Because their advisor knows them better than any other adult in the school, they can best know which children are at risk. Thus, the first class students attend is one in which they feel comfortable. Also, if the students have something that happened at home the previous day, they can bring it out into the open at this time. It is also helpful to have the smallest advisory groups possible. This requires that almost every adult in the school become an advisor.
Small groups promote trust and a sense of belonging.
At Patrick Henry, each PRO-TIME is comprised of approximately fifteen students and one Core or Encore teacher. While the Sioux Falls School District has established a PRO-TIME curriculum, many teams experiment with their own activities. Pat Magwire agrees, although she believes the success level of PRO-TIME varies from team to team. In general, PRO-TIME is more difficult for the Encore staff to teach. It was helpful for us to compare the two.