“Different methods, tools, technology, are used to accommodate kids with different learning challenges and learning styles.”
— Compass Parent

Student technology

Two students work on their sticker-covered laptops. Both are smiling.

Cutting edge technology

Our goal at Compass High School is to expose students to a variety of technologies-both instructional and assistive-so they can discover what works best for them.

Student in yellow shirt works on laptop.

Technology overview

  • Personal laptops are provided to all incoming students to facilitate interactive learning and deepen students’ mastery and engagement with classroom material.

    These laptops are loaded with the latest assistive and instructional software for use in and out of the classroom. Students take their laptops home on weekends and holidays and allow us to approach a nearly paperless school environment.

    The student laptop becomes theirs to keep when they graduate from Compass.

  • Every classroom is equipped with technology that allows teachers to use a multi-sensory approach. Interactive whiteboards, Wi-Fi, a variety of cutting-edge software apps, and other instructional technologies are standard in every class.

    We use Actively Learn and History Alive! to work on reading fluency and comprehension, Inspiration to brainstorm, and movies and podcasts to provide material in a multi-sensory way. Our students are given opportunities to expand their horizons through the use of Virtual Reality and have used such technology for virtual lab experiments and other simulations.

    At Compass, we aim to harness a multitude of established and innovative technologies to make learning exciting.

  • Each student is encouraged and trained to identify an individual Assistive Technology Profile. Students use specialized software programs to develop reading fluency, and improve decoding and comprehension skills. Students are introduced to text-to-speech software and audio books to help them find the most comfortable way of reading text.

    To facilitate written language, students master keyboarding and basic word processing strategies. Students also use Inspiration to help them generate and organize ideas for writing. Other software programs help with spelling, word-finding, and editing.

    For students who prefer to dictate their writing, we assist them in mastering speech-to- text software.

  • All students and parents have access to a variety of technological tools to support high level Executive Functioning and organizational skills.

    These tools provide simple ways to manage short-term daily schedules, as well as long-term assignments.

    We use Google Drive and JupiterGrades to facilitate and manage communication and task assignment between teachers, students and parents. We also introduce students to a variety of computer note-taking and study aids.