Compass Newsletter -- January 28, 2009

1920's Museum- Rescheduled for Friday Jan. 30^th 6:30-8:30pm.

The 9/10^th graders are working creating a Living 1920's Museum. Come mingle with Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford, and read about the politics and culture of the day. 

Positive Reports from the Mexico Expedition

Our junior class is now in Nogales, Mexico. We have received brief daily messages from Elissa indicating all is well, spirits are high, and they are having a great trip. We will continue to pass on information as we get it. You can view some pictures at the blog: http://compassmexicotrip2009.blogspot.com/

Winter Sports Schedule:

We will have winter sports tomorrow (Thursday 1/29), but we will end academic classes 15 minutes later than normal- ending at 10:45am - and then gear up for our activities.  We do have winter sports next week during our first week of winterm - Thursday 2/5 - but will not have winter sports the second week of winterm.  After Feb. vacation, we will still have 2 or 3 more weeks of winter sports: 2/26, 3/5, and possibly 3/12.     (There were some errors in last week's newsletter on these dates; my apologies.)

WINTERM  - The regular Compass School schedule will be put on hold Feb. 2-13 as students are asked to apply their academic learning to help address real needs in our community. Community Service Winter Term is organized around projects that give students across grade levels an opportunity to work together with teachers as problem solvers exploring together how to organize themselves, seek solutions, and achieve meaningful results. (Schedule note: dismissal is 2:15pm throughout winterm.)

Working in small groups with peers from grades 7-12 and a teacher-leader, students will be working on the following projects:

Great River Arts Institute Assistance - Working with Great River Arts in Bellows Falls to promote and produce the  Alliance of Young Artists and Writers - Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Tasks related to the project would include curating and hanging the exhibit, creating promotional printed materials i.e. program and invitation design.

Community Kitchen/Food BF Service Learning - Working at Bellows Falls Drop-in Center, a local community kitchen.  Our time will be spent cooking food/doing food prep for the center, reading and discussing articles about hunger and nutrition in VT and the US, stocking shelves, preparing bags for home delivery and painting a mural. 

French -- Immersion in French language and culture, including dialogues, three Sol skits by the esteemed Canadian comedian and language instructor M. Marc Favreau, cooking, music, and films.  We may culminate our time together with an excursion to Montreal or the lovely petit village of Magog, Quebec, for a service project of our choosing. 

Compass Minstrels' Medicine Show - Storytelling will go on the road this year. Since we have two weeks the first few days will be picking stories and preparing our presentation. We will design costumes and a quick set. There is a possibility to travel not only in our local community but to also further afield.

Public Art/Mural/Social Action through Art - Exploring the rich history of public art, research some artists, and become familiar with some artistic styles and messages that have been conveyed in this country and worldwide. Several art gallery visits and some research will help inspire us, and then we will be joined by a visiting artist (or two) to help us make our vision as dynamic and skillful as we can. Then, we will create our own public art.

Compass Stories - Developing promotional materials for the school. Interview students, teachers, and parents, take pictures, and use graphic design software to put it all together into a professional presentation of Compass Stories. We might also work in audio and video media as well as some web page development.

Meditation Retreat  -- "There is no way to peace, peace is the way" -Thich Nhat Hanh.  We will be spending the better part of these two weeks developing an ever increasing sense of stillness and awareness in order to come into closer personal contact with peace.  Mediatation, yoga, talks by a variety of meditation teachers, serving each other by taking turns cooking lunch.  Because a quiet space is needed, we will not meet at school but at sites in Brattleboro and Williamsville, as well as a trip to the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA

Middle School PoL's:

2^nd Trimester Presentations of Learning (PoL's) will take place on Wednesday, March 4^th from 9:30-11am, Thursday, March 5 from 8:30-10:30am, and Friday, March 6 from 8:30-noon. Please mark your calendars and contact Lauren if you would like to reserve the time that works best for you. Parents and guardians are expected to attend their children's presentations. As many of you already know, these are times of great reflection and celebration!

Sojourner Truth- Dramatic presentation at Compass Feb. 12

Performer Kathryn Woods will give a dramatic living history presentation on Sojourner Truth at Compass School on Thursday Feb. 12 at 7:30pm. Free and open to the public.

Needed for Winterm Mural Project: If anyone has extra primer,  house paint, acrylic paint, paintbrushes, and rags sitting around at home, please bring them in. The Winterm group that will be creating a mural at school would be most grateful!

Thanks to Elisabeth Gardner for use of her office and helping out with yoga for the meditation retreat winterm group.  Thanks to the Westminster Institute for use of their space as well.  

FINANCIAL AID FORMS

It is that time of year again, when it is important to start planning for attendance at Compass for next year. We recognize the importance of this decision and that the investment is considerable. As Compass determines how we can support our families financial needs, we will need all families interested in receiving financial aid to complete a financial aid form prior to February 14, 2009.

Financial Aid forms are available in the Compass School Office for pick-up, your child can be given one at school to take home, or we can mail a form to if you prefer. Please let us know if you will want a form and how you wish to obtain it.                 

--Wishing you all health and happiness in 2009, Compass Admissions

ANNUAL APPEAL

Please give to our annual appeal if you have not already done so. Any contribution will help lead to the goal of 100% parent participation which can help us leverage other grants. Your giving also supports the Challenge Grant of $25,000 whereby for every $3.00 you give we receive and additional $1.00. 

We are working hard on a number of fronts to raise money to support financial aid to Compass families. We are pleased to announce that Compass has recently been awarded $12,750 from the Turrell Fund!

Upcoming Dates:

• Jan. 30 - 9^th-10^th grade 1920's Museum, 6:30-8:30pm
• Jan. 30 - last day of second trimester
• Feb. 2-13 - Winterm service learning projects
• Feb. 12 - Sojourner Truth performance at Compass, 7:30pm
• Feb. 14-23 - February vacation (Note: Monday Feb. 23 is a teacher inservice day)
• March 2 - no classes - Student/Parent/Teacher conferences
• March 3 - no school - statewide Town Meeting Day
• March 4-6 - Middle school Presentations of Learning

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