To benefit students who use advisory for study purposes and limit the amount of students roaming the halls during this time, the school administration is contemplating making a change to the current advisory standards starting next semester. 

“It needed to change,” Testing Coordinator Michelle Dudley said. “Too many students were left wandering the halls or stuck in a classroom while needing help, so we decided to try to come up with something to combat this.”

The proposed schedule would move advisory to the beginning of third period, rather than the end of second. Students could then go directly to work with another teacher during advisory, with the expectation to return to third period on time with a pass. 

“The positive change is you no longer have to have the purple pass to go take a quiz or get tutoring,” Dudley said. “You just go and take care of your business. 

One of the driving forces for this change was parent complaints about their students not able to get something done because they did not have the right pass. Dudley said she hopes the new potential system fixes this.

“My biggest frustration has been that I’d have students sitting in their advisory needing to go take a quiz or test, but their teacher wouldn’t let them go because they didn’t have a pass,” she said. “My heart breaks for those kids who just forgot it or lost it. We’ve all got a lot on our plate and we can’t always remember to get the pass, but you can remember to go to that room during advisory and get a pass on the way back to third.”

Third period teachers will take roll at the beginning of advisory and again at the beginning of class, giving students two opportunities to receive a tardy.

“It just makes it easier to maintain where the students are, especially with Ben Barber and TCC,” Dudley said. “Now they all have a place, not with a random teacher whose sole purpose is to check off a box saying they are here.”

Algebra teacher Kristen Rizzo said this plan is mainly going to increase student accountability.

“I support this because it is going to help the faculty and admin make sure students are where they need to be, when they need to be there,” she said. “I don’t think the students who abused the current system will like this, but the others will be benefitted.”

From a student perspective, junior Josh Marchant said he agrees with the administration on the potential alteration.

“This resolves the issue of having a pass,” he said. “You could go to a class or elective you need help in without getting a pass. For example, if I need to go to the band hall, I no longer have to get a pass from one of the directors (beforehand).”

Dudley said she and Assistant Principal Stephanie Martinez are continuously working toward finding the best solution to the current advisory issue.

“There are things we can do to make it better and we are always just trying to do what’s best for the students,” Dudley said. “I feel like it’s a win-win (for the students and staff), but it will take a while for everyone to see the benefits.”