Volunteer

There are MANY ways to volunteer at Compass Montessori, and we encourage all to find their niche in the community. We simply can't do it without you, and volunteering is the best way to know each other and be in community with one another. This time you offer our school helps us cut costs, and every penny we save because of our volunteers can go back into our learning environments, teachers, staff and enriching our students' experience.

Volunteer Hours - As a charter school, we must be intentional about building our school community, and Compass families are asked to volunteer 50 hours (or equivalent) each school year.

You can log your volunteer hours HERE!

Why do we collect volunteer hours? - We collect volunteer hours each year to ensure our community is supporting our school in a shared effort, and to celebrate our volunteer work together as a strong, collaborative charter school with a vision for more to come. Often donors appreciate the effort volunteers make in a community when considering their donations to our school, and your role in that outreach is important.

Below, you'll find many ways to jump in and volunteer and/or support Compass!

CMEF - Join a committee!

Compass Montessori Education Foundation (CMEF) is a non-profit, 501(C)(3) created to support Compass Montessori. CMEF raises money to help maintain the quality of Compass’ authentic Montessori education. As a JeffCo Public Charter School, Compass pays its own operating and facilities expenses. CMEF supplements the school’s operating budget to ensure every student at Compass has an authentic Montessori experience, staff are supported and our community may continue to thrive.

CMEF also sponsors extracurricular activities and athletics, supports Staff Appreciation events, coordinates room parents, facilitates student participation in trips and community college coursework, supports college scholarships for graduating seniors and funds our school's facility needs when necessary.

Additionally, CMEF plans our community-building events such as the Back to School Picnic, Welcome Back Work Day, Winterfest and provided childcare at our school events.

Annually, CMEF hosts the following fundraising events:

Dance-a-thon (October)
Colorado Gives Day (December)
Festa - our annual gala (February)

With CMEF’s support, Compass Montessori has built a national reputation for providing a highly effective curriculum that inspires a lifelong love of learning and prepares each student for a successful future. The CMEF Board and its members are volunteers from our school community.

Visit them at www.compassgives.org or email [email protected] to get involved. There are several planning committees (outside of the “board” duties), which they need volunteers!

If you'd like to make a donation to CMEF, visit www.compassgives.org today! We are so grateful to our donors each year, and hope you'll join us for our annual appreciation event in the spring.

Volunteer in the classroom OR be a room parent!

Watch for emails from your Room Parent and teachers for ways to volunteer in the classroom. These opportunities are more common for Children’s House through Upper Elementary and may vary depending on grade level, teacher and campus and each year is a little different. Options might include helping with classroom materials, creating needs for the room, volunteering to read with children, or be a mystery reader for the class.

Room parents are an important part of keeping our community connected and informed. Room parents help coordinate staff appreciation before winter break and end of school year, as well as lead the volunteers for Field Days in May each year. If you're interested in being a room parent, please email [email protected] today!

Compass School Board of Directors

Attend our monthly Compass School Board meetings. Our Board ensures our mission as a public Montessori charter school and maintains and enforces school policies through the Executive Director, Dr. Cameron Gehlen. Meetings are held the last Tuesday of each month, and all in our community are highly encouraged to attend, participate and contribute, in an effort to stay informed and involved in many pivotal decisions made for our school each year, and planning for its future.

Compass Equity Committee

Compass’ Equity Committee advocates for education through a lens of equity. Our focus is for students, staff, and families to feel supported, accepted, and included by creating social justice curriculum appropriate for each level; ensuring educators and staff of racial diversity are supported our hiring and onboarding practices; creating a student diversity and inclusion club where students feel seen and accepted; and communicating clearly with families so they can continue these conversations at home. Members include staff and parents who have an interest in creating an atmosphere of acceptance and inclusion of race, orientation, gender identity, disability, spiritual beliefs, and culture for the entire Compass community. For more information or to connect with us, please contact [email protected]

SAC

The School Accountability Committee (SAC) serves in an advisory capacity to school administration and strives to support the experience of the student population at Compass at every level. This group of volunteer parents, staff, and administration work together to review academic data to develop Compass’ Unified Improvement Plan, provide budget recommendations to leadership, administer an annual school climate survey for both students and staff, and host a community Town Hall.

Parent/Guardian Education

Educate yourself! - If you find yourself unfamiliar with the Montessori philosophy, but like the general idea, you’re not alone! Plan to attend our Parent Education Workshops throughout the school year and watch for more resources in our school news to learn more. Compass offers a true Montessori experience, by allowing students to consider their own passions and interests upon hearing a lesson, and this leads to loving to learn and feeling intrinsically motivated. Sometimes, parents who didn't attend a Montessori school themselves find themselves feeling uncertain of how to best support their children in their Montessori experience. That, too is a common feeling! We offer a Parent Education Workshop in the Fall, but if you're looking for more ways to learn about how a Montessori classroom works, please reach out for a list of recommended resources to support you. If you have more questions, email [email protected] and we’ll help you find some answers and get more connected with your child’s upcoming Montessori experience.

Questions about other ways to get involved? Contact your Classroom Room Parent or email [email protected]