Trusted Advisors

Trusted Advisors

Students are encouraged and empowered to build healthy and meaningful relationships with each other and with the adults in their lives, and one important way that this happens is through the school’s Advisory Program.

Trusted Advisors

At Marlborough, we balance high expectations with extraordinary support. Students are encouraged and empowered to build healthy and meaningful relationships with each other and with the adults in their lives, and one important way that this happens is through the school’s Advisory Program.

When a student joins Marlborough, she is placed into an advisory group - a team of about 12 students and one to two adult employees of the school. As a result, small communities are created within the larger Marlborough community, providing a framework for students to cultivate a sense of responsible citizenship, develop strategies for personal and academic success, learn effective communication skills, experience emotional safety, learn self-reliance, and develop resilience.

Marlborough advisors serve as advocates and trusted mentors, supporting students’ academic, social and emotional growth, and identifying issues (academic and beyond) early so that they may help their advisees become effective self-advocates and problem-solvers. Advisors also monitor each student’s academic progress and help their advisees discover and pursue their interests and goals. 

While the Marlborough experience has included an advisory program since the early 1970s, this fall the school launched an exciting new approach intended to further strengthen the connections each student makes with the adults on campus, as well as her classmates. 

One important change is that students will now stay with the same advisors for the entirety of their time in each division (middle schoolers will remain with their advisory group from grade 7-9, and will then switch to a new group for grade 10-12). Advisory groups meet each week, and students meet with their advisor in both group settings and in one-on-one meetings. This new structure affords advisors the time to get to know each student on a personal level as well as support them in their progression through the school.

“The student-advisor partnership can be one of the most meaningful and valued relationships of a student's career,” said Regina Rosi Mitchell, Assistant Division Director and Dean of Student Life.

The program is designed to be supportive of the whole student, helping every girl to develop to her fullest potential through strong, sustained relationships with her peers and adult mentors, and to build confidence by learning to access the resources that will help her navigate the various academic and personal challenges she may face as a student and beyond. 
Dr. Marisa LaDuca Crandall, Director of Educational and Counseling Services
 


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