Spearfish Middle School

What is START?

Purpose Statement:

Develop skills and relationships which build and support academic, personal, and peer communities for success.

START Time Goals:

1. Adult advocate for every student

2. Community building among students that promotes a positive school culture

3. Academic advising and coaching

4. Preparing students for post-secondary education and career

START Time has been developed to support our goal of being developmentally responsive to the needs of middle school students.

START Time make up and schedule:

START is a daily 15 minute advisor-advisee time designed to promote and support positive relationships, communication, community building and career and personal goals. Each student has been assigned a teacher advisor for the coming school year. The teacher to student ratio will be approximately 1 to 17.

Grading:

Students will be expected to participate in discussions and complete all class activities. Students will be graded on a Satisfactory(S) / Unsatisfactory (U) grading system. The grade will be determined as follows: class participation, class work, and activities.

Goal: Our goal is to ensure that there is an adult advocate for every student in our school, and every parent and student feels that this adult knows the student well and shows an interest in his/her education and future.

Advisory programs, often referred to as advisor-advisee, are predicated on the belief that every young adolescent should have at least one adult at school to act as the student's advocate.

Academic success and personal growth increase markedly when young adolescents' affective needs are met. Each student must have one adult to support that student's academic and personal development.

-This We Believe: Keys to Educating Young Adolescents (2010)