First there was Activity Period, then there was Academic Lab, then Studium, and next year: Advisory periods. With the creation of another new schedule for the next school year, the administration has added this new period intended to address topics not discussed in the academic curriculum and create opportunities for each student to be a part of a strong community. 

Three months ago, the administration unveiled a new schedule developed by the scheduling charter of the Strategic Summit. The new schedule consisted of many new adjustments ranging from 60-minute periods to a cascading format. (To learn more about the schedule, consult Prep News 86.20.) On Tuesdays and Thursdays for most weeks, the schedule lists a new element called an “Advisory period.”

The advisory period was created with two objectives in mind: to create a mandatory curriculum that extends beyond the classroom and to build communities within classes.

“Student’s lives have gotten more complicated and the mission formation pieces that SLUH wants to instill, only has grown to address these issues,” said Dr. Kevin Foy, Assistant principal for Academics. “Sometimes they fit into various classes, or retreat programs. But often they don't. And as the stakes get higher it's time for us to give minutes to the topics that are not addressed in the registered course curriculum.”

Emerging from the pandemic, administrators and faculty agreed that they needed to emphasize community and be intentional in offer students ways to build community.

“When we came together, one of the big things we discussed is how do we make sure that each of our students feels well known and cared for,” said Science teacher Megan Menne. “I gather that like 80 to 90 percent of our students feel a part of a community and feel cared for. But we wanted to address the question of how do we make sure that the last 10 percent don't fall through the cracks.”

At the beginning of freshman year, students will be placed into advisory groups which they will be with for their entire four years at SLUH. These groups will be intentionally randomized, meaning that it will be random assignments but faculty will try to split up students who went to the same grade school or already know one another. In addition, two faculty members will be assigned to lead each group. These faculty members will also stick with the students all four years in the hopes of being able to form meaningful relationships with each of the students in their advisory group. 

“We want it to be a group of students who come together as a community, not because they're all in the same sport, or they come from the same part of town or whatever, but because they're all in a SLUH group together,” said Foy. 

With the termination of homeroom, some classic SLUH traditions are in jeopardy. One of these is the Senior Advisor program. Advisory periods are being viewed as the perfect time for senior advisors to guide their freshman, and could lead to the creation of more structured guidance sessions.

“Hopefully, seniors will view this period as a time to be mindful and present to their freshmen instead of just kind of hanging out with them in an informal way and just kind of letting the conversation go wherever,” said freshman class moderator Tim Curdt. “We have to work a little harder at being intentional about the relationship and the mentoring that's going to happen and I am very excited.”

Aside from the community aspect, advisory periods will seek to expose students to topics and activities that would not typically be addressed in the classroom setting. 

“Class Masses will take place during this time, presentations from the Counseling Department, and presentations on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,” said Director of Equity and Inclusion Frank Kovarik.

While there is an advisory period scheduled for every Tuesday and Thursday, around 25 percent of these periods will be used for late start faculty meetings that will occur every other week. Yet the addition of this period should allow students more freedom to use Activity Period and Studium for their intended purposes: activities and academic pursuits.

Faculty members are hopeful that this new advisory period will be a worthwhile addition to the SLUH experience. The goal is to better help the school achieve its mission of forming men for others through building community and exposing students to more experiences.

“I am excited to have a planned curriculum of formation that makes sense,” said Foy. “Everybody will be able to get those best things that they would otherwise have to join specific clubs or communities to receive, and it'll be really fun.”