School Design & Curriculum

Overview: Compass is a free, public school where children learn through hands-on experiences. Our students develop critical thinking skills in innovative and flexible ways and are inspired to make a positive impact on their communities.

Looping: Our students loop with their classmates and teachers for two consecutive school years (K–1, 2–3, 4–5). This longer-term student-teacher relationship allows our teachers to develop a deeper understanding of each child in their classroom and to better tailor instruction to meet individual needs.

Intentionally Diverse Community: Compass is an intentionally diverse school. Our community of families, students, and staff is racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse. We reserve 40% of our open seats for children living in New York City who qualify as economically disadvantaged. Our goal is to include all students and their families in our learning program.

Inclusive School: We are an inclusive school and we provide services for children with a range of learning needs, including children who are academically advanced as well as those who need short and/or long-term academic and/or social emotional intervention. We also offer a range of related services for children with identified special needs.

Integrated Co-Teaching Classes: Compass is uniquely positioned to deliver a rich and responsive education to all of its students because every classroom has two teachers delivering instruction throughout the day. All of our classrooms include children with special needs and are designated Integrated Co-Teaching (ICT) classes.

Educating for Sustainability: In an ever-changing world, we believe that it is crucial for our students to learn to meet the needs of the present generation while simultaneously keeping the needs of future generations in mind. To cultivate this thinking, our students study their relationship with the world using a lens of sustainability. Our students participate in integrated projects focused on the living world, social justice, and economic justice.

At Compass, our students participate in a variety of research practices including observations, question development, interviews, artifact collection, field visits, and experiments.

Literacy: At Compass, we teach literacy skills across subject areas. Each day, our students engage in a daily reading workshop, writing workshop, word study session, and read aloud.

Math: The mathematics program emphasizes student-driven exploration, problem-solving, collaborative group work, and discussion that supports the conceptual understanding of mathematics. We will draw from multiple resources to plan New York State Standards aligned units of study including TERC Investigations, Contexts for Learning, and Math Solutions.

The Arts: We view the arts as a channel for learning, communication, expression, and creativity. Teachers and arts specialists plan integrated units of study. Students also have dedicated weekly arts studio classes.

“Education for Sustainability (EfS) is defined as a transformative learning process that equips students, teachers, and school systems with the new knowledge and ways of thinking we need to achieve economic prosperity and responsible citizenship while restoring the health of the living systems upon which our lives depend.” —The Cloud Institute for Sustainability

Sustainability Curriculum

Children have an innate inclination towards empathy. We allow children to develop a relationship with nature before we impart responsibility for it. Children are given the opportunity to develop biophilia: a love for all living things. We provide personal experiences in the early years to nurture relationships with animals, plants, and living systems.

We teach children to care for themselves, others, and the Commons. The Commons are resources that belong to the whole community such as the air, water, and land. The Commons at our school are our learning materials, art supplies, furniture, plants, food, energy, and water. Children learn responsibility for them by performing tasks such as taking care of plants, sorting materials, recycling, and composting.

What is the approach to sustainability curriculum at Compass?

Compass cares for the learner as an individual and takes into consideration a child’s developmental, social, and emotional needs. The curriculum for the Sustainability Studio is designed to inspire children to work with their hands, hearts, and minds. Students are encouraged to be divergent thinkers that engage in cooperative and inquiry-based science and social studies projects. The units of study are place-based, arts-integrated, and developmentally appropriate. The curriculum is aligned with national and state standards including the Education for Sustainability (EfS) Standards, New York State Standards, and Next Generation Science Standards.

In grades K–2, students immerse themselves in the natural world and begin scientific inquiry through play, exploration, and hands-on activities. In grades 3–5, students participate in civic engagement by researching natural and built environments, and designing and implementing service projects within their own community.

All students foster wonder and appreciation for the beauty and diversity in nature, themselves, and others.

What does a day in the Sustainability Studio look like?

Students meet in the Sustainability Studio once or twice a week and engage in ongoing units nested within larger Integrated Sustainability units. Students meet at the circle for a thematic discussion, poetry reading, puppet show, song, or dance. An experiential, hands-on project integrating science, art, and nature is incorporated into each lesson. Students are also given choice time to learn and explore independently through play. Centers are placed around the room such as recycled art, fairy home building, water and sand tables, research stations, and gardening. We also explore outside in the neighborhood as much as possible. We have many green spaces to visit such as Fort Greene Park, Cuyler Gore Park, Prospect Park, and the Carlton Bears Community Garden. Students spend time observing living things that inhabit the schoolyard and surrounding neighborhoods. We have an on-site garden and green space to develop and integrate into our curriculum. Students are actively involved in social justice, ecological economics, community service, and cooperative learning projects.

How does the work in the Sustainability Studio impact the broader culture and curriculum of the school?

Compass has been built from the ground up using an all-hands-on-deck approach. Together we work to create a culture of love for learning. We model empathy and cooperation, and celebrate of our diversity. We care for all people through an inclusive learning environment and emphasize the value in community. It is a culture that will contribute to the vision and building of a sustainable future.

Sustainability is woven throughout the entire curriculum at Compass Charter School. In addition to Studio Time, classes work on their Integrated Sustainability Units during Integrated Work Time throughout the week. Teachers and staff collaboratively plan the Integrated Sustainability lessons.

Sustainable practices are implemented throughout the school such as vermiculture, composting, and recycling. Our community members help to provide healthy snacks, cleaning products, and water bottles for our students. The classrooms at Compass offer natural environments that contain wood furniture, plants, and signs made by the students and teachers.

Students transfer what they learn in the studio throughout their day at school and at home. Families donate recycled materials for arts and crafts projects. Students recycle and reuse materials by transforming them into new objects. On our blacktop playground, students collect items from nature and build villages under the trees. Everyday student come into school with a new object from nature that they must share or a piece of writing about the Earth. A love for nature permeates through the work and play of each day.

“Give children a chance to love the Earth before we ask them to save it.” —David Sobel

Our Beliefs About Children

We believe that children are innately equipped to learn. Their natural disposition for learning causes them to inquire about the environment and community that surrounds them, fueling interactive exploration and research that leads to making connections, hypothesizing, synthesizing information, and creation of assumptions or rules.

We know that children enter school with vast, unique knowledge bases from experiences in their homes and communities. We believe that classrooms function best when they are made up of learners who have a variety of different background experiences. This diversity allows for students to expose each other to different cultures, beliefs, and ways of living, making them understand the world in a deeper way. In addition, research proves the overwhelmingly positive effects that a diverse student body plays on student achievement in core subjects, social interactions, and positive outcomes in a child’s future.

All students participate in a variety of research practices including observations, question development, interviews, artifact collection, field visits, note-taking, and hands-on experiments.

In an ever-changing world, we believe that it is crucial for our students to learn to meet the needs of the present generation while simultaneously keeping the needs of future generations in mind. To cultivate this thinking, our students study their relationship with the world using a lens of sustainability. Our students participate in integrated projects focused on the living world, social justice, and economic justice. Our integrated units of study are aligned to the Educating for Sustainability (Efs) Standards and New York State Standards.

Music Studio

Music is a unique cultural expression. Through music, people can connect and relate deeply to each other, open up outlets for creative expression, process emotions, celebrate values, and truly define and celebrate a community. The music curriculum at Compass Charter School is grounded in the Orff-Shulwerk, an approach to music education developed by the composer Carl Orff and his colleague, Gunild Keetman, as well as the methodology developed by Zoltan Kodaly. Common to both of these approaches is the firmly held conviction that children are musical, that all people can make music, and that children learn best by actively engaging.

Students at Compass come to the music studio once or twice a week for 50 minute sessions. Each class takes students through a variety of musical experiences with a constant focus on developing a tuneful singing voice, rhythmic internalization, and ensemble skills. Through songs and singing games, work with hand percussion instruments and xylophones, creative movement, and dramatic play, students explore their musical world while developing the skills to communicate in increasingly sophisticated and satisfying ways.

Visual Art Studio

Compass is a beautifully diverse school, within a community of artists and creative people. The students, families, and teachers each bring unique perspectives about life, and the intention is to grow a program that reflects and honors each learner. Play and student interest are the center of the teaching approach, with an emphasis on responsive and constructive practices.

The emergent curriculum is based upon the National Standards for Visual Arts, and The NYC BluePrint for Visual Arts. Each day brings a materials-rich exploration built upon the ideas and experiences of the students. Students participate in painting, drawing, printmaking, collage, and sculptural experiences; supported by the regular practice of observational drawing, materials exploration, and thoughtful reflection and sharing

There are many ways that the Compass visual art program supports and builds community. Collaborative projects, peer feedback, interdisciplinary units, community trips, and working with families are all ways that the bond between students and their love of art is fostered. Students complete buddy projects with students from another classroom, visit nearby community galleries and spaces to create and celebrate their artwork with their families during school art exhibits.

Based on our experiences as teachers in elementary classrooms along with current research in literacy, we’ve created and implemented our own balanced literacy curriculum. Our literacy curriculum is based on the New York State Standards and uses several current, evidence-based resources to guide the planning of our robust model. Our philosophy of teaching reading and writing aligns closely with the work of Lucy Calkins and her colleagues at Teachers College Reading and Writing Project and we use many of their published resources in our literacy framework with a specific emphasis on teaching children key phonics and decoding skills from a young age. We also use the work of Richard Allington, Ellin Oliver Keene, Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell, Carl Anderson, and Katie Wood Ray to guide the creation and implementation of our balanced literacy framework.

Balanced Literacy Framework

Teachers use the components of a balanced literacy framework along with the New York State Standards to plan units of study and differentiated lessons to meet the needs of the students in their classrooms. To successfully incorporate a balanced literacy model, the following components have time and space within the daily and weekly schedules.

Read Aloud

Students engage in an Interactive Read Aloud a minimum of one time per day. During this time, a teacher models comprehension strategies and offers time for students to try out new or reviewed reading strategies. Classes work together to create open dialogue that is not completely dependent on teacher direction. Teachers will use the New York State Standards to plan scaffolded lessons for high-level discussion of a variety of texts. Children with limited language exposure will be provided with conversation prompts, visuals, and time for partner rather than whole group conversation.

Word Study

Students have a 30-minute differentiated word study session each day, which includes instruction in phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, grammar, and word use. These lessons are planned using resources including TC Phonics Program, Wilson Fundations, Words Their Way, Sounds In Motion, Preventing Academic Failure (PAF), Fountas and Pinnell Phonics, Spelling K-8 by Diane Snowball and Faye Bolton, and The Power of Grammar By Mary Ehrenworth and Vicki Vinton. Students are grouped flexibly based on interim assessment data. Small groups of students participate in small, teacher-led groups to ensure access to a word study program that meets their current language needs. Children who are performing at or above grade level are placed in groups that are larger in size and have more independent work such as sorting individually or with a partner, word hunts, word, and word pattern games, and writing extension activities. Children who are not yet able to decode and encode at grade level are placed in very small groups of 4-6 children and use a direct instruction approach to word study such as Wilson Fundations, Preventing Academic Failure (PAF) and/or Sounds in Motion. Word Study Instruction for all children does not solely focus on phonics, but also additional important Language Standards and Foundational Skills outlined in the New York State Standards.

Guided Reading

Guided Reading is included within the daily Reading Workshop. All students are part of flexible, small, guided reading groups that convene with a teacher throughout the week. These lessons provide an opportunity for students to learn a new reading strategy or revisit a previously taught reading strategy using texts at each child’s instructional reading level. Teachers use data from the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Reading Assessment, weekly running records, reading conference notes, along with the guidance of the New York State Standards to plan these differentiated small groups.

Reading Workshop

Reading workshop occurs daily for 60 minutes. This time is primarily used for students to read independently and authentically use the reading skills and strategies they are learning. Teachers work with small groups of readers and confer with readers individually to support their growth. A short, whole-group mini-lesson will be included as well as a brief teaching share on most days. Teachers plan these lessons based on the needs of their students and the New York State Standards. Instruction is differentiated to meet the needs of the diverse group of learners in each class. Children receive reading instruction at their instructional reading level through small, guided reading groups, book clubs, and individual conferences with a teacher.

Writing Workshop

Writing workshop occurs both in isolation and is included within Integrated Work Time which allows for authentic and content-based writing experiences that reflect the big ideas in our integrated curriculum.

With an emphasis on informational and opinion-based writing included in the New York State Standards. Writing Workshop is primarily be used for students to write independently and for teachers to confer with individual students as well as meet with small strategy groups. A short, whole-group mini lesson will be included as well as a brief teaching share. Teachers will plan daily mini lessons and strategy groups based on assessment data, anecdotal notes, and the New York State Standards. Instruction is be differentiated to meet the needs of the diverse group of learners in each class. Children receive writing instruction based on their needs through small, guided writing groups, writing partnerships, and individual conferences with a teacher. Teachers utilize published resources from the following literacy organizations and authors: Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, Katie Wood Ray, Carl Anderson, and Ralph Fletcher. Teachers in kindergarten and first grade who are teaching emergent writers will draw heavily from the work of Martha Horn and Matt Glover in addition to the resources listed above.

Integrated Writing Opportunities

In addition to a dedicated Writing Workshop, writing will also be integrated across the curriculum. Our Integrated Work Time provides many opportunities for authentic writing, including informational posters, research books and papers, scripts for skits and presentations, reflective writing on the process of a research project, thematic poetry, narrative writing, and opinion writing based on a current event or issue that is being studied. Teachers confer individually with students to support not only the content knowledge required for these types of writing, but also to improve each child’s writing skills.

Shared Reading

Shared Reading is incorporated within morning meeting, reading workshop, and our integrated Project Time. Teachers model appropriate phrasing and fluency and the class will be given many opportunities to read and reread a text together. This type of reading often comes in the form of poems, songs, and big books in the lower grades. Upper-grade students read short texts, poems, and articles together as shared reading. Shared reading includes comprehension conversations in addition to a focus on fluent oral reading. Shared Reading is also a time for all children, regardless of independent reading level or language needs to be exposed to grade-level text. Children who are not exposed to grade-level text often do not make as much progress as children who are exposed to grade-level text along with scaffolds and supports.

Constructivist Approach

The Compass math curriculum was designed using a constructivist approach to mathematics. Tasks and lessons are designed to give children space to create, invent, experiment with, and make sense of mathematical ideas and truths through exploration, collaboration with others, and reflection on their own practices. The intention of constructivist mathematics is to help children see the math period as a time to make sense of and communicate about math rather than finish a set of tasks.

Content Spiral

Our math curricular scope and sequence is carefully designed to be a coherent spiral. Throughout the K-5 progression, there are many opportunities to return to specific mathematical content areas and concepts in order to have multiple chances to master strategies, make connections, and support students in building upon their schema for numbers and space.

Standards for Mathematical Practice

Compass incorporates the Standards for Mathematical Practice into our curriculum. These practices emphasize critical methods and strategies for effectively communicating and logically solving math problems.

Mathematical Literacy

We strive to make our students literate in the language of mathematics. Compass students are given experience in dissecting the language of word problems and are prompted to explain their mathematical thinking in written responses. Our end-of-workshop discussions provide many opportunities for students to verbally explain their problem-solving methods and receive constructive critique about their clarity.

Computational Fluency

While implementing a constructivist curriculum we also emphasize the importance of computational fluency. After proving that they have conceptually mastered specific areas of mathematics, we encourage students to adopt efficient knowledge and practices for problem-solving. Examples of this include having automaticity in combinations of 10 or multiplication combinations of numbers up to 12, as well as specific efficient algorithms or procedures.

Reasoning and Logical Problem Solving

Our math block provides students and teachers time to explore complex problems as a class. Teachers select or write problems with rich, engaging contexts, multiple entry points for the range of students in the class, and enough difficulty to make students grapple with disequilibrium without becoming discouraged. In each classroom, educators place emphasis on the problem-solving process.

Daily Structure of Math Workshop

Math Workshop is comprised of the following elements. These elements aren’t stagnant and may or may not be completed in this order each day.

Setting up the Activity

At the beginning of the workshop, the teachers set up the situation or activity in which students will explore. This may include discussing specific learning benchmarks and goals for the day, posing a problem or a task, discussing past work, or modeling an activity. This element may happen once in the lesson or multiple times depending on the length of each exploration.

Exploration and Work Time

Students work within the context of the activity that was set up. This may include exploration of a topic or problem, small group or partner work, playing games, or doing individual work. During this time, teachers are conducting guided math groups or rotating throughout the room to support or assess individual students or groups.

Discussion/Share

At the end of each math workshop, there is a discussion or share. This is a forum for students to be exposed to new strategies and ways of thinking about math. Students spend time explaining, defending, and justifying their own work to other class members. Students also evaluate, critique, and question the work that others did during the work time. Together as a group, the students make new assumptions and create new rules surrounding mathematical topics. They also evaluate how the work they did during the exploration time aligned with the learning benchmarks or solved the problem that was posed at the beginning of the math workshop.

Curricular Resources

We believe that no one math curriculum is perfect for fitting the needs of a diverse range of learners. We use resources and lessons from a variety of curricular sources that emphasize a constructivist, problem-based approach to mathematics to piece together engaging units of study that meet the benchmarks, skills, and practices detailed in the New York State Standards. Our main curricular resources are TERC Investigations, Contexts for Learning, and Marilyn Burn’s Math Solutions materials

Compass Charter School is committed to creating an inclusive environment that supports the needs of all children, including children with disabilities and children who require additional academic and/or social-emotional-behavioral support. At Compass, all classrooms are designated as Integrated Co-Teaching (ICT) and are led by two teachers, a general education teacher and a special education teacher, who work collaboratively to adapt materials and modify instruction to make sure all students can meaningfully participate and make progress. Some students in our ICT classrooms are considered “general education students'' meaning they do not have an identified disability, while others have an identified disability that requires the students to receive special education services to access the curriculum. Whether a student has an identified disability or not, at Compass we strongly believe that all students benefit from inclusion.

Family Guide to Special Education Services

In addition to Integrated Co-Teaching, the inclusive education program at Compass Charter School includes the following components:

Related Services

Related services including speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, counseling services, and additional services provided through the NYC Department of Education are available to students who have been evaluated and have qualified for such services through the Committee on Special Education. Related services are provided in the classroom or in the therapist’s office depending on a student’s needs and specific goals being addressed.

Response to Intervention

Compass Charter School believes in providing the highest quality education for our students. We utilize a three-tiered instructional approach in our general education classrooms to meet this goal, referred to as Response to Intervention (RTI), which is now part of federal educational law.

As part of RTI, all students participate in the core curriculum, with three levels (tiers) of interventions for students who demonstrate at-risk skills in literacy, mathematics, or social-emotional-behavioral development. Each tier provides additional support beyond the core curriculum. All students are assessed over the course of the year to measure their progress toward meeting grade-level expectations. Behavioral expectations are also be monitored on a regular basis throughout the year.

Tier One – Teachers use different strategies within the core curriculum to address all student educational needs. This includes small group instruction within the classroom and opportunities to review and reinforce concepts and skills that have been taught in various ways.

Tier Two – Based on progress data, students who are unsuccessful in Tier One will be provided supplemental research-based interventions matched to their needs. Interventions can focus on literacy (decoding, comprehension, writing), mathematics, and/or behavior. Teachers and specialists track the child’s progress and ongoing progress data is communicated to families.

Tier Three – Students who continue to struggle in Tier Two will receive more intensive interventions at the Tier Three level. These interventions are often delivered individually or in small groups on a daily basis by a specialist. Ongoing progress data will again be communicated to families. Students who continue to display limited progress despite Tier Three intervention may then be considered for a comprehensive evaluation to determine eligibility for special education services.

Compass Charter School teachers and specialists utilize a wide range of research-based interventions to meet the needs of struggling students. These interventions include, but are not limited to: Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI), Preventing Academic Failure (PAF), Wilson Reading System, individual or small group counseling, Functional Behavioral Assessments (FBAs), and Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs).

Parents/guardians who are seeking an evaluation of their child, either through the Committee on Special Education or privately, should arrange a meeting with Co-Director, Elizabeth Blumenau (elizabeth@brooklyncompass.org), for assistance in understanding the evaluation process.

Compass Charter School strives to support the social-emotional-behavioral growth of all of our students through the following avenues:

Strong Kids / Strong Start

Strong Start— is a social-emotional prevention and early intervention program consisting of 10 carefully sequenced lessons. The curriculum is designed for maximum impact on cognitive, affective, and social functioning of young students. Students develop increased social emotional competencies by practicing and building upon skills and strategies learned throughout the curriculum. All students participate in 10 lessons that address issues such as: understanding your feelings and the feelings of others, dealing with anger, and letting go of stress.

Gender and Sexuality Curriculum

Compass Charter School is an inclusive and welcoming environment for all students of various gender identities, family structures, and sexual identities. The Gender and Sexuality curriculum was developed by Compass staff members in consultation with the National Sex Education Standards. Students in all grade levels learn about gender identity and expression, consent, healthy relationships, bodies, reproduction, and family structure in developmentally appropriate ways. In grades 3-5, students learn about changing bodies and human sexuality. Throughout every grade level, students explore their own identities and learn about the identities of their peers. Many lessons in the Gender and Sexuality curriculum draw from a robust collection of inclusive fiction and non-fiction books for children, many of which are also integrated into the classroom libraries.

Social Emotional Screener

As part of our intervention process, each student will participate in a social emotional screener. Families will also complete a screener at home to provide their perspective about their student’s social and emotional well being. This information, in conjunction with academic data, is used to help make decisions about possible additional supports needed.

Compass Cares

Positive Behavioral Intervention Systems (PBIS) is an evidence-based approach to support social emotional learning and behavior across schools. PBIS systems allow for data to guide systemic work and inform decisions made throughout the Compass Community by incorporating positive acknowledgements of the CARES Values. The Compass CARES values were developed by a team of Compass staff members and align with the school mission. The CARES values are Community, Advocacy, Reflection, Empathy, and Self-Love. Each of these values is defined in actions and taught to students. Families are also updated with information about how their children are demonstrating these values during conferences. In addition to supporting school values, PBIS systems support reinforcement of regular attendance to school and a positive environment while students are traveling to and from on the bus.

Small Group and Individual Counseling Services

Compass offers a range of small group and individual counseling services. Students who receive counseling as a related service on their IEP work toward specific and measurable goals with our school psychologist, school psychology interns, and school social worker. Any child in need of behavioral or emotional support through the RTI process works with our Community Support Coordinator in both individual and small group settings. For both group and individual sessions, evidenced based curriculums focused on building flexible thinking and emotional regulation skills are used. Topical groups are also facilitated throughout the year to address the needs of the school population and include common issues such as family changes, anxiety, and anger management.

Responsive Classroom

The Compass School Community has been trained in the Responsive Classroom approach as an additional social emotional support for all grade levels. Responsive Classroom builds on many of the proactive strategies outlined in Caring School Community: classroom meetings, positive social interactions, and knowing each child are some of the core tenets of the program. In addition to positive social skill building, Responsive Classroom encourages student ownership and investment in the classroom by involving children in the creation of class rules. Interactive modeling is used throughout the school day so students are able to see and hear what is expected of them during routines and procedures This approach also allows for consistency in language across classrooms throughout the school by teachers effectively using reinforcing, reminding, and redirecting language as needed. Rather than punishment for misbehavior, logical consequences are used to help children better recognize the impact of their actions on the larger community and think collaboratively about how to fix the mistake that was made. Children are taught what it means to “take a break” in the classroom. The Responsive Classroom approach focuses on implementing proactive interventions that allow children to feel loved and respected at school with developmentally responsive teaching and engaging academics.

Parent Consultation Services

Our School Social Worker, School Counselor, and Student Behavior Specialist are both to meet with parents regarding their child’s social-emotional-behavioral development. Parent consultation services might include collaboratively problem-solving a difficulty at home or school, sharing and discussing evidence-based strategies and literature, developing a positive behavior intervention plan, offering advocacy services, or connecting families with community resources and support.