- 4667 W. Aviator Street Meridian ID 83642
- 208-888-5847
F.A.Q.
Our Mission
Compass Public Charter School’s Mission is to provide a safe and challenging learning community that prepares students for life long excellence through exceptional academics, character development, and the ability to define and defend a personal worldview.
Our Philosophy
The philosophy of Compass is to foster a learning community built on relationships and trust where students feel physically and emotionally secure to pursue a challenging education and excel beyond expectations.
Educational Program
Compass’ mission and philosophy are founded on the premise that when students are schooled in a safe and comfortable environment with rigorous and relevant learning opportunities, they will achieve excellence. Therefore, our educational program focuses on two main areas that encompass this belief.
Academic : Compass will…
Implement the Understanding by Design framework to ensure performance-based learning, which requires students to demonstrate mastery based on high, clear, and commonly-shared expectations .
Provide students with opportunities to enroll in courses for concurrent college credits.
Provide a learning environment designed for the Next Generation Learner, including:
A technology-rich learning environment
Constructive learning experiences through both the geographic and the Internet-connected community
Personalized learning based on data-driven goals for instruction
Curriculum and instruction to encourage students to make real-world connections
Culture: Compass will…
Offer opportunities for students to develop professional work skills through in-school and community-based service and apprenticeships.
Encourage students to develop self-discipline and take responsibility for their own behavior through implementation of Love and Logic’s ™One School Rule.
Support students in their learning and demonstration of strong character traits. Compass also acknowledges their success through regular self-evaluation and school-wide recognition.
Help students to cultivate their authentic student voice through leadership opportunities.
Value parents as partners in their students’ education.
Our School Handbook is a wonderful resource for many questions.
The school calendar is here. Please make your best effort to schedule vacations and trips during our school breaks.
We are no longer able to accommodate tours because of the large number of applicants we get on an annual basis. Please read this FAQ page in it's entirety to learn more about the Compass model and whether Compass is the right fit for your family.
We use MySchoolBucks as our online payment processor. All payments need to be made through MySchoolBucks.
*Please note that school lunches are no longer free. Students are expected to keep a positive lunch balance in order to get lunch.
Please visit our website staff page for the email addresses of our staff to request a meeting or a phone call.
Please visit the Parents > Forms page on our website to request a copy of your transcript or for a letter of compliance for driver's education. Please allow at least 1 business day for your request to be completed.
| K-5th Grade | Start | Release |
| Tuesday-Friday | 8:50 am | 3:45 pm |
* Drop-off begins at 8:30 am
| 6th-12th Grade | Start | Release |
| Tuesday-Friday | 7:30 am | 2:50 pm |
* Drop-off begins at 7:10 am
ABOUT COMPASS
No. Compass is a public charter school with no fee to attend.
A charter school is founded by parents (in most cases) who are looking for something different than what the traditional public schools have to offer. Charter schools usually have a specific focus for their educational program. The focus at Compass is kindness and high academic and behavior expectations.
Yes! We do provide sports opportunities for our middle and high school students. Due to the limitations of the facility, we are only able to provide:
Girls volleyball, boys & girls basketball, golf, & cross-country.
We play in the Western Idaho Conference and are members of the Idaho High School Athletic Association as a 2A school. We encourage our students who are interested in other sports to contact their “assigned” public school to ask about their sports program. Several Compass families have been successful with this approach.
Visit our Athletics/Activities page for more information.
NO. Compass Public Charter School’s charter was authorized by the Idaho State Public Charter School Commission. They have oversight of our program and we function as our own LEA (Local Education Agency). This means we are our own school district and are recognized as such by the State Department of Education.
Students in grades K-5 participate in some of the following specials:
Art (done monthly in class)
Music
Computers
PE
Science
Spanish
*Specials are subject to change each year based on staff and student need.
Because Compass is dedicated to high academic standards, we teach students bell to bell. We recognize some holidays with events held outside of the school day. At the elementary level, we recognize birthdays on a monthly basis where students who have a birthday during that month are welcome to bring a small pre-wrapped treat or trinket (i.e. sticker, pencil, etc.) for each class member.
We do celebrate student achievement across all grade levels with assemblies and classroom awards.
ACADEMICS (more info coming soon)
Yes. Parents can expect students to have homework across all grade levels.
Our student handbook lists out the expectation on page 25-26.
LOGISTICS
Students can be dropped off as early as 7:10 (secondary, 6-12) and 8:30 (elementary, K-5). School starts promptly at 7:30 (6th-12th) and 8:50 (K-5th). We strongly encourage you to fill out a bus form for your student. You can see more information on transportation/busing here. A copy of the Traffic Flow Map will also prove useful. Drop-off/pick-up generally takes 15 minutes.
Please see our Transportation Page for information about busing. Please plan on 5 business days for your form to be processed by Brown Bus Company and your student to be placed on the bus roster. Brown Bus kindly asks that you review the routes and stops on their website and choose the stop that is best for your rider(s). If you have questions regarding busing, please contact Brown Bus Company.
Call the school at least 30 minutes before school gets out. Changes in transportation cannot be taken after 2 pm for secondary & 3pm for elementary. We need enough time for staff to communicate the change with your student.
- To Take A Different Bus or Different Stop: Students must be a current bus rider and have a Request for Alternate Transportation Form to ride a different bus or get off at a different bus stop. The form needs to be submitted at least two days in advance.
- To Ride With Someone Different or Walk: Without a parent phone call, your student will be sent home according to their usual routine.
- Please make sure your student knows how they are getting home each day. This is especially important for K-5 students and if your student has a different schedule each day (ie: Grandparents house on Mondays, Bus on Tuesday and Thursday, Parent Pick-up on Wednesday and Walk on Friday). Please use this tag and attach it to your student’s backpack. This assists us in helping your student remember their plan.
- It is helpful if you call the school in the morning. Students have varying schedules and when we have advance notice, we can look up ahead of time where your student may be.
- Students are not called out of class until a parent arrives on campus. Please allow adequate time (5 minutes) for us to scan your ID, find your student and give them time to walk to the office.
- Parents MUST bring in their identification each time they are checking students out.
- If you are checking your student out for a professional appointment (Dr, Dentist, therapy, etc.), it is helpful if you get a note from their office for us to add to their attendance file.
In the morning, when students are entering the building staff are present at the front doors. After arrival, all of the exterior doors lock. The breezeway door from the main office into the school building is locked at all times. The main office door has a bell and camera that everyone must ring in order to gain entry to the building.
We have an SRO (School Resource Officer) who comes by the school periodically and is available to our administrators.
If your student has forgotten an item at home (lunch, homework, PE shoes, jacket), please use the Love and Logic method and allow them the opportunity to learn from their mistake.
Unfortunately, we do not have room in our cafeteria to allow visitors to come in to have lunch with their students.
If you would like to volunteer, please reach out to your students teacher directly. Volunteers must be background checked and cleared before setting up a regular volunteer schedule in the classroom.
ATTENDANCE / ILLNESS
We do NOT have a school nurse. Office staff are not medically trained and are not qualified to offer medical advice. Your child or their teacher may call you from the classroom if the teacher thinks they are ill.
If your student feels ill, they will have their temperature taken and be told to use the bathroom and get a drink of water. If the student has a temperature or has vomited, you will be called and your student will need to be picked up from school.
Your child will need to go home if they…
- Have a fever of 100° or more
- Have vomited or had diarrhea
- Exhibit symptoms of a contagious illness like chickenpox, lice, pink eye, etc.
- Sustain an injury which requires parental attention and monitoring
We do not give medications at school unless a parent has brought in medication and filled out the appropriate forms located here.
Please report your child’s absence by 10am. Call the attendance line and leave a message: 208-888-5847 or email [email protected]
Parents must call and report an absence within 48 hours or the absence will be marked as a truancy.
We have a 96% attendance expectation. Please visit our Attendance Policy & Procedures Page.
KINDERGARTEN
Your child needs to be age five by September 1. We do not do placement testing for students younger than five.
We were awarded a generous grant allowing us to provide full-time, tuition free kindergarten. We do not offer a half-day option.
ENROLLMENT and LOTTERY
Please visit our Enrollment Application page to apply for the current year’s waiting list and/or the upcoming year’s lottery.
Please visit our Enrollment Process page for further information.
If you are a current student, no. You will only need to fill out the registration forms that are released in the spring for the upcoming school year. You will receive an email with that information.
If you were not selected in the lottery in previous years, you will need to fill out an application each year until you are selected and begin attending. Applications are cleared out each year, so you will need to apply each year.
If you have current students at Compass but would like to apply for a sibling that has never attended Compass (ie: Kindergarten), you must fill out the application.
No one can predict what our numbers will be each year. Priority is given to certain groups. Please see our Enrollment Process page for those priorities. You always improve your chances for getting in when you submit an application. Chances are all based on the number of openings available in that class, the number siblings, the number of applicants for the grade level, etc. There are many things that play into what your chances are. Don’t let the idea that you won’t have a chance deter you from applying!
High school students (grades 9-12) are assigned 8 classes. They attend 4 classes on A Day and the remaining 4 classes on B day. They alternate every other day.
Yes. Students are assigned a 'buddy' by our counseling department that hangs out with them and shows them around.
Please see our Enrollment Process page where you'll find our class caps at the bottom of the page.
SCHOOL CONTACT INFORMATION
OFFICE HOURS | Open | Close |
Tuesday – Friday | 7:20 am | 4:00 pm |
Compass Public Charter School
4667 W. Aviator St.
Meridian, ID 83642
Phone: 208-888-5847
Fax: 208-895-0219
Email: [email protected]
Office Manager, Celeste Grover: [email protected]
Secretary, Jodi Schultz: [email protected]
Registrar, Justina Bonine: [email protected]