Reviews of Compass Academy (School)

Kamala Free

This school follows the New Tech model of high school. It is celebrating its 4th successful year in our community. Structured more like college (M,W,Th/ T,Th,F etc. class days) with the student creating their own schedules. They are project based and have collaboration hours throughout each day to work on group projects. Some of the core classes are combined such as World History and Art. They would have two team teachers in these type of classes. Our students have been successful in bringing more than one new business to our town through their business research ideas.

Madsey Bug

Looks like Home Depot

Matt Suekel

Good school

William Hales

On a scale of potato to supernova it's more of an old umbrella, but not quite a chimney.

Jose Ramirez

Qnet here in 6th

Kat Webster

This is an amazing school. I've learned a lot from it.

Ciera Heinrich

come here

Colby Butler

Being apart of the first graduating class (Class of 2015) at Compass Academy, which was amazing, I felt that the staff and the environment were different then a traditional high school! In a good way. I loved Compass and I am grateful for the fantastic director and the amazing teachers that have made me who I am today. If you love computers, group work, socializing, and having a blast. Compass is the place to go! Thanks for the best high school experience!

C Dubbya

I liked the concept of the magnet school, but after transferring to another school we realized the significant gaps in what our daughter learned at this school.

jake whitaker

Good school for 1on 1 learning

Vicki Clinger

I really love this school! I wish I would have known about it sooner. I would have put my youngest 2 in, only because they opened in 2012, otherwise, all of my kids would have gone there. I am amazed at the maturity that has come from my son because of this school!! He did it all by himself , graduate that is. He took full responsibility for his education .

Mitchell Bailey

Awesome!!!!

Aidan Harshbarger

This school is actually really good. you can be who you are without getting backlash or bullied for liking something different. The past schools I have been to bullied me for having diabetes, but the kids here put that aside and accepted me as a human being.

Kaleb Hings

Great school

Blake Robison

I think that I can review this place pretty honestly, because I spent four years of my life there! A bit of background info: Compass Academy is a public school, it is not charter. You don't have to pay money to get in. You could get in even if you had terrible grades in Junior High School. However, demand to get into the school is very high, and the application process is always a little complex, so make sure you get current information from the district. I could spend all day writing about Compass, instead, I'll just shorten it to three main points: 1. The People! Since many classes implement groupwork and project based learning, you make many friends easily. I didn't know anyone coming to Compass but as soon as I had my first class and my first group I started to meet new friends. And the people at Compass Academy are often very nice and respectful, since the school is based off three "pillars"- trust, respect, and responsibility. One of the coolest parts about Compass are the facilitators- our own name for teachers. We call them facilitators because they don't do as much lecturing. Instead they direct learning and supervise over projects. It may sound like they have an easy job to do, but they have to do a lot to help their students succeed. They're some of the hardest working, greatest school employees I have ever met. And- here's the crazy thing- they're friendly! I spent every lunch period for two years in good ol' Mr. Timchak's room eating with him and some friends. In time, you'll think of the facilitators as your friends. 2. The Projects! Some of the most memorable projects I were involved in include the following: WW1 Night, where we set up an entire museum made of high quality exhibits from each group. We had sets such as a life sized trench, a live reenactment of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, and so on. A mock debate where we represented candidates from the republican and democratic parties for the 2016 presidential election A mock congress where we dressed up in nice clothes for each "session," used real legislative rules, and passed bills for the principal of the school to either pass into effect or veto (These bills actually went into effect throughout our school if they passed). A project where we presented on health topics to elementary school children (my friend and I gave a multimedia presentation on drugs and alcohol abuse) And a two day project every year where you can literally create, explore, or do whatever you wanted as long as it benefited yourself or others in some way! For one of these projects, my friend and I hosted and judged a creative writing contest complete with prizes and printed copies of the winning stories. We did many, many more projects but there isn't space to write about them all here! 3. The schedule! The schedule can actually be kind of hard to work, as it is a college type schedule and you have to shuffle around classes and try to fit them together. Think Tetris. But the end result is awesome because we have these things called collaboration periods. Those are where you have no class. You can work on homework (which is highly recommended by the facilitators), on groupwork, or you can just hang out with friends. You can even make the ten minute walk to WinCo foods and get yourself some snacks/lunch. In summary, Compass Academy is one of the most unique and forward thinking schools in the entire nation. Go Lions!

Vampire Pug

I've been here for a year now, and I'm reenrolling this coming week. It's a fantastic and caring school with supportive teachers.

Ron Staymates

Our grand-daughter graduated from Compass this year, and they forgot to put her photo in the yearbook. This is her only graduation from high school and she is not in the yearbook. How stupid is that. They have done nothing to rectify the situation either.

Kaitlin Cheney

So, I will be graduating from Compass Academy in a couple months, and figured I would share some of the things I have had the opportunity to do there. 1) be a founding member of the first mental health awareness campaign in Idaho (Sophomore class project), 2)put on a museum for a night, regarded as "awesome" by multiple community members (Junior Class project), 3)Make and execute a simulation showing what it is like for refugees to come to the U.S. (AP Human Geography Project) 4)Act as a member of the Hospitality Committee for the Idaho Falls Mayoral Debate, Idaho Falls Mayoral Run-off Debate, and the Idaho Gubernatorial (Governer's) Republican Primary Debate, the first two of which have been regarded as better than what the news companies did/could do, and the last of which hasn't happened yet as of the writing of this review

Debra Hanson

My daughter is a Freshman this year (2013-2014). She loves it at Compass Academy. She said she can no longer daydream through classes and then cram just before the test. She has to learn the material because she needs to use it in the group projects. Bravo! The curriculum is challenging and applies to the real world.