Compass Newsletter -- February 25, 2009

This week we have launched the third academic trimester and the third section of exploratory classes. Speak with your children about their new classes!

Schedule Notes:

·       No classes Monday 3/2 - high school parent conferences

·       No school Tuesday 3/3 - Statewide Town Meeting Day

**High School Parents: Please sign up for Student/Parent/Teacher Conferences which take place on Monday March 2^nd 8am-2:30pm.

Please call the front office-463-2525-to sign up for a slot to meet with your child's advisor. If meeting on March 2^nd is out of the question for you, please contact your child's advisor to make an alternative appointment.

**Middle School PoL's:

Middle School 2^nd Trimester Presentations of Learning (PoL's) will take place on Wednesday, March 4 from 12:40-2:10pm, Thursday, March 5^th from 8:30-10:30am, and Friday, March 6^th from 8:30-noon. Please mark your calendars and contact me if you would like to reserve the time that works best for you. Parents and guardians are expected to attend their children's presentations. Thanks!

Mexico Expedition Blog

There is new content on the Compass Mexico blog. Visit http://compassmexicotrip2009.blogspot.com/

Great Winterm!

We had very successful winterm projects, ranging from work with Our Place food kitchen to presenting a story telling performance to local elementary schools, and in-dpeth French course which included a trip to Montreal, a fabulous new mural project at Compass, producing a sate-wide student art exhibit for Great River Arts Institute in Bellows Falls, and others.

Overnight Housing Needed for Education Students
A group of education students from Siena College (in Albany NY) are studying Compass School as part of their curriculum and are planning to visit Friday March 27 for the school day. Because of the distance from Albany, they plan to drive up Thursday and arrive about dinner time and need places to spend the night. They will have sleeping bags and just need floor space for the night. If you could host one or more of these students, it would be most appreciated. They are inspired by Compass and looking forward to learning more about the school through this direct experience. Thanks.

Rock Climbing Winter Sports Group: The climbing group will be traveling to climbing gyms in Northampton, Quechee, and Rutland after vacation. All of these gyms require their own waivers. These can be downloaded at the following websites or picked up in the office. Students will not be able to climb without these waivers. Thank you:

Northampton Gym:      http://www.nohoac.com/downloads/climbing_waiver.pdf

Quechee Gym: www.vermontrocks.com

Rutland Gym: http://www.vermontclimbing.com/Waiver.pdf

Also, please note that rock climbers will return to school at 4pm on 2/26/09, 3/5/09 and 3/12/09.  

Governors Institutes- Applications are being accepted for this summer's Governors Institutes. These are 1-week or 2-week summer enrichment programs open to high school students who have finished 10^th or 11^th grade. (Sometimes they accept 9^th graders.) We have had many students attend in the past and have always loved the experience. Great to have on the resume too! Programs are in Arts, Asian Cultures, Current Issues, Engineering, Information Tech., Math, and Science. Generous financial aid is usually available.  Application information available in the Compass office; applications due March 15^th. See the Governors Institute website at http://www.giv.org/ .

Another Great Opportunity for Sophomores: Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership seminar, a statewide program for sophomores. (We had a presentation from them today.) There is a 4-day camp at St. Michael's College in May. Eric has more information, and you can visit www.hoby.org.

Teen Studio Class at River Gallery School- RGS is offering a Teen Studio class on Friday afternoons from 3:30 - 5 pm suitable for middle school and high school students. This class is geared for students who are interested in deepening their painting and drawing experience and skills. Life drawing, portrait painting, oil painting, pencil, pen and ink, charcoal, sculptural and assemblage techniques are part of this program. The class is currently underway and enrollment is ongoing. The cost will be determined upon enrollment. There are  scholarship opportunities to help make the course possible.  Our new location at 32 Main Street in Brattleboro offers an elevator for handicapped accessibility.  Please come visit and pick up a schedule and take a tour of our studios, or call or e-mail us at  257-1577 or rgsart@sover.net.  For more information, we are on the web at www.rivergalleryschool.org

BMAC's Second Domino Toppling Extravaganza will take place Friday, February 27 at 5:30 p.m. The Perrucci Bros. are returning to Brattleboro-you may remember they were here a year ago-to build and then topple a 15,000-domino course, replete with all sorts of stunts, which will cover most of the floor of BMAC's main gallery. http://www.brattleboromuseum.org/2008/11/17/domino-toppling-ii-brattleboogaloo/

We will open at 4:30 p.m. for early viewing. The dominoes will topple at 5:30.

Children 8 and under are welcome free of charge. Admission for everyone else is $4 ($3 for BMAC members).

Vermont State Scholastic Chess Championships  Saturday April 11^th

Open to any interested student. For full details and registrations, visit www.vtchess.org

Upcoming Dates:

• Feb. 26 - Winter Sports
• 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.