The University High School mentoring program creates a partnership with students and parents that instills in each student a commitment to learning. The formal mentoring program pairs each student with a faculty member or administrator who acts as his or her guide until graduation. With this personal attention, a bond develops between the student and the mentor.
My mentor knows me, knows what I need and is always available to help me. She encourages me to explore my interests and to try new things.
Chris C., Class of 2007
The mentor monitors each student's welfare and academic progress, and is involved in all significant discussions and decisions related to the student's life at University High School. Regular communication with classroom teachers keeps mentors apprised of academic progress and potential problems.
The mentor is available to:
- Guide the student through the challenges of University High School
- Head off problems
- Motivate the student to reach his/her full potential
- Celebrate successes
- Serve as the primary channel of communication between parents and the school.
The mentoring system is at the heart of the developmental approach to education at University High School. Through one-on-one, personalized attention, students are able to develop their academic and social skills to navigate high school successfully. They can discuss their capabilities and learn to push themselves. Students also learn to solve problems and work through difficult academic or social issues.
At the public school my daughter attended, it would be unlikely she would have the same core teacher twice in four years. The guidance department met with each student for 10-15 minutes a year to oversee his or her course selection. Having a mentor who will be available all four years of high school is the heart of University High School vision. What could be an obstacle becomes a learning experience. In our daughter's case, her mentor helped give her confidence to approach her teachers with academic challenges. He knows her well enough to help her set higher goals that are reasonable for her abilities.
Parent
The primary goal of the mentoring relationship is to aid each student in assuming responsibility for his or her own learning and life. Through mentoring, each student develops a long-standing relationship with an adult that is based on trust, honesty and respect. Mentors help students integrate the school's core values; support students as they apply values to solve problems; help them grapple with important ideas; assist students in improving the quality of feedback they give themselves; and help them learn to measure how much difference they make. Mentors can personalize learning; support and reinforce a student's identity; and respond to each student as a whole person.
Mentors get together with each student for a scheduled 30-to-45-minute meeting once every other week. Informal and impromptu meetings happen often. The mentoring system allows teachers to share information about individual students and to resolve most student situations. The mentoring relationship also covers scheduling, problem-solving, counseling and school-to-home communication. Parents begin with the mentor to seek advice, to have questions answered and to raise issues concerning their student.
A highlight of the mentoring system is the letter that each mentor writes to the parents at the end of each semester. This letter describes each child's development in academic terms, as well as social emotional terms. It is a tangible view of the commitment that the school has to understanding each child and recognizing his or her individual abilities and needs.
I travel a great deal on business. While on a business trip in Poland, my daughter's mentor found me and told me my daughter was struggling with a class. She also connected the classroom teacher to the communication. Between them, they helped me understand the issues and we worked out an action plan. I phoned home that night and discussed the action plan with my daughter. By the time I got home, the situation was well on its way to resolution.
I've commented to my daughter's mentor since that I really do not think I would have been contacted in a similar fashion by, for example, a public school. To me this is one example of why the caring and concern shown by the faculty at University High School made it a great place for my daughter.
Mark Jungemann
