The answer lies in the effectiveness of advisory at the main campus. “There is a general consensus among the faculty that advisory at the gold building is meaningful and it’s purposeful,” Principal Bob McBride clarifies.
For freshman acclimating to the massive campus and student body of Neuqua Valley, advisory provides structure, mentorship, and a way to connect with their peers. The senior advisors program is another way for younger students to connect with upperclassmen and avoid any traditional hazing that comes with a school as large as Neuqua. Advisory at the main campus is a different story. Since McBride’s rise to Principal, rumors have swirled over whether Neuqua would give up the 20 minute third period in order to have a schedule more uniform with Waubonsie’s. Although this was not the case, it was clear that advisory was causing as many problems as it was helping.
Advisory was created in 2002 with the purpose of encouraging interactions between students and adults beyond the traditional student-teacher relationship. “The whole idea behind advisory is that its good to get to know adults outside of the classroom- the only relationship we should have shouldn’t just be grades,” McBride said.
Over the years, however, the purpose of advisory has been morphed into simply a free period for the majority of advisories and when an advisor attempted to begin a discussion, most students resisted. This has caused a number of teachers and students to question how necessary advisory is.
Advisory also created problems with scheduling and resource rooms. Teachers must devote at least one period a day of supervision to their schedule. This can include advisory or resource room.
Faculty members and especially McBride are great supporters of resource room and getting help in between classes. Advisory was limiting the amount of staff in the resource room, making it harder to get help during option.
The new schedule was designed to solve all of these problems. Two days of advisory encourages a more meaningful use of the period, while maintaining it’s original purpose. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, more staff is available for the resource rooms, and on Wednesdays students can revel in those 20 extra minutes of sleep, while teachers can plan lessons and review student results in Professional Learning Communities.
Although there has been speculation on a complete discontinuation of advisory for next year, McBride assures students this is not true. The fate of advisory lies in the feedback from students and teachers, as well as a gpa-correlated improvement seen, and this will take at least another two years.
Molly Leger, News Editor
