Mahomet-Seymour High School and Advisory Periods

This Wednesday's conversation was with Mahomet-Seymour in Mahomet, Illinois who has a 90.2% Freshmen on-track rate for a class of 274 Freshmen.

This has been an on-going school improvement goal for them and there are four parts to their system that are pointing them in the direction of success. First, they have a RtI team that meets every two weeks in order to discuss the grades and attendance of all of their Freshmen. They have a solution oriented approach that involves them getting on the same page about student performance and contacting families when needed.

Mahomet has a "Homework Hangout" available to all students that need a little extra support and this extra time after school is often utilized for students with missing assignments and/or those that need skill-building support. This coupled with credit recovery for additional skill building and getting students ready to attend classes with their peers has all Freshmen going on to Sophomore year with the confidence that they can be successful the rest of their high school career.

That said, perhaps the most innovative and impressive thing that Mahomet is doing involves their 30 minute advisory period. All freshmen have one and though the period is managed by teachers, conversation and work is facilitated by Junior and Senior student mentors that apply to be a part of the program. Mahomet reports that the application and interview process is a rigorous one that prepares upperclassmen to be student leaders that have conversations with their Freshmen mentees regarding leadership, their social and emotional well-being and becoming actively engaged in the school community. This program has been in existence for over ten years and boasts students becoming connected that first year and developing relationships that they sustain over the next three years. 

For more information about these practices, reach out to Chad Benedict at cbenedict@ms.k12.il.us, Patrick Bailey at pbailey@mscusd.org  and/or Marissa Franks mfranks@ms.k12.il.us.




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