What is Advisory?
Students are assigned to a small, gender-based groups called advisory. This group stays the same throughout their three years of Middle School and is lead by same teacher each year. This is the student's "home base" or family. Advisories meet every single day for about 30 minutes each morning and leave the building with each other every day. They participate in team building activities, read together, play together, study together, set goals together, attend field trips together, and push each other to do their best.
Second Step & Circle of Power and Respect
We also use a research based approach to education and discipline called Responsive Classroom. A key element in the middle school is the Circle of Power and Respect, or CPR.
CPR goes further than simply setting the stage for good learning. All of the components of CPR lend themselves to the introduction or reinforcement of academic skills. Through Greeting, Sharing, Group Activity, and News and Announcements, middle school students learn how to think critically, how to frame and ask good questions, how to solve problems, how to work cooperatively, and how to turn their need for peer connection into a positive and dynamic learning strategy. |
Morning Meeting Cheers
Every Friday at Erie, the whole school gathers for a morning meeting. We listen to announcements and watch presentations from different classrooms and clubs throughout the year. It's a great way to showcase student learning and recognize kids who display the Habits of Heart, Mind, and Work. Every morning meeting starts with roll call! Each classroom and advisory sits together and comes up with their own cheer. Some change it up every few weeks to keep it fresh and fun. A favorite activity in the middle school is stealing another classroom's cheer and changing the words up a little to make it their own! |
Buenos Aires goes to Insurgent!
A great example of the relationships that are built during advisory can be seen in the Buenos Aires advisory, led this year by Mrs. Maldonado! The ladies have been working on appreciating not only each others' similarities, but most importantly, embracing each others' differences and unique abilities. In light of the release of the Insurgent movie, the ladies took a "Divergent Aptitude" test online to determine which faction they would belong in: Candor (the Honest), Abnegation (the Selfless), Amity (the Friendly), Dauntless (the Brave), or Erudite (the Intelligent). They used the Free Dress Day that they earned from achieving perfect attendance during parent-teacher conferences on the day of the movie release, and dressed up according to their different factions. As a culminating bonding experience, they took an advisory field trip after school to enjoy the movie together! |