New teacher-student alliance

Central Academy of Technology and Arts launches new academic initiative

by Josh Whitener

A new program at Monroe’s Central Academy of Technology and Arts hopes to improve grades by giving each student his or her own advisor.

A team of faculty and students presented the Advisor-Advisee Initiative to the Union County Board of Education at its Feb. 1 meeting. Academy Principal Rodney Miller was present and also took part in the presentation.

The Advisor-Advisee Initiative’s goals are to connect students to an adult, connect students and parents to the school, allow parents to communicate with their child’s advisor and encourage students to become more integrated with the school environment.

“The students who are here can now better become a part of this big (school) pride we have,” Miller said.

To establish this initiative, school officials talked to staff members, separated the students into groups according to grade and assigned nearly every staff member as an advisor to certain students. “Only a few (members) of our faculty will not serve as an advisor,” Miller said.

Other plans for this program include a new bell schedule and extended PRIDE periods, which are designated times students meet with advisors. Academic counseling, Scheduling and registration for classes, will play a large part of these sessions.

The school also plans to use the conferencing to give end-of-grading-period reviews for each student.

“This will allow students and parents to know where (the students) stand academically throughout the year,” Miller said.

During the conferencing, advisors will help students learn about scholarship opportunities and encourage them to take college-level Advanced Place and honors courses. “This is an opportunity for us to encourage these more rigorous classes,” Miller said.

The PRIDE periods will keep students updated on school activities and let them know about upcoming county events, such as the Union County Performance Ensemble’s presentation of “Hairspray,” which takes place at the school this month.

By connecting each student with an advisor, school officials also hope to better hold students accountable for their academic performance, thus increasing the school’s overall educational success.

“We hope that this will help students perform better in their classes and that it will help (decrease) the dropout rate as well,” Miller said.