Advising

Faculty members at Westminster School are extraordinarily dedicated teachers whose passion for educating young people goes beyond the classroom. Whether it's on the field, in the dorms, in the dining hall or behind the scenes, faculty members are always guiding and supporting their students. Typically, the faculty member of the most significance to a student is his or her advisor.

 

Advising is a part of Westminster’s overall emphasis on individual attention to our students. We want each of our students to feel that there are adults with whom they can talk about issues that interest or concern them, adults who specifically look out for them. The advisor is also important as a "go-to person" for parents to turn to with any concerns, someone who can relay information or questions back and forth between parents and their child’s teachers.

Advising is a priority at Westminster, not an afterthought. The advisor system assures that each student receives oversight, guidance and support from a faculty member dedicated to that student. New students have advisors assigned to them by the Director of Studies; returning students get to choose their advisor, assuring a good match. Some students will stay with the same advisor all four years, creating continuity and a strong bond; others change every year, preferring a different perspective and the opportunity to create meaningful relationships with several different faculty members.

 

Students meet with advisors at least once a week, but most will talk more often, as their paths cross frequently in this ideally-sized community. An advisor helps with transitions, monitors a student’s class performance, collects information and concerns from classroom teachers, observes a student’s interactions and reactions, mediates conflict, facilitates emerging independence, and opens conversation about a wide range of issues. The relationships between advisors and their advisees are some of the deepest and most long lasting of the many relationships formed on the Hill.

 

Westminster prides itself on educating the whole student rather than simply transmitting information, and these deep relationships with an advisor are integral to achieving that important goal.