New Advising Program for the Middle School
By Lisa Schmitt
Many larger schools have a dean of student life position—someone who provides guidance for students, develops and directs the "life skills" curriculum, and might also assist in arranging for academic support, testing and counseling (when it is needed). We are not big enough to support a dean of student life position, but we can give our advising program an upgrade. Here's what it will look like.
Beginning in the fall, each middle school grade will have a grade level advisor—so there will be four such advisors: one for fifth grade, one for sixth and so on. These advisors will function somewhat more like the lower school teachers do for their individual classes. This model works best if the grade level advisor is also one of the core teachers since the teacher sees the students everyday anyway and can therefore most easily (and accurately) respond to a situation if one comes up.
The grade level advisors will
- Oversee the grade level service opportunities
- Organize major field trips and retreats
- Oversee testing (CTP-4, other) for that grade
- Coordinate academic support and counseling
- Develop and provide character education programming
- Provide mentoring
Who are the grade level advisors for 2009-10?
Linda Grey will be the fifth grade humanities teacher and the grade level advisor. Liberty Heise will be the sixth grade humanities teacher and the sixth grade advisor. Lucas Schaefer will be the seventh grade humanities teacher and the seventh grade advisor. Frances Ramberg will be advisor to the eighth grade (recall that Frances is also the placement advisor for the eighth grade).
One of the most important roles of the grade level advisor is to help girls work through their (very many) friendship issues. These issues, an inevitable and essential component of middle school "girl life," are the source of most of the angst in these years. Learning how to successfully navigate those stormy waters is an essential life skill!
This spring, the teachers mapped out the experiences they would like to provide for our students across the middle school grades (conflict resolution, service, ethics, public speaking, and leadership are a few examples) and the grade level advisors will work this summer to develop a comprehensive program across the middle school grades and within each grade—in all cases building upon the already strong base we have been developing in the lower school.