Compass Montessori Junior High

04/16/2026

Civil War to Civil Rights Trip to the South Summary
By Compass Junior High Students

On February 1st, we took our first flying trip of the year! When we touched down in Atlanta, Georgia, we picked up our vans and began our journey to the one and only Georgia Aquarium.

On day two, we got the opportunity to hike Kennesaw Mountain. Here, we stepped into the shoes of what the battle was like, and Vonn Smith even got to try on some of a soldier's battle gear! With the wonderful tour by Kathy, Jake, and Jacob, we learned more than a textbook could teach about this battle.

Day three was busy! We started with visiting the Atlanta History Center, where we saw a beautiful cyclorama and a stunning house. Afterward, we headed to the MLK National Park and visited the Ebenezer Baptist Church. Ending our day, we visited Stone Mountain and had a wonderful hike.

On day four, we woke up bright and early and started our journey to Montgomery, Alabama. We got to visit the Legacy Museum created by the Equal Justice Initiative. Here, we explored the stories and famous moments during the civil rights movement. We got to watch many short videos on stories like Emmit Till and many others. This truly opened our eyes to the battles of slavery and what people endured to get where we are in history today. After this museum, we took a boat to the Freedom Monument sculpture park. This is another part of The EJI’s work, and wow, it was powerful. We walked silently through various art pieces, from sculptures to the wall of names. This park was a highlight of the trip for many.

Day five, we drove to Birmingham, Alabama. While in Birmingham, we visited the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. At this museum, we furthered our knowledge of the civil rights movement and the freedom riders. Afterwards, we ate a delicious lunch at Yo Mama’s. We will never forget how kind the staff was.

The end of our trip came much too soon. Although this trip was packed with learning, we had fun playing foosball, the license plate game, and listening to La Raza and L Taxi. Thank you to our wonderful teachers for giving us this amazing experience.

04/15/2026

A Day in the Life of a Compass Montessori Junior High Student
By Kristina Weidenfeller

Mondays and Fridays, the Student Senate gathers while our “Bookends” silent reading commences. The rest of the week, Openers are collective. Openers span topics such as critical thinking and life skills lessons, workshop-related content, applied math, storytelling, or other creative endeavors.

Shortly thereafter, facilitators prompt the morning meeting. All learners are encouraged to share input, news, job reports, or positive thoughts in the morning meeting. Finally, learners organize their daily, monthly, and future logs in their bullet journals.

The 3+ hour Morning work cycle is a time for work—lessons in ELA and Math, Workshop lessons, and more.

Workshop lessons integrate history, science, language, math, and self-expression through a common theme. We have 5-6 workshops per year, running 4-6 weeks each.

Our learners are able to order lunch from a restaurant three times per week: sub sandwiches from Jersey Mikes, pizza from Paesanos, and pho or rice bowls from The Good Bowl.

We rotate through local parks for outdoor time on recess days. Uninterrupted free play continues to be important for adolescents in an increasingly scheduled society. Two days a week, we go to the YMCA to play racquetball and basketball, and practice volleyball skills.

We gather in the circle one last time for a grounding activity. This often includes reading aloud. It may also be a time for mindfulness, sharing issues and solutions, or updates from a Classroom Role team.

Spanish I is a high school course of language fundamentals offered by a Northwest Education Services teacher. Our learners get a chance to practice formal exam taking and navigating the expectations of an additional teacher, while honing their Spanish speaking, reading, and listening skills.

Before learners head out the door, they circle back with their advisor to share the day’s progress and emerging tasks as recorded in their bullet journal.

04/09/2026

Our Compass Montessori Junior High hoodie was designed for our students and showcases the educational adventures they experience over the two-year cycle—from Beaver Island to Washington, D.C., Pigeon Key to Chicago, and so many meaningful stops in between.

Each destination is listed on the back of the hoodie, and the icons running down both sleeves give a visual representation of each trip.

Grab yours and celebrate the adventure!

Shop now through Sunday, April 19th > https://www.threadscustomgear.com/the-childrens-house-spirit-wear/

11/20/2025

Detroit Trip Summary by Compass Junior High Students

Our journey to Detroit started bright and early. As we drove our school vans into the city, we made memories that will last a lifetime. When we finally arrived after the vigorous drive, we headed straight to the DIA. We got to take in meaningful art and creations while reflecting on the pieces we loved. We described what we saw, thought, and wondered about five pieces in five different, unique exhibits. This truly helped the students break down the art and gain a deeper understanding of it. After the DIA, we went to Meijer and got our food for the week! Soon after, we ended our day at the tasty Bucharest Grill.

On day two, we had a slow morning that we enhanced with a fresh variety of bagels, and many indulged in warm tea. After the morning meeting, we ventured over to the Charles M. Wright Museum. This museum taught us all about African American history. Our lovely tour guide, Ja-tu, not only took us through a museum but also took us through a story. The rooms and makeshift town really made us feel deeply about this topic and truly opened our eyes to history. After the museum, we had a lovely picnic-like lunch at Lasalle Park. After filling ourselves with delicious sandwiches, we ventured to the Motown Museum. Here, we learned almost everything about Motown and truly dived deeply into this topic. We even got the opportunity to stand in the studio where famous Motown artists such as the Temptations and Stevie Wonder once sang. After learning the Temptations walk, we headed back to the hostel to relax before the Detroit Pistons game.

Now, day three was upon us. We started our day full of learning at the Ford River Rouge Plant. We got to watch two very interesting presentations; one about history and the second all about how to build an F-150. Everyone really enjoyed the elaborate presentation on the step-by-step process on how to build the Ford F-150. After, we walked through the manufacturing and assembly lines. Our wonderful tour guides helped show us all the cool tools and machines that are used. After we left the plant, we enjoyed lunch at the Michigan Central Station. We got to go inside and learn about the history. After our time at the station, we visited the famous Belle Isle. We got to see the oldest aquarium in the US and a beautiful conservatory. After seeing all the types of fish, we headed downtown to look at all the monuments and learn more about the history of our country. We explained our knowledge about the underground railroad and the civil war. After our brief history lesson, we had dinner at the Detroit Shipping Co. After a wonderful dinner, we called it a night and headed home.

Read the full summary on our blog > Link in bio!

10/14/2025

A big thank you to 4Front Credit Union for visiting Compass Montessori Junior High and sharing their expertise! 💰 Our students learned about the different types of interest, how to budget, and how credit unions work.

Lessons like these help our students build real-world financial skills and confidence for the future. We’re so grateful for your time and support in empowering us to be financially literate! Downtown TC (Official)

10/03/2025

The first four weeks of school are monumental in Montessori. In every classroom, guides are using the prepared environment to provide structure for learners even as we orient them to it. Orientation is a human tendency - it sets expectations for behavior within a space so that the space feels safe for freedom and independence. With this structure, learners are able to learn, contribute, and express themselves.

At each level, orientation matches the needs of the learner. For us, here in the third plane, it includes interviewing for and getting classroom roles, setting up organization systems such as bullet journals and binders, identifying values and creating classroom agreements, building their own dictionary to collect words they will encounter throughout the year, and meeting with their advisor to begin to talk about themselves as a learner.

All of our workshops are taught in the Montessori three period style. During the first period, we introduce the topic; the second period is the time for exploration and experimentation; and in the third period, our learners create a final piece to demonstrate their new understanding. Our first period for Chemistry and Community is coming to a close. We have enjoyed immersive lessons from real people doing the work in our community at Timothy's Conscious Compost, Cultured Kombucha Co., Green Bird Regenerative Vineyard, and Food Rescue.

Learning in the community allows us to take our academic subjects on the road. We noticed in our math assessments that our learners would benefit from fraction review. Our first period provided a wealth of real-world examples to do math "in the field" during these first-period visits, and upon our return. Fractions and percentages in the classroom become ratios out in the world: recipes for compost and kombucha; comparisons of salaries and profit; rates of change for yields and earnings of farmers and farm workers. This is one example of the way we integrate subject learning into real-world experiences and aim to provide touchpoints in every subject, everyday. It helps learners see just how important the subjects they learn in school will continue to be in their daily lives.

09/26/2025

Congratulations to Arthur Lijewski-Lee, Compass Montessori Junior High graduate, on being a National Merit Semifinalist!

Last week, we told you about Anna Bauer, Kingsley High School’s first-ever National Merit Semifinalist. This week, Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) has announced that four of its class of 2026 seniors have earned the same prestigious honor. The four students, all of whom attend Traverse C...

09/24/2025

Beaver Island Trip Summary by Compass Junior High Students

In the second week of school, Compass junior high students and teachers embarked on a trip to Beaver Island. We took the school vans and drove to Charlevoix, where we then took a ferry out to the Island.

Once we got there, we visited the maritime museum and the print shop. They were both amazing experiences, and everyone had a great time. After, we headed over to the CMU Biology station, where we stayed throughout the course of the trip. We got to meet Alex, Alliss, and Jaki, the employees that worked at CMU. We ended our first day with sunset volleyball and a delicious dinner curated by our favorite Jaki.

On the second day, we got to meet with the Beaver Island 7th and 8th-year students and their principal, Mr. Will. We learned about bug ecology and dune life. We also visited Miller's Marsh and studied the soil there. We then headed to the Big Rock, which is actually made of a stone that's from Ohio, but the glaciers carried it all the way to Beaver Island! We fit all of the students from both schools on the rock.

On our last day, we met with an insightful person named Shelbi. She told us about Native American culture and history. She then took us to the stone circle, which is an arrangement of ancient stones. The circle is made up of about 200 stones. No one knows exactly why the stones were placed there, but people know that it’s significant. We then had some time to kill, and we found out that our friends from the Beaver Island school were having a soccer game, so we showed up at their school to watch them, but sadly, we couldn't stay for the soccer game, but we got to see the high school volleyball team play. We said our goodbyes and made our way to the ferry. We were sad to leave, but the memories we cherish will last for a lifetime. Thank you to our guides for making this experience possible.

Student Biographers: Ava and Gwendolyn
Student Photographers: by Olivia, Vaughn, Adrienne, and Hank

09/05/2025

How do you get to school?

06/12/2025

Congratulations to the 8th-year graduates! We are incredibly proud of you all. Watching you grow into the people you were meant to be has been a great privilege. We can't wait to see what you do next!

Thank you to the Children's House faculty, staff, and Board of Directors for their ongoing love and support, and especially Tree Sturman, Kristina Weidenfeller, Tori Crag, Alison Hoffman, Steve Maas, Angela Lickiss-Aleo, and Brian Thelen for their guidance. Thank you to the 8th-year families for their wonderful children and partnership.