FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 26, 2022
CONTACT: Kimberly Aguilar, (805) 341-4689
Thousand Oaks, CA – Compass Charter Schools (Compass) of Los Angeles, San Diego, and Yolo have each been designated as Purple Star Schools by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. The California Purple Star School Designation Program (Purple Star Program) publicly recognizes schools committed and equipped to meet the unique needs of military-connected scholars and their families.
“It is an honor to work for a school that is dedicated to helping scholars of military families,” shares Karla Gonzalez, McKinney Vento Liaison. “We understand how important it is to provide support to scholars during deployment and the absence of a parent during deployment. We have been working hard in training to understand military family life and developing resources that we can offer as a school to our military scholars in order to succeed in their education.”
Compass staff understand the military family’s desire for flexibility and a quality personalized learning experience and are proud to offer our Compass Experience to meet their unique needs. Our Online and Options Learning Programs provide the flexibility that families desire while maintaining the academic consistency they need. In addition, our Counseling Services Team is available to help provide even more support to help the scholar succeed. Compass also offers various field trips, enrichment activities, and clubs for scholars seeking additional enrichment experiences.
“We are extremely grateful, eager, and excited to be part of this program. Although Compass has always supported military families, we are thrilled to expand our services and relationships with our Compass military families,” shares Danielle Gamez, Director of Operations. “Karla Gonzalez, our McKinney Vento Liaison, has already begun gathering more targeted resources and making contacts. We are ready to provide even more support and celebrate our military scholars in any way we can!”
As part of our expansion, Compass will incorporate a special portion about military-connected scholars as part of our regular orientation sessions held during our back-to-school Weeks of Welcome program. The Counseling Services Department currently delivers a social-emotional curriculum for scholars in grades 4-12; and will expand direct counseling support with our military-connected scholars to integrate the development of tools and strategies that focus on resilience. Our counselors provide continued emotional support for both scholars and family members, identify mental health concerns, and connect families with needed resources in the community. Our Engagement Department is also creating events that will help connect our military families, in addition to their enhancements to the Weeks of Welcome program.
The Purple Star Program is a way to publicly recognize and designate schools that are the most committed and best equipped to meet the unique needs of military-connected scholars and their families. A Purple Star School is a public or charter school committed to supporting military-connected children’s unique educational and social-emotional needs. In addition, purple Star Program schools seek to reduce the burdens on military-connected scholars and their families by providing support, creating transition programs, and offering staff professional development. This is the first year that schools are being recognized for this award, and the California Department of Education (CDE) plans to make it an annual recognition program.
“It is an incredible honor to be designated as Purple Star Schools,” shares J.J. Lewis, Superintendent & CEO. “At Compass, we work diligently to provide the highest quality of education, services and supports to our scholars. We understand the challenges military families have with frequent transitions. Compass offers an incredible option to these military families, providing virtual learning in the home, while also providing a myriad of supports, including counseling, English language support, engagement, scholar support, special education, tutoring, and so much more.”
About Compass Charter Schools
Compass Charter Schools 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.