Compass Collegiate Academy

School Mission

Compass Collegiate Academy provides every scholar with the academic foundation and strong habits that inspire and cultivate lifelong learners who lead purposeful, civic lives.

Compass Collegiate Academy strives to create a diverse, inclusive, and anti-racist community. People from historically underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply.

School Overview

Compass Collegiate Academy (CCA) is a public charter school that opened in Charleston, South Carolina with grades K-1 in August of 2021. The school will add a grade each year thereafter until it is a full K-8 school serving approximately 720 scholars. In the 23-24 school year, CCA will have grades K-3 and approximately 150 students. CCA has intentionally built its school model and structured its budget to ensure that the student body is representative of the student population in North Charleston and the Charleston peninsula, the school’s geographic target area. CCA is driven by the following core beliefs for its school model:

All Means All - The school will operate with a non-negotiable belief in the potential of every child. Every adult employed at the school will operate with a daily mindset that every scholar can achieve at high levels irrespective of a scholar’s family income, disability, language proficiency or prior developmental experience.

Rigorous Curriculum - The school’s rigorous curriculum and academic program is designed to assist scholars to acquire a foundation of knowledge and advanced literacy skills in the early grades that will prepare scholars to undertake higher order analysis, evaluation, and critical thinking skills in later grades.

An Intentional Commitment to Scholar Social and Emotional Growth - Preparing scholars for successful secondary and postsecondary pursuits involves growing both sharp minds and big hearts. CCA will focus on helping scholars to better understand their own identities, their communities, and how to successfully build relationships with peers across lines of difference. Scholars will develop character strengths such as kindness, determination, curiosity, gratitude and integrity and will be better equipped to positively impact their diverse local communities and world.

High-Quality Staff - The school will have a robust hiring and development model based on some of the nation’s best public schools to ensure a high-quality teaching and learning environment for scholars. Teachers and leaders will be respected as skilled practitioners and professionals in a culture that prioritizes continuous growth and development for adults as well as scholars. 

Personalized Learning through Data-Driven Instruction - Through a continuous cycle of assessment, analysis, and action, the school will identify personalized needs to close academic gaps while also differentiating instruction for scholars with more advanced achievement. 

Parental Involvement and Intentional Community - The school values families as partners in the academic growth and human development of scholars. Families can expect daily updates on scholar progress, weekly phone communication and availability with a scholar’s teacher, open doors to the school, and access to workshops and seminars on childhood human development. The school will intentionally cultivate a supportive school community among diverse families.