OUR ALUMNI
When children graduate from our school, they aren’t done learning and growing. Rather, they leave here with a foundation on which the rest of their lives will be built.
PORTRAIT OF A GRADUATE
At The Children’s House and Compass Montessori Junior High, we harness curiosity and discovery to inspire learning. As a result, our graduates are intrinsically motivated learners and critical thinkers.
Our graduates become:
Genuine, confident, and self-aware because they have been loved, respected, and nurtured as individuals.
Resilient and proud of their work because, with guidance and support, they have built their capacity through struggle and learned to persevere.
Adaptable, collaborative, and compassionate because they have grown up in community where social and emotional skills are practiced daily.
In short, our graduates know who they are, understand they are the keepers of their success, and are motivated to contribute to the world around them.
Hear from our Alumni
Adopting a “Portrait of a Graduate” statement helps schools lean into their distinguishing values, strengths, and core reason for existence. We decided it would be a good exercise for our team at The Children’s House and Compass Montessori Junior High to do together.
Describing our graduates in one statement seemed impossible at first because each student is different in their strengths, viewpoints, traits, and skills. The more we dove into the work, the more it became apparent that perhaps those differences are exactly what differentiates our school and our alumni.
In January 2025, our faculty worked together to answer these questions:
What is unique about our students?
What skills, behaviors, and characteristics are most linked to success later in life?
What aptitudes and attitudes do our students have that make them unique among other students their age?
How are students changed by their experiences at our school?
The faculty regrouped a month later and worked together to identify the common ideas and words that resonated across all four levels of our school. We zeroed in on the idea of “becoming.” When children leave our school, they aren’t done learning and growing. Rather, they leave here with a foundation on which the rest of their lives will be built.
With this direction in mind, a small group of faculty turned our “good” statements into “great” statements, something that accurately applies to our school alone. We are proud to state:
At The Children’s House and Compass Montessori Junior High, we harness curiosity and discovery to inspire learning. As a result, our graduates are intrinsically motivated learners and critical thinkers.
Our graduates become:
Genuine, confident, and self-aware because they have been loved, respected, and nurtured as individuals.
Resilient and proud of their work because, with guidance and support, they have built their capacity through struggle and learned to persevere.
Adaptable, collaborative, and compassionate because they have grown up in community where social and emotional skills are practiced daily.
In short, our graduates know who they are, understand they are the keepers of their success, and are motivated to contribute to the world around them.
40 YEARS OF
CHILDREN’S HOUSE ALUMNI
OUR ALUMNI
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Elliott Petty
B.S. in Business Administration, Project Management, from Elon University
He currently works for a software company in Grand Rapids and focuses on technology for the banking and lending industry. “To me, lifelong learning means: to be willing to learn something new, and this mindset has helped me develop along the career path I’m on today.”
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Madison Duensing
Mechanical Engineering, Michigan Technological University
“Honestly, I don't think I would have become an engineer if I didn't attend TCH. Being an engineer requires a lot of 3D visualization and hands-on work. You can't be afraid to pick up a wrench or get dirty as an engineer. The hands-on lessons are the most real-world experience a kid can have (up until an internship). The school fosters creativity and never puts a child in a "box," which I believe is essential for a child and their thought process. No student is the same, and TCH does exactly what a kid needs to thrive at their current level of education, and it also prepares them for the real world.”
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Ella Kirkwood
Student at Williams College, Environmental Studies
“The Children's House gave me the curiosity to love learning and pursue the things that interest me. The ability to discover my intellectual passions of my own accord has shaped me into a lifelong learner, and consistent immersion in the outdoors informed my love for the environment.”
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Casey Klau
Student at Michigan State University, Apparel and Textile Design
“My Children’s House experience taught me so many valuable lessons about community, responsibility, following your passions, and taking pride in your work. I’m so grateful for my time there and feel it has helped shape who I am in so many positive ways!”
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Matthew Magiera
Student at Northwestern Michigan College, Aviation
“The Children’s House, specifically the Junior High, helped prepare me for my future by exposing me to many different activities, such as aviation during our many class trips. This helped foster my love of aviation and shaped me into the pilot I am today.”
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Morgan Pauly
Morgan PaulyStudent at Wayne State University, Psychology and Philosophy
A quote by Alexander Heijer describes what it means to her to grow up at The Children’s House: "When a flower doesn't bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower."
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Daklen Schiller
Master Plumber Apprentice program, Team Bob’s
“The Children's House encouraged me to view problems in a positive light and challenges to be solved rather than feared. My schooling experiences have supported my collaborative approach to work. I am comfortable expressing my thoughts, helpful to others, and able to see things from a broad point of view.”
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Violet Purcell
Music Composition
“The Junior High program helped prepare me by giving me the independence to figure things out myself and giving me a ton of opportunities to go places and meet people that I never would have been able to at any other Junior High.”
Curricular Scope
Curricular Scope
At TCH, our mission is to raise confident, lifelong learners who contribute to their communities and the greater world, not only through their learning of academic subjects, but also in their development of independence, confidence, collaboration and compassion.