Thank you to The Reformer and writer Becky Karush for a lovely article honoring the 20th Anniversary of Compass, published in the March 1st paper. Read the beginning of the article below, and click through to read the complete piece. Please share with your friends and family who may be curious about Compass!
"At Compass School in Westminster, Monday morning starts as if the future is a sure thing. About 75 students in grades 7 through 12 arrive and settle into first period for Science, Humanities, Math, or Spanish, or a visit to the Art Lab studio to work on a class project.
The big, open central area is empty, quiet and warm, decorated with 20-years worth of student art. Without a bell, or announcement of any kind, students and teachers flow out their classrooms and into the big room. About half form a purposeful, relaxed line for the breakfast offering in the bright kitchen, observed and herded by the award-winning school chef, Cher Anderson.
They pick up hot homemade muffins, plates of eggs, and cups of berries and circle back to the big room. They gather in loose collections around the tables, groups spilling into each other. Almost no phones are in hand. Students and teachers talk, maybe play the piano near the kitchen door, but mostly, they eat and talk, taking a rejuvenating morning break.
By imperceptible signal, possibly from a responsible fellow student, or by a shared sense of right time, students gather their things and move to their next classes. . . . "
Click below to read the full article about the founding of Compass 20 years ago . . . .