Following the Child All the Way to 18
Inside a public school system: Montessori from preschool through high school. Case study.
Using Compass Montessori School in Colorado as a case study, Cameron Gehlen, Kymm Garcia and Amy Fleig share how they built a Montessori program from preschool through high school inside the public system: the Farm School microeconomy, purposeful work, student travel, and the practical realities of funding and program design.
- Tuesday, November 3, 20265:00-7:00 p.m. CETCheck your timezone
- Fully online, live on ZoomAround 2 hours, including a live Q&A
- In EnglishNo interpreting. The recording is in English too.
- €47Recording access included for 30 days
Where does Montessori stop?
Many Montessori communities are strong in the early years, and then the path thins out. Schools that want to keep following the child often face the same hard questions:
- How to carry Montessori principles through elementary and into the adolescent years
- What an adolescent program actually looks like, day to day
- How to follow each child individually while building one cohesive schoolwide program
- How funding, accreditation and program design work in a public school setting
Compass Montessori has worked through these questions for years. This workshop shares what they built, what they decided, and why, so you can weigh it against your own community.
About the workshop
A real school as a case study, from preschool to high school.
This workshop explores the evolution of Compass Montessori School and how its team has worked to carry Montessori philosophy and practice from preschool through high school within a public school setting.
Using Compass's experience, we look at what it means to truly follow the child across developmental stages, with particular attention to the adolescent years: the Farm School microeconomy, purposeful work, student travel, and the role of head, hand and heart in adolescent development.
You will also hear the practical side of running a public Montessori school, including funding, accreditation, program design, and the distinctions between lower and upper adolescent programming.
- One school, every planeSee how Montessori principles can be carried intentionally from preschool through high school.
- Adolescence in practicePurposeful work, microeconomy, travel and community engagement, as they actually run.
- The public school realityFunding, accreditation and program design, with the opportunities and the challenges.
What you will take away
Concrete examples from Compass that you can adapt or consider within your own Montessori community.
Participants will leave with
- A better understanding of how Montessori principles can be carried intentionally from preschool through high school.
- Practical examples of following the individual child while still building a cohesive schoolwide program.
- Ideas for meaningful adolescent experiences through purposeful work, microeconomy, travel and community engagement.
- A clearer understanding of the developmental differences between lower and upper adolescence, and how programming can respond.
- Insight into the opportunities and challenges of Montessori within a public school system, including funding.
What the workshop covers
The story of Compass and following the child individually, from preschool through 6th grade.
Lower vs. upper adolescence, and how programming responds to each.
Head, hand and heart: purposeful work and the work of the adolescent hand.
The Farm School microeconomy and the Compass High School lesson board.
Student travel at all levels.
The practical side: public vs. private funding, and why Compass opted out of accreditation.
Get your ticket
Who this workshop is for
School leaders, founders and board members, adolescent and elementary guides, and anyone thinking about extending a Montessori program into the adolescent years, in public, charter or private settings.
Join the live workshop on November 3, 2026 and come back to it with access to the recording for 30 days.
Check your timezone
- Live online workshop on Zoom
- Live Q&A with the Compass team
- Recording access for 30 days
- A real case study from preschool to high school
Optional extras below can be added with one tick in the same form.
Optional extras
Each one is a tick-box in the same registration form. Nothing to arrange separately.
Awarded by Montessori Institute Prague, for your professional development records.
Keep the recording for 2, 4 or 6 months instead of 30 days, and share it with your team over the school year.
Your speakers
The team behind Compass Montessori School.
Dr. Cameron Gehlen
Cameron leads all grade levels on both Compass campuses. Before becoming Executive Director in 2018, she was a Lower Elementary teacher for ten years and principal of the Wheat Ridge campus.
She completed AMS Montessori training at the Montessori Education Center of the Rockies, holds a Master of Science in Education from Regis University, and a Doctorate in Leadership for Educational Equity from the University of Colorado, focused on educational law and policy.
She is committed to programming that is consistent across all levels and both campuses, and to a school that meets each student where they are.
Kymm Garcia
Kymm has over 25 years of Montessori experience, 20 of them at Compass, where she taught Lower and Upper Elementary before becoming principal of the Pre-K through Secondary programs.
She holds AMI Infant/Toddler and AMI Primary training, trained in Elementary at the Montessori Training Center of Minnesota, and has a Master's in Education from St. Catherine University. She also trains new Montessorians at the Montessori Education Center of the Rockies.
As principal to adolescents, she is rooted in the belief that meeting students where they are developmentally is the key to a lifelong love of learning.
Dr. Amy Fleig
Amy has been part of the Compass community since 2013 and has led the Wheat Ridge campus since 2023. She taught Upper Elementary in the Earth Room, then spent six years as cross-campus Head of Student Support, leading Section 504, intervention, special education, gifted and talented, English language learning and multi-tiered systems of support.
She holds a BA in Psychology of Education from Colorado College, an M.Ed. in Educational Psychology from Virginia, and completed AMI Elementary training in Atlanta after deciding that public education needed something more student-centered. Her K-12 principal licensure is from Western Colorado University.
Her Doctorate in Executive Leadership for Educational Equity from the University of Colorado Denver focused on non-profit leadership and the expansion of Montessori in the public sector, which is the ground this workshop covers. She works toward a true Montessori experience for every student, and a whole child view of what each one needs.
Paul Morf and Julie Strahan stop by during the session to walk through how the Farm School microeconomy actually runs, straight from the people running it. Paul has guided the microeconomy for 14 years at Compass and came to Montessori as a parent: both of his children attended Compass from Children's House through High School.
Compass Montessori is a public Montessori school with campuses in Golden and Wheat Ridge, Colorado, serving children from preschool through high school. compassmontessori.org →
Frequently asked questions
Who is this workshop for?
What language is the workshop in?
Is this only relevant to public schools?
What if I cannot attend live?
How long is the workshop, and how is it structured?
What time is that in my timezone?
The workshop runs 5:00-7:00 p.m. CET on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
Reference: Tuesday, November 3, 2026, 5:00-7:00 p.m. CET (Prague), which is 9:00-11:00 a.m. MST (Colorado).
Do I get a certificate of attendance?
How do I join on the day?
Register for the workshop
Join the Compass Montessori team and see how one school follows the child from preschool all the way to high school.
Register now, €47Register for the workshop
DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION?
Feel free to contact us!