The Compass School

<p>Not quite accurate not exactly a private school. Compass is the local middle school for Westminster area kids and functions as a publicly-funded middle and high school for kids (like mine) from choice towns such as Dover, Marlboro, and Wardsboro. Tuition at Compass is set to equal one VT equalized pupil, so we pay nothing beyond our regular VT school tax to send our son there. <p>Compass is unique. Everyone I've met who goes there calls it "school that doesn't suck". Teachers are really dedicated and actually get the chance to know each student in ways that are impossible at other schools. What you usually think of as report cards makes up only 1/5 of Compass evaluations by teachers, and then there's peer evaluations. Lots of creative people. Formerly home-schooled kids often choose this as the next experience. Very strong on humanities: writing, theater, arts. I don't see many future engineers choosing this place, but the ones I've met were given the tools to could create an independent curriculum and study at community college for senior year. <p>Compass teaches people to believe in what they've got and find out how to go beyond .
--Submitted by a parent

Small school, individualized attention, 1:8 student-teacher ratio. Great community atmosphere, where students take accountability for their education. One student mentioned, 'it is a place where you don't worry about where to sit at lunch'. My own kids want to go to school each day, so no problem getting them out of bed.
--Submitted by a parent