The advisor-advisee relationship is an integral part of the Middle School program at LREI and is designed to address the intellectual, social, and ethical development of the early adolescent. It also provides an opportunity for each student to get to know one teacher as an advocate, mentor and advisor who can provide critical support throughout the course of the year. The advisor is also the point person for both the family and for the rest of the teaching team, and is responsible for keeping in good communication with both groups. An advisor might present an issue related to their advisee at a grade level team meeting, or may communicate with the middle school support team about them.

Advisory groups meet in grade level groups during morning meeting and afternoon homeroom periods. Each class has two to three advisors and each student is assigned to one of the three advisors. Much of this time is spent as a whole homeroom group, but there may be times where the class will break into smaller groups so that students can have more focused discussions with their advisor.

Advisors are instrumental in the planning for family conferences and co-lead the conferences with their advisee. While there is additional time and effort put into this preparation, the advisor is expected to maintain an ongoing conversation with their advisees about their academic and social strengths and challenges, about their goals and supporting structures, rather than simply discuss this during the period before conferences.

Beginning of the year

Before doing anything else, read your advisee’s life form. This gives you the history and relevant family details. It is extremely important for families to know that we pass information along from year to year. It’s ideal to also read the last year’s progress report (available on Connect) before reaching out to the family.

Pre-school family and student communication: Send an email to the family introducing yourself.  This communication should establish your role as the advisor, as the family’s point person, and invite them to share any information about the summer, or about their student/themselves as a supplement to what we already know. It is also helpful to ask families to think about any goals or concerns that they may have as these can be discussed at the meeting.

Beginning of the year Welcome Conference: Advisors meet with each advisee and their family at the start of the year to introduce themselves; it is also a time for families to learn more about the advisor’s role as an advocate and liaison. This meeting occurs on one of the mornings of the first full week of school and provides all parties with an un-charged, friendly environment to get to know each other. It is also a chance to establish connections and set goals. This is especially useful for new families and for fifth grade families as the meeting provides families with a sense of what is new and what to expect. Families sign-up for these conferences using PTC Wizard.

Throughout the year

Morning Meeting – Every day begins in homeroom groups with  all advisors present. Advisors co-plan the the activities for this period, which could include a focus on community building, developing organizational skills, discussing current events, or supporting wellness.

Set-up times for regular check-ins (at least twice  per trimester)  with your advisees either one-on one or in pairs/ small groups, such as over lunch, or on a bench at recess.

Support advisee’s overall school success and the development of good organizational habits and study skills by helping them organize their materials, locker or email inbox.

Follow up with your advisee if you become aware of any behavioral incident or academic concern from another teacher.

Be in touch with your advisee’s family if they are routinely late to school.

Help your advisee to be self-reflective about their academic strengths and challenges. Model being non-judgemental and solution-oriented, check their Jumprope (standards based grading) portal with them regularly. Help them self-identify goals and strategies to meet them.

Encourage your advisee to self-advocate in their conversations with classmates and other teachers. Plan or role-play conversations that might feel hard in advance

Maintain good communication with both your advisee’s family and the teaching team. If you  think some kind of intervention is warranted (tutoring, evaluation, or therapy for example), discuss your concerns first with Nathan or email the middle school support team. 

If your advisee reports anything to you that is troubling – about their own welfare or about the welfare of a fellow student, report it to Nathan immediately.

End of the year

Complete your advisee’s life form, including a narrative summary of any significant conversations or events on the “GLM” tab.

Attend the “pass along” meeting with next years’ teachers to describe your advisee to the next team.