A vibrant learning community for grades 7 -12 in Westminster, Vermont, Compass is a small school dedicated to the success of every student.

 
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Founded in 1997 as an innovative educational option accessible to all, our founding principles continue to guide everything we do.

For nearly 30 years, we’ve enrolled students from the surrounding towns in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.

Our small school is the perfect place to get inspired, take risks, learn from mistakes, get invested in your education, and be surprised by what you can do.

Developing strong thinkers, problem solvers, communicators, and collaborative workers with the ability to adapt to changing conditions — that's our goal for all Compass students.

At Compass, I learned to think laterally rather than just straight forward. Not how to think outside the box, but use the box to get something else later.
— Compass Graduate
Compass taught me to be self-directed, self-supporting, self- sufficient, independently curious, fiercely egalitarian, and sassy. This school, and the people I met there, changed my life.
— Compass Graduate
 

Compass graduates have an excellent college acceptance rate at top schools and have won millions of dollars in merit-based scholarship awards.

 

Compass School Vermont
Compass School Vermont

High School

A rigorous curriculum combined with support for creative problem solving and true independence, our high school prepares learners for college and career success.

Middle School

Innovative and dynamic curriculum, small classes, personalized instruction, and community involvement create a healthy and supportive middle school experience.

Compass School Vermont
My son has grown and flourished because of the caring and supportive nature that is found at Compass. I would recommend this school to anyone who is searching for an education that promotes a love of learning and individuality.
— Compass Parent
 
Compass School Vermont
At Compass, they seem to have found that “sweet spot” between the two worlds of heavy academia and full-on creative output. They nurture the creative child in us all and still manage to teach applications of calculus without harming the overall goal of bettering oneself and furthering an education. Compass is a one in a million kind of school that should be an example for the nation’s educational system.
— Compass Graduate
Compass School Vermont
Compass is a place where quirkiness is embraced, where non-traditional learning is fully valued, critical thinking is deeply integrated into classes from math to the humanities, and reflection and growth is a key part of the grading system. I feel that my experiences at Compass have helped me value what really matters in education and what really matters in a community.
— Compass Graduate
I knew, after the first conversation with one of the staff members, that this is the place for my daughter. They have an incredible environment where students are not treated as objects to mold but rather as mini masterpieces waiting to be revealed. Students are nurtured and embraced just as they are, all the while pushing them out of their comfort zones. The development I have seen in my daughter academically and socially, in one year of attending Compass, is astounding!
— Compass Parent
Compass School Vermont

Within and beyond the classroom, our relationships are based on respect — we come to know each other as whole human beings, each of us a vital part of the learning community.

 

Come See What School Can Be

Visit with us and get to know our unique learning community.

We have an open enrollment process with rolling deadlines for scholarships and financial aid, but earlier is always better.

Get in touch with us though phone, email, or through the link here, and we look forward to getting the conversation started.

Compass School Vermont
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Meet our students and teachers in these videos . . . .

A 20th-anniversary overview of the school’s founding and continued growth.

Created by founder and Director Rick Gordon, this video features quotes from former and current students.

Submitted for the 2017 School Choice Awards, this video became our winning entry.

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for peeks into the classroom and to stay connected to our calendar and events

Are you a Compass Alumni? We’d love to hear from you!

Click here to take our Alumni Survey and help us gather reflections, memories, and suggestions as we review the past and look ahead.