World Compass Academy engages and inspires learners in a safe, challenging,
and individualized learning environment, which cultivates and fosters character,
a lifelong love of learning, and the skills to engage in the global community.
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SCHOOL OFFICE IS OPEN!
The school office reopened on August 1st! If you have any questions, please feel free to call us at 303-814-5200.
The office will be open Monday through Friday from 8:00am - 3:00pm until school starts. Please read below for important back to school information! See you soon!
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EXPRESS CHECK-IN
Each WCA family should have received an email at the beginning of this week asking you to complete the Express Check-in process. It is important that YOU log into Online Express Check-In to verify and/or update emergency contact, medical information, etc., for your child by
August 16. If you did not receive this email, please call the school office at 303-814-5200.
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WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL FROM THE PRINCIPAL!
Greetings from Mr. Howard!
Hello everyone! I hope that you had a great summer! If you are like me,
I blinked and summer is ending. However, I was able to take a road trip with my family through the Midwest and down to Florida, with a return trip back through Texas (5,000 miles in a Prius with my family of five)!
We are excited about the start of school and cannot wait to begin our fantastic third year of partnering with you in educating our students. We are firmly committed to making each day at WCA better than the day before. Our newly expanded full time administrative staff, Bethany Merkling (Director of Middle School) and Sam Tracy (Assistant Principal), have joined me in helping direct the school and lead us on the path of seeing the school's mission, vision, and goals implemented with fidelity and enthusiasm.
Here are a few of our stellar accomplishments from the 2016-2017 school year:
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Awesome academic performance with great growth: I-Ready scores show greater growth and higher proficiency than last year.
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Our year 1 scores on state testing met & exceeded our fellow Castle Rock schools in Reading/Language Arts and met their performance in Math!
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We finished our Colorado Department of Education's School start-up grant with solid performance on their in depth review of all facets of WCA school operations.
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As a result of our outstanding school academic and operations management, WCA was able to secure financing for our bridge loan and pre-construction financing a whole year early.
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Started an awesome summer day camp program with our new Explorers Club Director and Assistant Director.
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Excellent 96% full time staff retention rate: the majority of our staff are returning, with 3 teachers not returning and 1 teacher non renewed.
Our upcoming 2017-2018 school year will highlight:
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Ongoing support of our mastery based learning, with differentiated classes and flexible grouping in reading and math.
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Realignment of the school schedule to expand Singapore Math instruction time and include homework assistance.
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Expanding our Enrichment Club program offerings, including more music options.
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Our new middle school program includes awesome electives.
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Middle school intramurals at lunch recess.
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Middle school option to pick up another new foreign language.
This year, our school improvement plan goals will focus on improving our instruction and student performance in mathematics, writing across our curriculum, and stakeholder education/increased collaboration. Additionally, we have simplified our school rules: Be Safe, Be Responsible, and Be Respectful. These three simple rules will help both students and staff clarify our focus during the school year and will streamline the implementation of our Cougar Essentials based on the Essential 55. Our 10 essentials of teaching leadership, manners, compassion, perseverance, knowledge, positivity, respect, integrity, and being the best person that we can be will remain a monthly focus that will help guide our everyday interactions at WCA.
I am thankful for the hard work and dedication of our school staff and hardworking volunteers who help make WCA a great place to learn and grow. We will continue to find great ways to collaborate together and make a significant impact on our students.
We have been working hard to make sure that the school building and staff are ready for the start of school. We are looking forward to a great year full of learning, excitement, and growth so that we can be well prepared to
Go Anywhere
in life and
Do Anything
that we encounter in our future!
Sincerely,
Mr. Howard
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BOARD CORNER
We anticipate another busy year for 2017-2018! While the school was on summer break, the Board, along with our wonderful Admin Team, continued meeting and making plans for the school. In fact, we all met on a Saturday in June for a full day of key training and goal setting. This was in addition to our normally scheduled Board meetings.
These meetings have been necessary as we continue with our middle school plans and completing all of the requirements for our investor. Thanks to our Finance Team, Building Corporation, our School Admin, Accountant, and our Board President, we expect to close in the late fall and begin construction at that time.
If you would like to learn more about our future plans, what the Board does, or the middle school timeline, please feel free to attend our monthly Board meetings. They are the first Tuesday of every month
at 6:30pm
. This is the best way to stay informed.
For a more informal gathering, the Board will conduct monthly Chat and Plays. These will be an hour long and give parents an opportunity to interact more with members of the Board and Admin. The first Chat and Play is scheduled for
August 15
from 2-3 pm
during the school Meet & Greet. For other dates, please check the school calendar on the school website.
We are looking forward to another great year! We hope to see you at one of our meetings.
Sincerely,
WCA Board of Directors
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VOLUNTEER PROGRAM
There are some new changes to our volunteer program for the 2017-18 school year. First, we
are increasing the number of volunteer hours required by each family from 10 to 15 hours since we will be adding more volunteer opportunities throughout the school. These opportunities
will be posted on the school website, as well as included in our school newsletter, during the school year. Because of the additional volunteer opportunities this year, we will have a Volunteer Coordinator. Thank you, Heather Ridges-Schneider, for accepting this position! For more information, you may email Heather.
A few reminders...All volunteers need to sign the WCA Volunteer Application which is going home with all students the first week of school. This form must be completed and returned to the school prior to volunteering in the school. To submit volunteer hours, go to the school website and click the green button "Submit Completed Volunteer Hours Here" to get credit. Please submit your hours within 72 hours to help with keeping the reports current and accurate.
Thank you for all the hard work you do to make WCA an incredible place for your kids. We truly appreciate your support!
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
WCA Facebook Page. Be sure and "like" us on the
WCA Facebook Page. This is another great way to stay in the loop!
Visitor Check-In Policy. We welcome visitors at WCA! It is our policy that visitors must check-in at the front office and be entered into our Raptor system. Proof of identification will be required in the form of a driver's license for each visit to the school. Thank you for our cooperation in keeping our students safe.
Teacher Assignments
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We know that students and parents are getting so excited about finding out who their teacher(s) will be and who is teaching which grade! You will know soon! The teachers have been asked to mail their letters on the SAME DAY...August 4. You will know your teacher assignments after the 4th. Kids always love getting something in the mail! Watch your mailboxes!
Questions? Email Mary Bertke.
New Staff Members. WCA is excited for you to meet our new staff members for the 2017-18 school year. For a quick introduction, please go to our Facebook page to read their bios.
Meet & Greet. We hope you can attend the Meet & Greet on
August 15. Come anytime from 1:00pm - 4:00pm. This is a great way to ease any first day jitters by giving you the opportunity to meet your teacher, see your classroom and drop off school supplies. Vision and hearing screenings will also be held in the gym during this time for
grades K, 1, 2, 3, 5, & 7.
First Day of School! 1st - 7th graders start
August 16! This is a FORMAL UNIFORM DAY and an EARLY RELEASE DAY. Students will be released after lunch at 12:30pm.
Kindergarten Assessments & Staggered Start. The Kindergarten team will be assessing incoming students
August 16 - 18, and 21. To provide a more comfortable transition for our Kindergarten students, the Kindergarten team has scheduled a staggered start
August 21 - 23. This
flyer has all of the important details. Please email
Alecia Glorioso if you have any questions.
First Day of Preschool! Our 3 Day PreK students will begin
August 21 and our 2 Day PreK students will begin
August 22! Please contact
Treena Curts, Preschool Director, if you have any questions.
Preschool Program Start/End Times. The AM classes will meet
8:15am-11:15am
and the PM classes will meet 1
2:15pm-3:15pm.
Drop off will be at the preschool playground in the front of the school and pick up will be in the preschool classroom. All parents are required to sign their child in and out each day.
Preschool Meet & Greet Schedule.
On August 15, the AM classes will meet from 1-
1:45pm
and PM classes will meet from
2-2:45pm
in the preschool classroom.
School Supply Lists. View the lists for PreK - 7th grade here.
2017-18 Formal Uniform. Educational Outfitters is our formal uniform supplier. View the 2017-18 pricing information here. Middle school and elementary students will follow the same dress code. Preschool students do not have a dress code. For more information on our dress code, please visit our website. Questions? Email Mary Bertke.
School Lunch. Our school lunch provider is Michael's of Denver Catering: My Kid's Lunch. Please read the Welcome Letter
for information about pricing, creating an account, registering for the new year and ordering lunches. Lunches need to be ordered 48 hours in advance. Make sure to update your child's grade level as well. For questions, you may contact them at 303-778-0916.
Explorers Club.
The Explorers Club is our Before and After Care program. The before
Enrichment Clubs. The Explorer's Club offers Enrichment Clubs after school, Monday - Friday, from 4:00pm - 5:00pm. From 3:30pm - 4:00pm, students will be given a snack and the opportunity to do their homework. Students do NOT need to be enrolled in the after school program to attend any of the Enrichment Clubs. If a student IS enrolled in the after school program, registration and payment is still required for Enrichment Clubs. These clubs are taught by WCA teachers and more details about the different club offerings will be provided after the school year begins. REGISTER AND PAY ONLINE. For more information, go to our website or email Shea-Leah Addenbrooke, Explorers Club Director.
2016-17 Lost & Found Items. We have a small collection of
report cards, certificates, and
end of year items at the front desk leftover from the 2016-17 school year.
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MIDDLE SCHOOL SPORTS
Mr. Comstock is organizing a girl's volleyball tryout and parent information meeting on
Monday, August 14, at 4:00pm
in the WCA gym
! All 6th & 7th grade girls are welcome to tryout. The cost to register for volleyball is $150, which will cover coaches fees and a jersey.
Also, all middle school students (6th & 7th) participating in athletics this year will need to have a physical before the season's tryouts. Please email Mr. Comstock if you have any questions and for more information.
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NOTES FROM THE MUSIC TEACHER
Dear Parents,
I hope you all had an amazing summer! I have enjoyed my time off, but I cannot wait to jump into this next school year! I hope the students are as excited as I am.
As the school and the music program grow, there will be minor adjustments from year to year until the school is fully developed. If you have a student in 5th - 7th grade, they now have the option to take choir, drama, or instrumental music (band/orchestra) as an elective class rather than having elementary school specials.
In addition to those classes, we will have several extracurricular music ensembles. All of the different choirs will begin rehearsing the week of
August 21st and are listed below with their rehearsal times:
1st - 2nd Grade Choir -
Wednesday
7:10am - 7:55am
3rd - 4th Grade Choir -
Thursday
7:10am - 7:55am
5th - 7th Grade Advanced Choir -
Tuesday
4:00pm - 5:00pm
If your student is interested in instrumental music, we will be hosting an Instrument Demo Night on
August 22 from
6:00pm - 7:00pm. Students may stop in and try out several
band and orchestra instruments to see which one they might be interested in. If your student is unable to attend that evening, we can make other arrangements to experience the instruments.
If you have questions about anything, please feel free to
email me.
See You Soon!!
Mike Ballard
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REMINDERS FROM THE SCHOOL NURSE
Welcome back, WCA Families!
I can't wait to see your sweet kiddos in a couple of weeks.
Please remember to have updated immunization records and new physician orders for the 2017-2018 school year! Students are required to have Tdap prior to entry into 6th grade. One dose of Tdap is required for 6th - 12th grades in the state of Colorado.
Medication can be dropped off to Nurse Jenny and must be in the original and properly labeled container. If it is a prescription medicine, the student's name, name of the drug, dosage, time for administering, and name of health care provider and current date must be printed on the container.
Vision and hearing screens are going to be held in the gym on Tuesday,
August 15
from 1 - 4pm for state-required grades K, 1, 2, 3, 5, & 7. If you are interested in helping to run a screening station for volunteer hours, please email Jenny.
See you soon!
Sincerely,
Jenny Garland, RN
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CALENDAR REMINDERS
| August 4 |
Teacher Assignments mailed out! |
| August 14 |
Volleyball Tryouts (6th - 7th grade girls), 4pm |
| August 15 |
Meet & Greet/Vision & Hearing Screenings, 1 - 4pm |
August 15
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Chat & Play with the WCA Board of Directors, 2 - 3pm |
| August 16 |
First Day of School, 1st - 7th Grades ONLY |
| August 16 |
FORMAL UNIFORM DAY |
| August 16 |
Early Release Day @ 12:30pm |
| August 16 - 18, 21 |
Kindergarten Assessments |
| August 21 - 23 |
Kindergarten Staggered Start |
| August 21 |
First Day of Preschool |
| August 22 |
Instrument Demo Night, 6 - 7pm |
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2490 S. Perry Street
Castle Rock, CO 80104
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Attendance: 303-814-5280
Nurse: 303-814-5260
Preschool: 303-814-5214
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