Every student deserves someone pointing the way.

Compass Learning Collective is a nonprofit that pairs students across Windsor-Essex with tutors and mentors in financial literacy, academics, music, coding, and chess. Every program is completely free for students, made possible through partnerships with local schools, libraries, and businesses.

Nonprofit100% Free for Students

I'm a Student or Parent I Want to Tutor

Our Mission

We believe the chance to learn, to discover what moves you, and to pursue it fully is one of life's most precious privileges. It is a privilege that is never guaranteed, and one that no child should be prevented from embracing because of circumstance. Compass Learning Collective exists to help students make the most of that chance, giving them the guidance, encouragement, and opportunity to follow their curiosity wherever it leads.

Our Story

A child's curiosity is not a small thing.

Steven Lu, Founder

My name is Steven Lu, and I'm the founder of Compass Learning Collective, which I started in 2023 as a first-year at Vincent Massey Secondary School. What began as one free financial literacy curriculum that I began teaching local elementary students, drawing from my experiences in DECA, has grown into a network of tutors across Windsor-Essex serving 200+ students in academics, coding, chess, and even music theory, all at no cost to their families.

Where It Started

Financial literacy, from day one.

Business and finance are where my own curiosity has taken me the furthest. Through DECA, I qualified for ICDC, the organization's international competition, and won recognition in both the Startup Business Plan and Finance events. Competing at that level taught me how much I love thinking through how a business or a budget actually works, and how rarely students get the chance to learn any of it before they're expected to manage their own money.

That interest deepened further once I began working as a Budgeting and Fundraising Intern at the Downtown Mission, supporting the kind of financial planning that keeps a nonprofit able to serve its community. It's an experience I hope to keep building on, and one I'd like to eventually turn into a more formal partnership between Compass and the Mission.

The 6-module curriculum

Budgeting
Credit
Investing
Accounting Basics
Entrepreneurship

It's Compass's founding program, and it's still open for sign-up.

Programs

Six ways to find your thing.

Academics

Academic Tutoring

Math, science, and English support from K-12, with a diagnostic that finds the actual gap, not just the grade level.

Music

Music Lessons

Violin, piano, guitar, and music theory, taught with patience and real performance goals.

Technology

Coding

From Scratch to Python, built around something the student actually wants to make.

Life Skills

Financial Literacy

Budgeting, credit, investing, accounting basics, and entrepreneurship, taught completely free.

Strategy

Chess & Strategic Thinking

Planning, patience, and learning to lose well, with a path into competitive play.

Guidance

Mentorship

Every student is paired with a near-peer mentor (a current high schooler or university student) for encouragement beyond the subject matter.

How It Works

Getting matched is simple.

For Students & Families

Sign up

Tell us your grade, school, and what you want help with.

Get matched

We pair you with a screened tutor or mentor, in person or online.

Learn & grow

Regular sessions, tracked progress, and a mentor in your corner.

For Tutors

Apply

Tell us what you can teach and when you're free.

Get screened

A short reference check, because we're working with kids.

Start teaching

Get matched with a student and start making a real difference.

Our Tutors

Real people from schools you know.

Our tutors come from high schools and universities across the Windsor-Essex and Toronto areas.

Vincent Massey Secondary School

Assumption Catholic High School

Catholic Central High School

Herman Secondary School

University of Windsor

University of Toronto

+ your school here

Bring Compass to your students.

Currently exploring partnerships with: GECDSB schools · Windsor Public Library · local nonprofits and credit unions

Talk to Us About Partnering

Partner inquiry

Tell us a bit about your organization and we'll set up a conversation.

Nonprofit

Help keep Compass free.

Compass Learning Collective is a nonprofit. Every tutoring session, every financial literacy module, and every mentorship match is completely free for students, always.

Interested in giving?

Tell us how you'd like to help and we'll follow up with the best way to give.

Impact

What families and tutors say.

"My daughter went from dreading math homework to asking to do extra problems with her tutor."

Parent, Windsor

"Teaching violin through Compass gave me my first real teaching experience, and my student just played her first recital."

Tutor, University of Windsor

"He looks forward to chess night more than anything else in his week."

Parent, LaSalle