The Family Compass
The ol' fashioned paper version
If you can find thirty minutes, this is a conversation worth having.
- Print a copy for each person with a stake in the high school admissions process and answer separately.
- Compare your answers using the conversation guide.
- Once you've decided what matters most, fill your family's answers into the Family Compass.
The family compass · worksheet
The student
Answered by
One copy per person. Answer independently before you compare.
What do you want high school to do for your student?
Open doors
Get into the right college, and the opportunities that follow.
Discover oneself
Try enough new things to find out who your student is.
Grow up
Become someone who can handle things on their own.
Go deep
Take a passion your student already has as far as it goes.
Love learning
Come out still curious, not just with a diploma.
Push limits
Do work that's harder than your student thinks they can handle.
Where do they do their best work?
Structure
Clear rules, firm deadlines, teachers who check in
Freedom
Manage their own time, even if a ball gets dropped
Traditional academics
Lectures, textbooks, and tests
Hands-on learning
Projects, labs, and learning by doing
Lots of everything
Classes, teams, clubs, kinds of kids
Small and known
Less overwhelming, everyone knows your name
Competition
Tryouts, auditions, honors tracks
Cooperation
Everyone plays, everyone's in the show
How will you judge each school?
Start with these, cross out ones that don't apply, and add any others we've missed:
Most important (up to 2)
Really important (up to 3)
Important
Finish the sentence
At graduation, I'll know this was the right school because…