Academic Support & Learning Center

A.S.S.I.S.T. Learning Center

Professionally managed, our A.S.S.I.S.T. Learning Center (Academic Success Strategies through Inquiry, Self-Advocacy, and Technologies) offers skills based, individual academic support. The team is qualified to manage students with formal learning plans, and extends their reach through the coordinatation of our peer tutoring program.

A.S.S.I.S.T. seeks to foster a growth mindset in our students while encouraging them to become self-advocates as they navigate the academic world here at Tabor.

Personal Advising

Each Tabor student works closely with a faculty advisor to select a course of study that is both challenging and appropriate. The advisor is often a student’s first stop for information or guidance, but students also meet frequently with their classroom teachers during faculty office hours to ask specific questions, discuss ideas, and brainstorm paper topics.

Faculty Office Hours

Faculty are available every day in their offices from 1:35 PM to 2:00 PM for guidance on projects or homework, or for further discussion of a class topic. They are also available to students during their free periods and during evening study hall by appointment.

Structured Study Hall

Boarding students have evening study hall in their dorms while day students who opt to stay on campus after dinner are welcome to study in the library or academic center. Boarding freshmen have assigned study hall locations and groups for evening study hall to give our faculty a better chance to instill good study skills and habits of our youngest students in order to help them adjust quickly to the rigors of our curriculum.

Peer Tutoring

Students may access peer tutors in most subjects during evening study hall in the library or by appointment during the day. Upperclassmen who are enrolled in upper level or Advanced Topics courses serve as tutors and run this program with oversight through the A.S.S.I.S.T. Learning Center.

Required Seminars

Freshmen and new Sophomores take our L.E.A.P.S. 1 & 2 Seminars (Leadership, Ethics, Academic Management, Perspectives, and Self), a class designed to encourage students to be introspective and reflect on how they engage and contribute not only to the Tabor community but society at large. The course meets weekly and is run by our Class Deans.

List of 2 items.

L.E.A.P.S. 1 (9th Graders)

Fall / Winter / Spring
Each 9th grader will be enrolled for one trimester in this required seminar course. The course is aimed at helping our students to become self-reflective while understanding issues at play within the communities to which they belong. They will learn about who they are, what makes them unique, and what motivates them, in addition to investigating and practicing ways to prepare for success. The course will also present students with the opportunity to explore social constructs as well as how to live and work together in community. It is a robust class touching on everything from healthy relationships and sexual education to issues around diversity and inclusion. The course is graded on a Pass/Fail basis.
L.E.A.P.S. 2: (New 10th Graders Only)

L.E.A.P.S. 2
Fall
Each new 10th grader will be enrolled for the fall trimester in this required seminar course. LEAPS 2 focuses on covering much of the same territory and conversations as LEAPS 1 does for our 9th-grade students, with a particular emphasis on creating a positive and productive transition to Tabor as a new 10th-grade student. The course is graded on a Pass/Fail basis.

The A.S.S.I.S.T. Team

List of 2 members.

Merrie-Beth Cleary

Director of Academic Support

508-291-8525

Bio
Merrie-Beth joined the Tabor faculty in 2015 after working for several years as a school counselor. She earned her B.A. from the University of Vermont in Sociology while making her mark as a captain of the field hockey team. Merrie-Beth served as an assistant coach for the field hockey program at Springfield College while pursuing and earning her M.Ed. in Psychology. With extensive work developing IEPs, facilitating 504 meetings, and interpreting neuropsychological and educational assessments, Merrie-Beth has been a tremendous addition as our Director of Academic Support while also overseeing the ASSIST Learning Center. In that capacity, Merrie-Beth assists students with organizational practices, time management, and study skills, and works with faculty on differentiated instructional strategies to meet the needs of all types of learners. Merrie-Beth coaches varsity field hockey and lives in Lillard Hall with her husband and their four children.
Susan Kenny

ASSIST Center

508-291-8339

Bio
Sue Kenny is an integral member of our ASSIST Center. She helps our students in all subject areas, including Algebra, Geometry, English, and History, in addition to teaching study skills and time management/organizational strategies that help them to do their best. She is enthusiastic, positive and encouraging of all her students, giving them the confidence to reach their highest goals! Sue also works in the library in the evenings.