On Monday, April 5, 2021, seven Compass Rose Academy staff members began moving into their apartments on the new campus. This step is part of the first phase of the move to the new Compass Rose Academy campus.

The new apartment building can house up to 10 staff members and is located near the future student housing. While CRA houseparents aren’t required to live on campus, it is sometimes included as part of their job offer, depending on their individual situation. The apartments throughout the White’s residential campus that some of the CRA staff currently live in will be maintained and used by future WRFS or CRA staff.

“I think the part I’m most excited about [for the new space] is the community, being able to live together. We already do so much of life together, and I can think of so many other staff that I come over and visit right now and living together and getting to enjoy life together outside of work and inside of work just seems really exciting to me,” said Eden Craig, CRA Houseparent.

Michael Horn, Chief Operations Officer and General Counsel, noted that having the CRA staff housing situated on the new campus will be crucial to Compass Rose Academy establishing its own identity separate from White’s RFS.

“I think it will be really holistic for [the CRA students] to be able to just focus on themselves. Right now they get very fixated on, ‘What is everybody else doing?’ rather than, ‘What am I doing?’ and, ‘What is our cottage doing?’ We really are moving towards, rather than feeling like you’re in a facility, really feeling like you’re in a home and you’re in a family-type setting,” said Craig. 

The students will not move into their new housing until the second phase of the plan, which will begin later this spring. The third and final phase of the plan will include the staff moving into their new offices.