Upper School

McDonogh’s Upper School advisory program is designed to promote relationships between individual faculty members and students. With a faculty member assigned to a small group of students, a personal connection develops in a less formal manner than in a classroom setting. In this relationship, the advisor acts as a mentor to each advisee--encouraging, motivating, and challenging them in a way that promotes personal growth.

The advisory program exists in large measure to assist students in making their McDonogh experience accessible and smooth as they navigate from freshman year through senior year. Students and advisors meet at the start of each day. They also meet once in the seven-day rotation for 35 minutes. During this time, members of the group engage in conversation, debrief events, plan community service, connect one-on-one with the advisor, play games, and have fun. On a regular basis, advisors and advisees intentionally connect one-on-one about the advisee’s academic and social-emotional life.

Generally, students are assigned an advisor for freshman year and then are matched with an advisor for sophomore year. The expectation is that students will remain in the same advisory from sophomore through senior year, giving them the opportunity to know their advisor and advisory members well. As they move through Upper School, students proudly identify themselves by their advisory.