Advisory

Our Advisory program is designed to create a strong support system that caters to our students' needs as they develop socially, emotionally, and academically. The topics that are covered are meant to assist students in a proactive way. The primary purpose is for each student to have a teacher who can act as their advocate which is achieved through a mixture of individual consultations and group guidance sessions during our Advisory period once a week.

Each advisor has a group of about 9 to 11 students who meet with them weekly for 40 minutes and as opposed to the advisor being called upon in response to a crisis, as might be the case with a guidance counselor, the Advisor’s sessions are meant to create a safety net that students can turn to and benefit from before any situation becomes a crisis. 

Advisory is meant to create a sense of community among students and ensure that there is always a teacher that they can turn to for help. Whether personally, socially, or academically. A great sense of emotional security is also felt when students know that there is a single point person, their advisor, who will develop a strong relationship with them and their parents.

Due to the unique nature of 2020 where students were unable to attend school from March to July, advisory sessions in September focused on assisting students in transitioning back to school. These sessions allowed students to process and reflect on their emotions and how they related to the current events of the time. 

Usually, the school uses as a guide the “Cathryn Berger Kaye Advisory Curriculum” which covers a myriad of different topics that allow space for Bonding Activities, Self-Awareness, Study Skills, Time-Management, and other projects including Documentar which was launched worldwide where students can submit creative projects that reflect what is on their mind and the world that they are living in. Such creative processes are also meant to be reflective and energizing.

A few of the different Key Skills that students learn through these processes are:

• Active & Effective Listening

• Discerning value

• Generating &  Expanding Ideas

• Creative Thinking

• Critical Thinking

• Self Awareness

• Appreciating the value of pooling resources

• Conversational and effective questioning to learn more about others 

Advisory is further enhanced by our Counseling & Advisory Newsletter which is an ongoing project where students and their parents receive information on improving their Social-Emotional Wellbeing, Highlights on their different Advisory Sessions, as well as where they can get access to pertinent topics that are yet to be covered during Advisory. Every edition of the Newsletter comes with a message of hope, Career Guidance about different Careers, a different Study Skill or Time Management Technique with graphic organizers and worksheets that students can download and use as well as other pertinent topics that assist students with their holistic experience at school.