Effective and productive relationship building is the main goal of the Advisory Program. Advisors play a prominent role in each student’s experience at Darlington. They check on grades and disciplinary matters with regularity and counsel their group of advisees about classes, extracurricular activities, and school life on a daily basis. The advisor is there to support the student, and students should feel free to turn to their advisor for academics, social, or personal assistance at any time. If the advisor cannot help directly, a referral can be made to another teacher, Head of House, administrator, or counselor who can provide the needed assistance. Advisors are also a primary contact for parents regarding their student.
Advisors meet with their advisees twice a week during the advisory period. During these meetings, advisors will have candid conversations with their advisees about academia, student and school life, college planning, and health and wellness.
Darlington uses a grade-level model for its Advisory Program. That is, each advisory group consists of students from the same grade level. For example, ninth-grade students partake in a special grade-level advisory program, which is designed to help acclimate them to high school while seniors work extensively with their college advisors. At the end of each academic year, students have the opportunity to petition for a new advisor through the Student Life Office. The Student Life Office will work with the student to arrange a new advisor, but cannot guarantee that a student will receive the new advisor he or she requested. College advisors serve as the advisors to the senior class; seniors will have the opportunity to request their advisor from among those faculty and staff who serve as college advisors.
