The LifeCompass Institute for Character & Leadership™ speaker series
The LifeCompass Institute (LCI) is a lab school community of practice at Montrose School.
As the flagship school for girls, Montrose is committed to sharing its unique mission with the greater world. LCI offers practical wisdom for parents and educators to help girls become the best version of themselves. LCI collaborates with partner organizations in order to share resources with parents and educators so that all girls may live flourishing lives. Founded in 2017 by Director Emerita Karen Bohlin, currently leader of Practical Wisdom for Agile Leadership, LCI serves as a resource to educators and school leaders around the globe.
LCI SPEAKER SERIES
The LCI Speaker Series for Parents
The LCI Speaker Series for Parents supports Montrose School's aim to build authentic, collaborative relationships with parents and offer expert information and resources to parents. These events are open to the public and free of charge.
Recent speakers include:
Karin ÖbergFaith, Reason and the Universe |
Tyler VanderWeeleThe Power of Forgiveness |
Abigail FavaleThe Genius of Women: Why Girls Matter |
Arthur BrooksLove Your Enemies |
The LCI Speaker Series for Students
The LCI Speaker Series for Students brings to campus speakers whose inspirational stories give witness to greatness of mind, heart and character in action. Their life portraits become part of our ongoing conversation about what matters most in life and the call to respond nobly to the challenges and opportunities before us.
Recent speakers include a variety of professionals on the topic Why Character Is Essential to Innovation:
Dr. John KheirHow Science Drives Faith |
Dr. Sarah MachadoFrom Surviving to Thriving in a Competitive Work Environment |
Matt DaubertWhy Character Matters in Artificial Intelligence |
Michael RobertoFearless: The Virtues and Challenges of Speaking Up |
RESOURCES
Resources for Parents
Get your "PhD in parenting"! We have information and resources to guide you so you can help your daughter flourish. Read a blog post or curated article, hear one of our recent LifeCompass speakers or see what our partner organizations have to offer.
Resources for Educators
LCI provides training and curriculum resources to public and private school educators through partner programs and its own original resources. Recent LCI publications include The Courageous Dialogue Toolkit: Practical Wisdom for School Leaders (LCI, 2021) and Stress Tests of Character (LCI, 2020). Read more about these and other educator resources.
OUR EDUCATORS
Led by LCI Director Katie Elrod, our faculty draw from ancient wisdom and current research to connect theory and practice within and beyond the classroom. Thanks to generous funding by the Kern Family Foundation, more than 10 Montrose faculty and staff members to date have been awarded a full scholarship to pursue their Master’s of Character Education from the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtue at the University of Birmingham (UK).
These teachers are leading departments and task forces, sharing their wisdom and research-based best practices in curriculum design, and leading professional development workshops on learning and teaching.
Learn more about some of our educators
| Katie Elrod, LifeCompass Institute Director & Head of Montrose School |
|---|
|
Katie Elrod has part of Montrose for more than 25 years. She has taught at every grade level, from elementary through an adjunct professor position in the philosophy department at Boston College. She is a published author and a sought-after speaker locally and nationally on education and parenting, having spoken at the University of Notre Dame, MIT and Oxford University (UK). A Lonergan Fellow, she received her BA and MA in philosophy from Boston College. She created Montrose School’s flagship Capstone course, “Embracing Big Questions and the Ethics of Human Flourishing.” |
| Becky Roberts, MA in Character Education |
|
Assistant Head of Montrose School Dissertation: The Parent Partnership Model for Character Education Research questions: To what extent do parents at Montrose perceive their relationship to be a partnership with the school when it comes to the character education program? |
| Barbara Whitlock, MA in Character Education |
|
Director of Curriulum & English and History Faculty, Montrose School Dissertation: Bridging the Character Education Gap from Adolescence to Citizenship Research question: How do interactions with a trusted, non-parent adult cause improved outcome goals for adolescents with mentors? |
| Jennifer Bowman, MA in Character Education |
|
Theology, Art, Art & Science Faculty, Montrose School Dissertation: Reflecting for Well-Being Research questions: Looking closely at our Practical Wisdom Frameworks, we teach students to reflect before recalibrating and responding. Reflecting is an emerging skill for 7th graders. Do 7th grade students know how to reflect? Do they understand the benefits of reflection? |
