Students at the Upper School met with their advisors during the Extra Help period time of the alternate schedule last Wednesday and Thursday to discuss their grades and progress throughout the current school year.

The alternate schedule replaced the normal Extra Help period with a free period of time during which students were to meet with advisors.

Grades were released to students and their parents on the parent portal last Wednesday, Oct. 15. This is the first of monthly grade book reports that will be prepared for students, a new policy in comparison to last year, where grade book reports were released only twice per semester.

Advisors scheduled 10-minute time slots to meet with each member of their advisory by requiring students to sign up on a sheet posted on each advisor’s classroom door. Available meeting times ranged from 9:15 a.m. to 10:05 a.m.

The one-on-one time with students was seen as a valuable chance for advisors to give individual attention to each child.

“I think that this is a great opportunity for advisors to connect with their advisees and show how much they care about their progress, happiness, and well-being,” sophomore advisor Juston Glass said. “We are at school, and when we talk about grades, that’s one of the biggest things going on in a student’s life.”

Advisees also placed value on reviewing their progress with their advisor.

“Our advisor is also a teacher, so they get the perspective of a teacher on our grades by having us go in and talk to them,” Lucas Wang (10) said.

While students were not busy with their advisor, many chose to make use of the extra time during the school day to complete pending homework.

“I spent time studying for my math test after meeting with my advisor today,” John Nicolas Jerney (11) said.

Others welcomed the alternate schedule by deciding to spend their time catching up with friends.

“I think it’s nice because you can get a chance to eat or talk to friends,” Anamika Kannan (9) said.

Students will have normal advisory this week.