What do you think of the new advisory schedule? Starting in the 2024-2025 school year, the high school started Monday Advisory. Advisory allows students to meet with their advisory teacher, check their email and grades and plan out their week. Advisory happens every Monday and lasts for 15 minutes before lunch and learn, but do the students and staff think it’s helpful?
Mr. Edward Mulroy, a business teacher, said, “I think it’s too early to tell, so far so good. I think it was good the first week to get students familiar with the building and the lunch and learning process. I also think it will be useful for when we have things like events, videos we need to show, Red and Black stuff and fundraising things.”
At the start of each year, new students come into the school and they have to learn the building procedures, like the lunch and learn rules, how to find important information, and how to use Naviance. It is the hope for Advisory that teachers give important information and encourage students to check their Powerschool, but is the special period needed for all grade levels? Mrs. Jacqueline Hersker, an English teacher, said, “I think for my seniors, it seems unnecessary; they know how to do their work and follow up with teachers. They’ve done it for the past four years. For the underclassmen, I think they need more guidance and reminders, and they need someone to pester them about signing up for activities and checking emails and grades. When you balance seniors vs. everyone else, it’s better to just have it.”
For teachers, this is a good time to connect with students about grades and different activities, but some students disagree. Freshman Aliana D’Angelo finds advisory to be a waste of time. She said, “I don’t really like it that much. Although this is personal, it’s on the opposite side of where my 2nd period is. My grades are fine, though, and I just think it’s a waste of 15 minutes.”
Furthermore, sophomore Maggie Main said, “It’s good for the reason that I can check on my grades, but it’s mostly bad; it’s a waste of time, I don’t like it, and I really just sit there.” Sophomore Cadence Goodman thinks similarly. She said, “It messes up my whole schedule. People usually just go on their phones the whole period anyway.”
Junior, Skye Johnson, said “I think it’s stupid; it’s 15 minutes of doing nothing. We could do this whole advisory thing during homeroom.”
There is a common theme of Advisory being a waste of time among the student perspectives, but junior Kiely Santos likes it. She said, “I like it because I have Mr. Shields and Mrs. Cassidy. I don’t have the Link Crew class this semester, so it’s good because I can get caught up on my personal stuff. We also get to work on some Link Crew activities.” Depending on your activities, maybe advisory could be helpful.
As Mr. Mulroy said, time will tell if the Advisory period’s benefits outweigh the negatives.
