For
more than two centuries, Phillips Academy has fostered the intellectual,
In 1996, Phillips Academy adopted a strategic plan aimed at improving the academic and residential life of the community overall and at achieving financial equilibrium. We have been particularly focused on shaping our residential program in a way that provides students with a healthy balance of independence and support. To that end we have been working to reduce the size of the school from 1,200 students to 1,025. A smaller student body has allowed us, after a renovation of Cochran Chapel, to bolster community life by gathering all students under one roof for weekly all school meetings. It has also enabled us to build additional faculty apartments in larger dormitories to lower the ratio of students to faculty from 20:1 to 12:1 in those dormitories. Lower student enrollment has also allowed us to take off-line some of our older dormitories, which are located farthest from the core of the campus. Over a number of years, Phillips Academy has been developing programs and adopting services and practices that seek to address the needs of the developing adolescent. Today's teen-agers find themselves stressed on a number of fronts. Often peer pressure and popular culture influences them to be sexually active, to drink alcohol or to use drugs. Violence among youth is a continuing concern. And many young people today are under pressure to get accepted to the most selective colleges at a time when these colleges have record numbers of applications. We are especially mindful of the alarming rise in the suicide rate among young people over the last 20 years: Suicide is the second or third leading cause of death among 15 to 24 year olds, depending upon the reporting study. A recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education about suicide prevention at elite colleges and universities says the most proactive schools work to create "an intentionally redundant support network so that fewer students slip through the cracks." Overlap and redundancy are hallmarks of Andover's residential program and support network today. Many interconnecting programs and practices work to ensure that students are constantly supported by a tightly woven safety net of adults who communicate with one another about students' needs and changes in their circumstances. The following is a description of the major programs and practices that support students at Phillips Academy: Residential life program House counselors and day student advisers have immediate responsibility for students in their care and are the main contact people on campus for parents. Besides lowering the ratio of students to counselors in a number of larger dormitories, we have been working to support house counselors and day student advisers by providing more coverage and better training. Training is held in August for new faculty and covers such topics as communicating with and caring for students, recognizing depression, adolescent sexuality, eating disorders, issues in a multicultural community and communication with parents. To support gay and lesbian students, who are at a greater risk of isolation and suicide than other teen-agers, the academy adopted a policy in January allowing committed gay faculty couples to live in dorms and to serve as house counselors. Residential life programs include: PACE Seminar: All 10th-graders take the PACE Seminar once a week for two terms. Taught by more than 20 faculty members, the course covers topics such as identity, the individual and the community, stress and coping, gender and sexuality. Physical Education 100: Required for 10th-graders, this course emphasizes health and fitness, diet, sleep and exercise. Students work to build self-esteem through risk-taking tasks in the water, on a climbing wall and on the ropes course. FCD Week: All new students participate in a Freedom from Chemical Dependency Week course about drugs and alcohol. All returning students revisit the issue by attending two workshops during this November awareness week. ADAAC: Andover Drug and Alcohol Awareness Committee meets weekly throughout the year to provide peer education and support for the campus around issues involving drugs and alcohol. ADAAC students meet in the 9th-grade dorms in the spring to help these young students make transitions to upper level dorms. Date rape education: A required two-session program in the spring term for all 11th-graders, the course strives to prevent date rape by raising consciousness about sexual assault, including the legal, social and personal consequences of date rape. The cluster system The discipline system The Blue Book: Distributed to all students and parents, the Blue Bookclearly outlines the major rules of the academy and disciplinary procedures. Policies and practices that support academic achievement Academic review: At mid-term and end-of-term cluster meetings, faculty discuss students in academic difficulty and plan strategies of support. Red Flag: Any instructor concerned with any aspect of a student's performance issues a "red flag" by reporting that concern to the student's house counselor or day student adviser. The house counselor or day student adviser speaks to the student and also seeks information from other instructors and coaches. If intervention is necessary, the house counselor or day student adviser contacts the cluster dean, psychological counselors and/or the dean of studies about follow-up. Academic support and tutoring: Two counselors are available to students for instruction in study skills and time management. Through the school's peer tutoring program, more than 150 students are available for one-on-one tutoring with their peers.
Improved academic advising: In response to requests from students and parents, Andover revamped its advising system three years ago to provided more one-on-one advising time between teachers and students. Presently 105 advisers work with 1,070 students, offering a 10:1 ratio of students to advisers. Advisers meet bi-weekly with students to discuss academic progress.
New daily schedule: The adoption last year of a new daily schedule reduced by one the number of homework preparations a student has for the following day.
Conference period: On three mornings each week, conference time is scheduled to allow students to meet with faculty members to receive extra help.
Evening math, science and writing assistance: Teachers and peer tutors staff a math and science study center three evenings a week and a writing center two evenings each week to provide extra help to students on a drop-in basis.
Academic program adjustment: Students experiencing academic difficulties are allowed to make changes in course levels and in the number of courses they take.
Extended leaves of absence: Leaves of absence are granted with relative ease and without academic prejudice for those needing to be away.
College Counseling: Five college counselors work one-on-one and in groups with members of the senior class to examine future academic goals in light of interests and qualifications, to develop an appropriate list of colleges and to guide the students through the complexities of the college admission and financial aid processes.
Graham House psychological services
Graham House is staffed by professionals with advanced degrees in clinical psychology. They provide individual and group counseling; facilitate education programs concerning date rape, eating disorders and alcohol treatment; and teach psychology and PACE courses. The staff comprises three Ph.D. clinical psychologists licensed in Massachusetts and one master's degree level counselor. Counselors are trained in the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders and work to promote healthy adolescent development. In an emergency, Graham House counselors are available on a 24-hour basis, including weekends. Their responsibilities include:
Community Health Team Formed in fall 1997, the CHT was established with a threefold mission: to respond to troubled students, some of whom are identified to the team by members of the community; to review and set policy regarding health issues; and to serve as a campus clearing house on health-related issues. Members include the school's medical director, the director of psychological services, the dean of community and multicultural development, the dean and associate dean of students and a representative from the chaplaincy. Besides providing direct help and intervention with students, the team identifies action and follow-up for students who need help. The CHT is examining issues of student sleep, and alcohol and drug use (from both a disciplinary and a medical/psychological perspective) as well as suicide prevention and how best to support students who are at risk academically. Isham Health Center Phillips Academy employs a full-time physician/medical director board-certified in pediatrics and pediatric endocrinology, a full-time licensed pediatric nurse-practitioner, 16 nurses, one full-time lab technician/x-ray technologist and one part-time nutritionist to staff Isham Health Center. Isham is a 20-bed fully-licensed hospital operating 24 hours a day while school is in session. Isham programs and services include: On site clinics
The mission of the Office of Community and Multicultural Development is to raise awareness and to encourage sensitivity to differences of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, socioeconomic class, geographical origin and sexual orientation. The office, which comprises six staff members equaling 2.1 FTEs, sponsors programs for the entire Phillips Academy community. Black, Asian, Hispanic, international, gay, lesbian and bi-sexual students are directly served by CAMD counselors and club advisers, who also help to represent their interests in the community at large. In their capacity as counselors, each CAMD staff member strives to make personal connections with students who are seeking, or are sometimes referred for guidance as they navigate the challenges of adolescence in a boarding school setting. Counselors work in collaboration with instructors, house counselors and advisers to provide a network of support. CAMD also serves as the home base for the school's cultural clubs and organizations including:
The Chaplaincy Reflecting its diverse student and faculty population, Phillips Academy supports a diverse campus ministry. Three chaplains, Roman Catholic, Protestant and Jewish, work together to allow students a role in planning and participating in weekly worship services and gatherings to explore their faith. Ecumenical services are held at Christmas and Easter, interfaith services at Thanksgiving and on Parents' and Grandparents' Weekends. Catholic Masses are held two to three times weekly. Catholic fellowship meets for dinner weekly for discussions of faith and campus issues. Confirmation classes are held in fall, winter and spring with a service for students and parents. Students help organize food and clothing drives for disaster relief. Protestant worship services are held weekly, with special services during lent, at the opening of school and on Grandparents' Weekend. Dinner meetings for Protestant students explore faith and campus issues. A Protestant confirmation service is offered once each year. Students work with the Jewish chaplain to plan weekly Shabbat services and to organize both on and off-campus Jewish high holy day services. The Jewish chaplain holds dinner meetings with the Jewish Student Union and helps organize Jewish Cultural Weekend. Dinner meetings are held for the Interfaith Council to discuss issues of mutual interest, such as spirituality versus religion, charity and service, suffering, and views on death. Weekly gatherings are held for Muslim and Hindu students for reflection, discussion and event planning around holy days. The chaplaincy works with the Community Service program to organize anti-hunger efforts and to provide outreach to area soup kitchens. The chaplaincy sponsors dinner speakers/programs on a variety of topics and works with members of the Graham House counseling staff to organize meditation classes. Chaplains offer spiritual counseling on an individual basis. The Brace Center for Gender Studies Opened in 1996, the Brace Center for Gender Studies provides resources to enhance and strengthen Phillips Academy as a coeducational institution by examining the complex issues related to gender through a multidisciplinary lens. As part of a secondary school, the center aims to address issues of adolescent growth and development and to highlight the distinctive forms of support boys and girls require in order to realize their full potential. The center supports a number of projects and programs that enhance the living and learning environments for boys and girls and for men and women in all facets of academy life. Brace Center Student Fellows: Students are invited to submit proposals for fellowships to support independent summer research projects in the multidisciplinary field of gender studies. Students present their projects to the community. |
| Contact: Tana Sherman |
| Last Update: June 25, 2007 |
| © Phillips Academy, 2000 |