Jenny Findlay, M.A.

Director of Development, Gifted and Talented, College Concurrent Enrollment Site Management, Instructional Coach, College English Instructor

I received my Master’s degree in Teaching and English Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and taught at multiple levels in both middle and high school in New York and New Jersey before our family made the move to Colorado. Holistically, my time at Columbia as a student, teacher, curriculum enthusiast, and all-around education devotee refined my educational philosophy and shaped my vision of education in the 21st century.

I believe scholarship must be accessible to students of every background, ability, learning style, and modality. I believe excellence in education is based on maintaining a balance among academic rigor, creativity, and plain old fun—through which the urge to inquire about our world and delve into self-discovery is nurtured and valued. I believe in dynamic, experiential, and interdependent learning that fosters strong relationships among students and their peers, as well as with teachers, the local community, and the broader society.

The educational culture and curricular approaches we continuously craft at Compass bring these beliefs to life. Sir Ken Robinson put it best when he wrote, “We have to recognize that human flourishing is not a mechanical process; it's an organic process. And you cannot predict the outcome of human development. All you can do, like a farmer, is create the conditions under which they will begin to flourish.”

Compass Community Collaborative School is a ripe and fertile landscape in which to nurture the growth of students in Fort Collins and will undoubtedly become a benchmark model for educational innovation nationwide.