Junior High at Compass Montessori
Adolescence is a beginning. Let's imagine where it leads.
Discover Compass Montessori Junior High, where your child's sense of self and community grows through real work in the real world.
1. Junior High Showcase
Tuesday, December 8, 2026, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Park Street Campus
See what our students are working on right now. Alumni will be on hand to talk with families about where junior high led them, so you can see the long-term picture.
2. Observe Junior High
Watch a work cycle during the school day. Schedule a 30-minute observation; email Renee.
3. Shadow Day for Your 6th-Year
Later this winter, your child will spend a full school day at Compass alongside current students. Dates will be shared in January.
The Third Plane of Development
Adolescence is a social plane, and Compass is built for it.
In junior high, the focus is social. This isn't a choice. It comes from the developmental needs of the age. Discovering who you are within your own community is the work of adolescence, and our learners take on that work every day by asking big questions: Who are we? What do we contribute? How do we take care of each other?
Compass Montessori Junior High builds its curriculum around those questions. It draws on adolescents' natural curiosity about identity and channels it into rigorous academic study, in a prepared environment designed for 12- to 14-year-olds.
Learning Through Workshops
History, science, literature, and math, studied as one connected world.
Compass learners don't move from subject to subject. They work through thematic units that bring every discipline together through place-based and project-based learning. Each workshop follows the Montessori three-period lesson:
Presentation and immersion in a new theme
Group lessons that build skills through practice
Application through independent choice and further study
This approach meets and exceeds Michigan standards for 7th and 8th grade while supporting the whole child.
This year's workshops include:
Geology of the Great Lakes
Non-Industrial Civilizations
Democratic Movements
Elections and the Democratic Process
Applied Technology (where learners design and build their own underwater ROV)
Comparative Ecosystem Studies
Learning in the Real World
Learners travel to the places they study.
Each workshop extends beyond the classroom. Compass learners work alongside professionals and visit the places their studies are about. A typical year includes:
A Northern Michigan Experience through the Upper Peninsula to study Great Lakes geology
A trip to Detroit
The Florida Keys, connecting marine technology to real ecosystems
Washington, D.C., where learners present their own research on democratic movements
A backpacking trip to Pictured Rocks to close the year
Trips are device-free by design. Without phones, learners connect with each other and with the people and places they're exploring, and they build real independence and resourcefulness along the way.
Growing Independence
Junior High at Compass is preparation for life.
As adolescents become more aware of how they learn, we teach them to direct that learning themselves. Each learner:
Tracks assignments, responsibilities, and goals in a daily bullet journal
Builds and reflects on a portfolio of work
Meets with a guide who serves as their advisor
Evaluates their own progress using checklists, rubrics, and conversation
Compass is a safe place to make the mistakes that come with learning responsibility. As learners take on more ownership, the parent role begins to shift too. Guides partner with families through that transition and offer practical ways to support a growing adolescent at home.
Ready for High School
A strong academic foundation, with pathways built around each learner.
Math
Learners study Pre-Algebra and Algebra 1 through College Preparatory Math (CPM), the same program TCAPS uses in its middle and high schools. CPM's inquiry-based, small-group approach fits naturally with Montessori. Math pathways are individualized, and guides work with families to plan for accelerated tracks into Geometry or Algebra 2.
Spanish
Learners have Spanish daily and earn a full high school Spanish 1 credit across 7th and 8th grade, with no external test-out required.
Language Arts
Reading, writing, speaking, and listening are woven through every workshop. Learners use peer editing and multiple drafts and learn to support their ideas with evidence.
All Compass learners are prepared for the coursework they need to graduate from high school.
Life Beyond the School Day
Compass provides the foundation of self-direction, critical thinking, and belonging to a real community. Families can build on it with after-school opportunities, including:
Athletics through our cooperative agreement with TCAPS, now including middle school volleyball and basketball
Student-led clubs at our Park Street Campus. Past favorites include Chess, Robotics, Dungeons & Dragons, and MMMUN.
Arts and writing with local partners such as the National Writers Series, TC Philharmonic, Old Town Playhouse, and Crooked Tree Arts Center
Your Learner's Next Chapter Starts Here
Join us at the Junior High Showcase on December 8, where current 7th- and 8th-year share their work. You can also schedule an observation of a Compass work cycle by emailing Renee.
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