Many schools with advisory programs are relieved to discover School-Connect. For schools without an advisory curriculum, School-Connect provides structure, fun activities, and a foundation for sparking meaningful conversations and relationships. Because all students and most teachers are involved, advisory models can – when done well – have a significant impact on the overall school climate and student motivation.

Advisory models are most effective if the class meets at least two to three times a week. School-Connect lessons are designed for 45-minute class periods. If advisory classes meet for less time, we recommend focusing on one lesson per week and using the Lesson Extensions to dig deeper into the topic and/or literature links and culminating projects to add a more academic component. Some schools choose to cover one or two modules per grade level. For instance, freshmen would cover Modules 1 and 2 and sophomores would cover Modules 3 and 4. Upperclassmen could co-teach the modules to the younger students or focus more on college and workforce readiness.  

School-Connect training is especially important for the advisory implementation model. Because advisory classes include teachers of all disciplines, the advisory teachers may have more or less experience in facilitating student-driven, interpersonal conversations. We recommend that advisory model programs seriously consider onsite training or sending a team of teachers to a School-Connect Institute. Advisory teachers can greatly benefit from ongoing implementation support from a program coordinator who functions as a master teacher.