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Board President, Bethany Merkling and World Compass Academy Principal, Jim McDevitt

A multitude of eager faces were present for yesterday’s event – a grand opening that brought hundreds of family, faculty and even Castle Rock’s Mayor to the new campus of World Compass Academy (WAC). The charter school will be housed in the newly completed building that will soon open it’s doors to the public.

Four years ago, the idea was born to create an academic institution to accommodate the more recent influx of residents; specifically families with school-age children. “We literally live in one of the 10th fastest growing communities in the entire country,” Mayor Paul Donahue reiterated to the crowd, “From the Town’s point of view, our job is to manage that as best we can.” Managing that specific growth in the population means our district needs more schools.

Among other things, the charter school will teach its pupils standard academia from preschool to high school age. However, it will differentiate itself – as the name suggests – by giving students a more ‘worldy’ view.

The curriculum will offer classes with teachers who can share their specialized knowledge of various cultures and languages. “There will be books (in the school) in English, as well as Spanish, French and Mandarin (Chinese); the three international language tracks for the school,” commented Richard Levine, WAC Treasurer as he spoke to the touring group. teacher

Along with that, WAC will focus on creating a well-rounded young person. Their mantra speaks for working to create kids who cam make a positive difference in their community and world. “At World Compass Academy, we use the term ‘EPIC’ to describe our kids,” Bethany Merkling, WAC Board President said. “Our kids ‘E’: engage their world with, ‘P’: perserverance, ‘I’: intergrity, ‘C’: compassion and knowledge.”

Attendees were then invited to walk through the front doors for a first time look at the almost completed school. Future students and their families were escorted down the halls to view a design that included: classrooms, an IT room, a gymnasium, an art and music room, as well as a spacious library to house new and donated books.

During the tour, it was also made known that WAC will be partnering with their neighbor, Plum Creek Community Church, to share facility space. In exchange for the use of Plum Creek’s classrooms for preschoolers, they will allow the church to use the gymnasium for youth activities. “They have fantastic classrooms inside with mounted projectors, bathrooms and built in student cubbies,” noted Levine. “We are excited to have the ability to do that with Plum Creek.”

After taking a first peek, everyone was encouraged to meet and speak with teachers and staff, as well as hang around, eat treats from Ooey-gooey and enjoy the festivities. The Castle Rock Fire & Rescue was present with the fire truck for kids to climb into as a performance troop entertained the crowd with a traditional Chinese Lion dance.  dragon

World Compass Academy is on track for opening it’s doors for the first day of school on August 24.

For more information, please visit: World Compass Academy