A Robust Advisory System for Student Leadership

The advisory system at Randolph Union has slowly evolved over the past four years, serving as a support system for students, helping prepare them to execute student led conferences, housing student work in portfolios, and preparing students to defend those portfolios in two separate high school rites of passage. Our time as Rowland fellows will allow us to continue this work as we move toward Proficiency Based Graduation Requirements and begin implementing facets of Act 77.

During the sabbatical, we intend to research best advisory practices and the schedules and structures that support successful advisory models. This research will include: collaborating with Rowland Fellows who have taken on similar challenges, attending workshops and conferences, visiting schools that have successfully created programs similar to what we endeavor to institute, reading and reflecting upon the work of others, and collaborating with colleagues and advisories to revise our current advisory handbook, curriculum elements, routines and protocols.

The goal is to develop a collaborative team consisting of students and colleagues from throughout the school. This leadership team will develop a feedback tool in order to provide a consistent means for collecting and sharing information from school visits. The intention is to develop up to three proposals for faculty, student, and community feedback and, ultimately, with the support of all stakeholders, adopt a proposal that best supports a robust advisory system. Additionally, we intend to continue to work with our current advisories throughout the year and, during the spring semester, envision creating continual professional development opportunities and working as a support team for our colleagues.