We are COMPASS. We have impacted the lives of over 20,000 students, parents and families.

We are a community-based, non-profit, social service agency and special needs school that provides comprehensive educational, counseling and support services to high-risk youth and families. Our 4 school- and home-based programs serve over 1000 clients per year. Our mission is to equip those we serve with the skills to become self-sufficient productive members of their communities and society.

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COMPASS Welcomes AmeriCorps Promise Fellow Sabeta Jarba

The COMPASS School welcomes AmeriCorps Promise Fellow Sabeta Jarba to the program! Her role will be to develop and co-implement a curriculum for the Building Maintenance and Repair (BMR) program. This will include ensuring the program meets OSHA standards, and coordinating apprenticeships, job shadowing, internships, and job opportunities for students

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COMPASS Students Make and Sell Jewelry to Raise Money for Haiti Relief Fund

COMPASS clinician Pam Stich incorporated a beaded jewelry making class in to the students' BEAMS (Beginning, Engaging, Acquiring, Mastering, Strengthening) activity program, and in to some therapy sessions, to help students relax and engage more easily. The first jewelry BEAMS project was organized around a fundraiser in which students made jewelry to sell to staff and the public during COMPASS Cafe hours on Friday, February 12th, with the advertised goal of donating all proceeds toward a Haiti Relief Fund. Over 20 pieces of jewelry were sold, including earrings, necklaces, bracelets and rings, and 107 dollars was raised to help Haiti. A few students had experience with jewelry making and were able to design and make their own pieces, while other students needed more guidance and instruction. It was a great process and experience for the students to create something that people purchased as well as to know

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"I wanna thank you for helping me and my family. Thank you for being there when we needed you. Also helping us know that we can love and care for each other and not be afraid. And for helping me to take compliments and for being proud for my self. ... thanks a lot for everything you done. And making me laugh and making everyone else happy. I will keep your advice in my head and use it more often."

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"I have had the pleasure of working with [a COMPASS family specialist who worked with a 6th grade student at a middle school site]. I have been impressed by his consistent contact with us at school with regard to his client. The relationship has become important to the student and clearly [the COMPASS caseworker] has provided a 'voice' that the student and the mother are able to listen to and understand. He provides encouragement balanced with a realistic dose of what the consequences are for the student. He has been particularly helpful in dealing with the mother who has what appears to be a... mistrust for school personnel. ...I have dealt with many services over my years in the school system. It is gratifying to deal with a service provide like you."

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"Margy's confidence, hard work, and faith in this family have surely translated to Brooke and her mother. Faith in people's ability to make change for themselves is an extremely powerful force... "

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COMPASS Students Learning Through Urban Gardening

SLUG - Students Learning Through Urban Gardening - a program generously funded by Boston Natural Areas Network, is now up and running at COMPASS! High school students in the 9th - 12th grade and the vocational program have been busy planting, watering, and caring for seeds, sprouts, and beanstalks! There is much excitement for SLUG, and students often can be seen misting baby plants with water and getting their hands dirty. Worms are also a part of our curriculum, and students have maintained a worm bin for several weeks now! We hope to expand the worm program by feeding the worms vegetable refuse from the culinary arts program soon! The Boston Natural Areas Network (BNAN), an urban open space preservation and stewardship organization, has started this new program in urban school-based vegetable gardening. The program provides participants with training and support, a SLUG Handbook relating curriculum

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School Overview

A Special Education day school for youth with emotional, behavioral and learning disabilities.

AmeriCorps Progress Report

COMPASS School's Transitional Services Coordinator and teacher, Wallace Hurd, and Kerri-Ann Foley, our Massachusetts Promise Fellow / AmeriCorps Fellow, have been working throughout this academic year on the following services with students:

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