Freshman Advisory Coordinator for 2009-2010
Mary Schmidt
mschmidt@mcpasd.k12.wi.us
829-9723      
                      

All first-year freshman students will automatically be enrolled in Freshman Advisory.

The purpose of Freshman Advisory is to foster intellectual growth and habits of commitment by developing closer relationships between staff and students, coordinate services, facilitate communication (student-teacher-parent), provide an adult contact, and most importantly, personalize each student’s experience at Middleton High School.

As an advisory group of about 18 students and an advisor, the following themes will be explored in advisory periods the last 20 minutes of lunch Mondays through Thursdays first semester: 

(1) CREATING A SENSE OF BELONGING - Transitioning from Middle School to High School, Changing Roles and Expectations, Orientation to Middleton High School, and Creating Community and Team Building.

(2) DEVELOPING SELF - Skill Assessment and Learning Style Recognition, Study, Time Management and Decision-Making Skills, Health and Wellness, Setting, Monitoring and Evaluating Goals:  Personal and Academic, and Self-Reflection and Self-Evaluation. 

(3) MAKING A LIVING, A LIFE, A DIFFERENCE - Roles, Responsibilities and Relationships, Service-Learning, and Employability Skills.

We are proud of a program that:

1. provides a welcoming, caring and supportive environment;
2. has at least one adult at school who cares about and knows each student;
3. helps develop a sense of belonging to the school;
4. orients the student to the school;
5. helps monitor academic progress and helps develop skills and habits necessary for
academic success;
6. promotes an awareness and understanding of diversity in helping to create a safe place for everyone;
7. develops the school counselor-connection early and provides a format through which student services curriculum is implemented;
8. encourages a collaborative environment of working together;
9. facilitates a community service-learning project;
10. serves as an advocate / liaison within school and between home / school;
11. publishes a monthly freshman-specific newsletter for parents/guardians;              
12. conducts Parent/Guardian-Student-Advisor conferences in August and January as well as individual Student-Advisor conferences Quarters 3-4.
13. incorporates junior/senior student tutors;
14. helps each student complete their first entries in a Personal Portfolio; and,
15. invests in each student as a whole person.