Every morning 10 green chairs form a circle around my classroom waiting to be filled by seventh graders.  This morning, like most others, students enter the room in one's and two's, acknowledging each other with boisterous "hellos" or groggy head-nods and make their way to the white board to read the morning message:

“Greetings Advisees! This week we will be talking about your well-being. We all have different ways to cheer ourselves up when we’re feeling down. Think about something that helps you feel better, and be ready to share.”

After reading the message students settle into seats in the circle in anticipation of the day’s greeting, sharing and activity. Today we begin with a “Formal Greeting”. One by one students turn to the person beside them and shake hands while maintaining eye contact; a chain of “Good morning’s” and “thank you’s” whip around the room. The circle finishes and we move on to sharing ways that make us feel better when we are feeling down. Student suggestions range from “go run around and get some exercise” to “find a friend to talk to about what’s bothering me.” As the last student finishes sharing students start requesting activities: “Can we play chase the caboose?” “No, no let’s play ‘Count to Ten!” We have a quick vote, Chase the Caboose wins, and we agree to play “Count to Ten” at our next meeting. Chase the Caboose is like combination of Musical Chairs and Chase. Laughter and cheering fills the room as students race to slide into the open chair. In the final minutes a volunteer reads the morning news back to the class and students move on to first period a little more awake, a little more grounded, and carrying a sense that in advisory they each belong.

This same structure: reading the morning news, greeting, sharing and partaking in an activity are all a part of the Developmental Design’s approach to advising adopted by Presidio Hill School. The approach is grounded in six principles that not only consider where middle school students are in their development, but link closely to our mission to provide “Caring connections throughout the fabric of community life that ensure all children are known and appreciated for their unique traits”

• Social learning is as important to success as academic learning.
• We learn best by constructing our own understanding through exploration, discovery, application, and reflection.
• The greatest cognitive growth occurs through social interactions within a supportive community.
• There is a set of personal/social skills that students need to learn and practice in order to be successful socially and academically: cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control.
• Knowing the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual needs of the students we teach is as important as knowing the content we teach.
• Trust among adults is a fundamental necessity for academic and social success in a learning community.
  

With these principles in mind, Advisory Groups form a foundation for all that follows in a school day for middle schoolers. Advisors act as advocates for their advisees and make sure developmental needs are being met and addressed. This system is at the heart of the Middle School community.