Why Do Parents Love Compass?
“We are so grateful for Compass’s dynamic approach to learning that promotes moving and doing more than passive sitting and getting. My middle school children are benefiting from real-world experiences and hands-on learning about topics that are relevant to their world and the future they are inheriting. As one of history’s great educators put it “one test of the correctness of educational procedure is in the happiness of the child.” Certainly there is more to educating a child than just fostering “happiness”, but I would say that very few students fully apply themselves when they are not happy—I know from personal experience. The staff and students at Compass work very hard to maintain a culture of respect and positivity. I attribute this to my children’s happiness and love for Compass. They are smiling when I drop them off and smiling when I pick them up—eager to share with me the great things that happened in their day! It has been my observation that Compass dives deep into topics—to a depth that state evaluations may not go. I sense my kids are seeing the purpose in learning what they are learning. They see the reason in why they need to know how to compose a letter (to get funding for their project) and why they need to know a certain mathematical formula (to calculate the grade of a slope for a reforestation project). It’s all really great stuff. Compass is the place for us!”
“It’s really hard to explain to people all of the reasons that our family loves Compass. It’s such a paradigm shift in every way that describing it to someone who went through traditional school makes for interesting conversation. I tell people that it’s exactly the kind of school that I would have thrived in. Kids get exposed to so many different experiences that then open them up to new things that they’re passionate about that they might not otherwise realize. You can tell that the staff truly believe in the school’s vision. I tell people that it may not be perfect for every kid, but mine absolutely loves going to school… what more could I ask for right now?!”
“Our kids have benefited greatly from the teachers and staff at Compass. The teachers put great effort into their plans including outings in the community to interview employees, community members and get a front row experience of businesses that apply to their studies. The information gathered is put to use by creating a piece of work either for their schoolwork or for others to benefit in the greater community. Our kids are excited for school each morning and talk about their fun experiences in learning. In addition, our kids are challenged in their learning and thinking at Compass, which supports them becoming engaged participants and contributors to the community as they become young adults.”