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Advising

Ambition Needs Support

Tabor's faculty members are committed to helping our students develop their characters, explore their interests, and reach for higher standards. Our advisory program seeks to foster a growth mindset in our students while encouraging them to become self-advocates. This ensures students have the best chance for success as they navigate the world at Tabor and beyond.

The Cornerstone: A Great Advisor

The cornerstone of the Tabor experience is our advisor system. Each newly enrolled Tabor student is assigned a faculty advisor, and many students elect to stay with that adviser for their career at Tabor. By keeping advisory groups small, the school fosters strong relationships that allow faculty to counsel their students effectively. Of an advisor’s many jobs, helping advisees embrace the many challenges inherent in achieving an excellent education is the most important. Advisors make students aware of opportunities, encourage them to stretch their wings, and sometimes insist that they take the leap in discovering a new skill, trying a new activity, or challenging themselves to achieve to their highest potential. 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.

Setting Goals and Planning Ahead

Starting in ninth grade, advisors help students create a four-year plan. Together, they update the plan each spring, mapping out academics, co-curricular, and leadership opportunities for the coming year. Advisors place careful emphasis on ensuring that the chosen schedule balances rigor, risk, and intellectual curiosity. In coordination with Tabor’s College Counseling staff, the advisor helps to remind students of the importance of crafting a transcript and overall Tabor experience that best leverages a student’s talents and opportunities when it comes time to apply to college.

The Parent-Advisor Partnership

Advisors rely on parents/guardians for insights on their children, while parents/guardians come to rely on advisors as the first avenue of communication concerning their student. Advisors write summative comments to parents/guardians at the end of each academic year and work with students to write self-reflections to parents/guardians during the year, while grades (including interim grades) are reported home five times a year. Of course, conversations between parents/guardians and advisors take place throughout the year, during Family Weekends or anytime that is convenient. Parents are always welcome to schedule conferences or a phone call with their student's advisors.

High school boys meeting with a faculty advisor outdoors