You Like It. They should bring in $8 for that play only.

 

Middle School Family Potluck and Informational Meeting, September 15, 2008, 5:30pm: All Middle School Families are invited to a potluck dinner and an informational meeting on September 15th. Please bring a dish to share, come meet, mingle, and learn about what's coming up this year in the Middle School!

 

9th Grade Families-Potluck and business meeting-Tuesday Sept. 23 at 6pm

One of my favorite roles at Compass is that of Advisor.  Elizabeth and I will be the ninth grade Advisors, and we are pleased to announce that a freshmen family potluck and business meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 23, from 6-8 PM at the school.  We will gather to eat from 6-7, then meet to discuss how things are going for the ninth graders. While our fall meeting typically focuses on homework and how things are going socially for each student, all topics are welcome.  Students typically play outside while parents and teachers meet from 7-8. It is a great way for us to get to know one another and to check in about our students' Compass experience.  Take care - Ron

 

2008 Annual Harvest Walk

 

Walking to Support the Vermont and New Hampshire Foodbanks

On Saturday September 27th, Sovernet will host the second annual Harvest Walk, with all pledge money donated directly to the Vermont and New Hampshire Foodbanks.

When:  September 27th, Rain or Shine. Registration is from 9:30-10:30, and the walk begins as soon as you are registered.  Where:  Minard's Pond in Bellows Falls. Walk is 1.5 miles through the woods along marked trails. Maps will be available when you register.  Parking:  Waypoint Center in Bellows Falls. A bus provided by Compass School will shuttle between Minard's Pond and the Waypoint Center. This shuttle will be available throughout the event and will run every half hour.  Refreshments:  Will be created by the Foodbank chefs from food provided by The Farmer's Market and others. Music by the Main Street Arts String Band.  FREE Tote Bags and Pedometes! For the first 150 registrants. Prizes:  Great prizes for individuals and teams that raise the most money! Registration Fee is 25.00 per person (which is also donated to the VT and NH Foodbanks). If you raise 100.00 or more in pledges (per person), the registration fee will be waived. Please collect all donations prior to the walk and turn them in with your pledge form. Drop off pledge sheets & donations at Sovernet's office or bring them with you to the walk.  Information at www.sover.net

 

Forms-Please submit your health forms and the free and reduced lunch application.

Health Forms- IMPORTANT! - Please get your medical forms in if you have not already done so.

 

School Meals

The word is spreading: new chef Cher's lunches have been great! Breakfast and Lunch are available at school everyday. The price for buying lunch is $3.50 per meal.  Breakfast is $2.00. Students may purchase a 10- or 20-meal card from Janice in the office.  Students are also welcome to bring a bag lunch. 

Families email list- A primary means of communication with families is through the "families@compass-school.org" email list. If you are reading this newsletter now by email, then you are on the list. Please contact Eric if you want to make any changes to the email address at which you receive Compass email. We have strictly controlled access so you shouldn't be getting spam through this list. (Families without email access need to be sure to get paper copies of the Wednesday newsletter each week.) You can send email to all the faculty at once at teachers@compass-school.org, or you can email any individual faculty member at their first name @compass-school.org-for example,

janice@compass-school.org.

 

Please Read the Weekly Wednesday Newsletter- Once school starts, you should expect a newsletter to be published every Wednesday. Please read the whole thing so that you can stay abreast of happenings in your child's school life. You are welcome to submit items to the newsletter; please send them to Eric (eric@compass-school.org) by the end of Tuesday for inclusion in the newsletter of that week. The newsletter is also posted on our website: http://www.compass-school.org/news

  

A note about medicines in school-All medicines must be administered in the office. If your child needs to take medicine during school hours, the medicine should be put in a safely capped bottle with note indicating the name of the student, the name of the medication, dosage, and how often it should be taken. This should be turned into the office manager who will administer medications.

 

Bus Transportation-The Connecticut River Transit Bus runs a regular public bus route between Bellows Falls and Brattleboro with a stop at Compass School.  The bus operates on a donation-only basis- please donate each time you ride or make arrangements with CRT for an annual donation. Let's support this great resource. See their website: www.crtransit.org

 

School Web Site-www.compass-school.org is a great resource for information about the school. All teachers have individual web pages which offer information about your child's courses. Find these on the web site under "Resources">"Teacher's Sites".

 

Computer Network Fee

Students who want to connect their laptops to the school wireless network need to pay a $50 fee that covers virus & intrusion protection and the network services the school provides. The antivirus software will be installed on the laptop, and it will protect the computer outside of school as well. Mac users don't need the virus protection, so their fee is $25.

 

Community Service

All students participate in community service activities every other Wednesday afternoon from 12:40- 2:10. We are in the process of coordinating these community service days which include (9/17, 10/1, 10/15, 10/29, 11/12, 12/3, 12/17, 1/14, 1/28, 2/25, 3/11, 3/25, 4/8, 4/29, and 5/13) and we are looking for volunteer parent drivers and mini-vans or vehicles that can hold up to 4-5 students.  If you are able to help, please contact beth@compass-school.org. Also, please contact us if you have ideas for a regular biweekly Wednesday afternoon community service project we could do.

  

Drivers Education at Compass

Mike Henkle of the Westminster Driving School will run a driver education course at Compass in January and February if there is enough interest.  Please let Eric know if you are interested. Mike is running some courses in the area this fall, so you can go to his website -  www.precisiondriving.biz  - to learn more. There are also courses happening at a number of the area schools, some in the evening.  Contact Eric with questions.

 

Recreational Aide Needed

Westminster Center School has a position for someone 16 or older to work with 1st-6th graders during the Afterschool Program M-F 3:00-4:30. We would consider someone for 2 or more days per week, but prefer full time. Duties would include leading/supervising active games/sports. The Westminster bus picks up students at Compass and arrives at the Center School by 3:00. For more information contact Elaine Gordon 869-6103 or sudgor@yahoo.com

 

Wanted: Hardcover books, especially older, interesting, and illustrated ones for use in a book altering exploratory. Please bring these to Lauren or drop them off in the office in Lauren's box. Thanks!  

 

School calendar can be viewed at http://www.compass-school.org/resources/calendar or you can get additional paper copies in the office.