|
CCHS Student
Advisories
Chicopee
Comprehensive High School
2008-2009
In the next
year, Chicopee Comprehensive High School will continue to prepare
for re-accreditation by the New England Association of Schools
and Colleges. One new requirement for accreditation by the
NEASC includes “a formal, ongoing program through which each
student has an adult member of the school community, in addition to
their guidance counselor, who personalizes each student’s education
experience, knows the student well, and helps the student to achieve
the school-wide expectations for student learning”. In
response, Chicopee Comprehensive High School has implemented a
Student Advisory Program.
CCHS ADVISORY STATEMENT
Philosophy and Purpose
The Advisory
program exists to enable advisors and students to know each other
well so that students make the most of their experiences as members
of the CCHS community. Overall, the purpose of our student advisory
program includes creating a cohesive school community, enhancing
student life skills, lowering the CCHS dropout rate, improving
student academic achievement, and reducing discipline issues.
The specific
faculty selected goals of advisory are:
1.
To create a sense of community at Chicopee Comprehensive High
School.
2.
To learn group dynamics, have fun, and to find ways that make
sense for students to solve conflicts.
3.
To help students develop constructive relationships with
their peers and key adults at Chicopee Comprehensive High School.
4.
To learn to understand and appreciate people who are
different from themselves.
Program
Organization
The organization
of the Advisory program should be informed by our purposes to be
achieved.
-
Advisor to
advisee ratio is 1:13 or less so students can be known well.
-
Students are
placed in advisories each year using the following set of
criteria:
-
A student is
placed in an advisory based on his or her grade level (9 and 10,
11 and 12). Currently, freshmen and sophomores are grouped
together as are juniors and seniors.
-
To the
extent possible, a student is placed in an advisory in which his
advisor is not one of his or her teachers.
-
A faculty or
staff member may request placement of a student in or out of his
or her advisory.
-
Advisory
groups are gender-balanced and should be representative of
CCHS's diversity.
-
All full-time
teachers, department supervisors, guidance counselors, and
administrators serve as advisors. Some co-advising relationships
exist.
-
Advisories
meet daily for 18 minutes.
-
Additional
meetings outside of the regular school day are at the Advisor's
discretion with approval from Administration.
-
At CCHS, most
Advisories share a room with another Advisory and therefore it is
important to be conscious of the dynamic this creates and of the
importance of establishing some shared norms.
-
Student
Attendance
– students must attend their advisory. Students who skip their
advisories will receive the same penalty as if they skipped one of
their classes.
-
Parents/guardians have the opportunity to volunteer to be an
advisory parent/guardian representative. The role of
parents/guardians is to provide support to our advisories in
achieving our four goals. Please contact a member of the Advisory
Design Team for more information.
Advisory Program
Content
Advisory content
should be aligned with the four stated purposes of the Advisory
program. Certain curricular elements are common among all advisors.
The Advisory Design Team will provide weekly Advisory Activity
suggestions.
Assessment
Surveys are distributed on a regular basis to faculty and students
to assess the effectiveness and to make improvements to the advisory
program at CCHS.
Leadership
An Advisory
Design Team, along with the school principal, supports the Advisory
Program. The team consists of:
o
Mr. Castonguay (dcastonguay@chicopee.k12.ma.us)
o
Mrs. Bineau (rbineau@chicopee.k12.ma.us)
o
Mr. Morrison (dmorriso@chicopee.mec.edu)
o
Mr. Jendrysik (cjendrysik@chicopee.k12.ma.us)
*Please feel free to contact any
member of the Design Team with any questions or concerns. Thank
you.
Positive
Outcomes of Advisory
·
Significant reductions in student absenteeism
·
Increased student participation in college and other post secondary
educational opportunities
·
Better school attitudes and overall behavior
·
Improved student social skills
·
A
modest improvement in student achievement
*Research is available to support each of these outcomes. Please
see a member of the advisory design team for exact statistics.
Sample
Advisory Success Stories
-
Pasadena High School
last year, all 650 9th graders
began an Advisory program that called for an hour-long
advisory period three days a week. In groups of 20 to 30, students
met with their teacher-adviser for activities designed
to foster leadership, build self-esteem, and resolve conflicts. By
the end of the year in this urban California high school with a 75
percent minority student body, the 9th-grade attendance
rate was 96 percent -twice as high as for any other grade in
the school.
Last Updated
07/06/2009 11:16 AM
Contact for
CCHS website: submission, suggestion, or questions:
CCHS Web Master: James
F. Clark |
