WESTMINSTER, Vt. – Founded 26 years ago, in 1999, in Westminster, the Compass School was launched as an alternative learning experience, as compared to the traditional public middle and high school system. It featured a curriculum geared more towards individual and experimental learning.
The school enrolled students from seventh to 12th grade, with its most successful enrollment in the middle school grades, boosted by tuitions from Westminster, which does not currently have a seventh or eighth grade. The Compass School drew students from around the region, including Brattleboro, Vt., and Keene, N.H.
After parting ways with their headmaster back in March, the school confirmed that it was financially in dire straits, and that enrollment had declined some 20% over the past few years, with the Covid pandemic also greatly impacting the school.
Unfortunately, and after months of questions, concerns, and speculation, an announcement finally came in mid-June from co-Heads of School Louise Hodson and Gabe Allen-Fahlander, that the Compass School would close its doors after a two-month stretch in which they tried desperately to recruit enough students and fundraising to make enough of a difference. The Compass School held its last graduation ceremony on May 31, with 14 seniors completing the program and graduating.
The sad news of the school’s closing left some residents wondering how the outcome could have been different, leaving some questions unanswered.
“There really aren’t any [answers],” said Hodson in a recent interview. “There weren’t enough students, enough money, or enough support for the school to continue.
“However, some of the details that I feel have been missing from some of the articles I’ve read, isn’t more details about the leadup to the school closing, rather than the amazing school we were and what we did for the community.
“Did you know that every week, numerous Compass students volunteered for nonprofits in Bellows Falls; we worked at Our Place, the library, the Bellows Falls Bike Project, and assisted with activities at the Connecticut River. For years, we were connected with the senior citizen home in Bellows Falls, and we educated WNESU students from Kindle Farm, Kurn Hattin Homes, and the Westminster Center.
“We sent students to New York University, University of Vermont, and the Keene Beauty Academy, and Bellows Falls Union High School picked up a number of the programs we had implemented at the Compass School, including our senior and restorative practices.”
Additionally, according to the school, Compass educated students for significantly less money than the school district, as the school charged the “state average,” whereas WNESU often came in over the state average. Yes, these are all the types of things that need to be noted and recognized, validation for an innovative, cutting-edge school that helped all the local kids, and made a significant difference in our community.
“Obviously, looking back, we should have applied for this loan or that loan earlier in the process,” Hodson concluded. “But we can’t beat ourselves up. We worked very hard, and we all worked really well together, it is just sad that the school had to close.”