Additional group meetings are held for freshmen students prior to the beginning of the school year and during their freshmen year for the purpose of orientation. A great deal of support is provided to both the students and to their parents. The individual meetings scheduled with advisees are viewed by students, faculty, parents, and administrators as the strongest component of the program. Advisors are asked to schedule a minimum of one individual meetings per month with each of their advisees and additional meetings when needed. There is an agreement and support among teachers regarding the withdrawal of a student from a class for the purpose of an individual meeting.
Individual meetings are both formal and informal.
The individual meeting offers an opportunity for both the student and the advisor to get to know one another. Advisors are asked to get to know their advisee as they would know their next-door neighbor. The advisor uses this opportunity to discover activities in which the student is involved, discuss progress in academics and perhaps on the job, and act as a support person to discuss any problems that the student may encounter. The advisor does not serve as a counselor, but rather an adult friend at school with whom the student can talk to on an open basis. Support from the administration for the individual meeting time is provided through the use of a substitute for the advisor when needed.