Advisory
All full time teachers act as advisors. Students
are organized into grade-level advisories and typically remain
with the same advisory group over time so that they can grow to
be a small, caring, supportive community within the school.
Each teacher-advisor works to provide each of their
advisees with a personal connection to school and to their learning.
Studies over the years have indicated that when students are more
connected to their school they are also more likely to have better
attendance, higher academic achievement, and lower rates of risky
behavior. The over-arching aim of the City Academy Advisory Program
is to positively affect student engagement that leads to achievement
success for all students.
Advisories are also the smallest units of our civic
structure, which connect to town and village meetings and student
government. They are a small, safe forum for students to express
and discuss ideas, concerns, and wishes and to develop, through
participation, their understanding of community and of a representative
democracy. The experiences and processes of advisory should help
advisor and advisees develop as stakeholders and citizens of our
school community.
Village and Town Meetings
Each week students and their advisors gather
for a village or town meeting. There are three divisions of students
at City Academy: Division I - 7th, 8th grades; Division II - 8th,
9th grades; and Division III - 11th, 12th grades. Village Meetings
are for students and advisors in one division; Town Meetings are
whole school. These meetings are run by members of the student
government committee and provide a larger forum for students to
express and discuss ideas, concerns, and wishes and to develop,
through participation, their understanding of community and of
a representative democracy. The experiences and processes of Village
and Town Meetings should help advisor and advisees develop as
stakeholders and citizens of our larger school community.
Student Committees
Student committees are certainly not new to
schools. However, at City Academy we are taking a unique approach
that stems from our commitment to helping each student become
a responsible, proactive member of their communities. Every student
and teacher is involved in a service learning committee of their
choosing that meets during school time once a week and additionally
as needed in order to contribute to the success of our school
community - each committee and each committee member in their
own way.
There are ten service learning committees at City
Academy through which students and adults provide service for
our school community while also learning more about issues, skills,
and responsibilities of their particular services. The student
members of each of these committees are the school leaders in
their respective areas, being proactive about "getting things
done" and recruiting additional student and adult help as
needed.
Community Advisory Council
The City Academy Community Advisory Council
(CAC) consists of 4 parents,
2 student representatives from student government, 2 teachers,
and 1 administrator (9 total members). Parents are responsible
to assume leadership of the council. The parent chair of the advisory
council also serves on the City Academy Board of Trustees and
attends their monthly meetings.
The CAC meets monthly to address issues of concern
to members of the school community, to evaluate how well the needs
of students and families are met, and to provide development and
oversight for comprehensive guidance, School LAND Trust funds,
and the City Academy Healthy School Program. The parent, student,
and staff members are each responsible to listen to ideas and
concerns of the people they represent and bring those insights
to the council for discussion and action. Issues of school policy,
finances, student and parent involvement, academic progress, comprehensive
guidance, school/community relations, and improvement of communication
between the school and families are just some of the items you
might find on an Advisory Council agenda.
Service Learning
Service learning is more than volunteering.
Service learning combines service objectives with learning objectives
with the intent that the activity change both the recipient and
the provider of the service. This is accomplished by combining
service tasks with structured opportunities that link the task
to self-reflection and self-discovery and the acquisition and
comprehension of knowledge content, values, and skills.
At City Academy one credit of service learning is
required for graduation. Students have opportunities to participate
in school sponsored service learning in at least four different
ways. Student service learning committees are described above.
Academic service learning opportunities arise in classes across
the curriculum when a controversy or issue emerges from the course
of study. Students learn about this multifaceted concern and are
then asked to develop a solution or resolution to the issue based
on their study. Students perform a service when they communicate
their solutions to those in our community directly dealing with
the issue, or when they take action themselves on the issue.
Additionally, 10th through 12th grade students
participate in internship placements of their choosing in non-profit
or government organizations in the community. Students learn about
the causes and issues of the organization within which they are
serving. The student intern then helps the organization implement
some of the interventions they have helped develop. Each year
there are also several whole school service learning activities
where the student body learns more about a particular community
need and then acts to help resolve it.
