My student attends Proctor Academy and is finishing up the fall term now (finals next week). Everything is going well - there are numerous points of contact to ensure students don’t fall through the cracks. The teachers all have office hours, there are student tutors that do “first aid” to help others brush up on skills, etc. They have a system in place whereby a teacher or other adult at the school can write a “note” to any student and it goes to the student, their parents, all of their teachers, their advisor, their class dean, their coaches/club supervisors, and dorm parents. That way, everyone knows what is going on. For instance, we got copied on a thank you note another adult at the school sent to our student for volunteering to help with construction of a temporary structure on campus. But, teachers can use that to note that a student must attend extra help or that they are worried about the student not keeping up in a particular unit or needing help with their writing, etc. This way, all the adults connected with the student can keep track, so if you failed a test in French, your other teachers and coaches, etc know that and know to keep an eye out, reach out to offer help/comfort, and generally are aware of other things happening in your life. I really like the web of support there.
The other thing that is very apparent at Proctor is the focus on the students and their learning. The goal is not prestige or acceptances from certain colleges. The goal is that students learn, that they develop a love of learning/seeking knowledge, and that they find out what they enjoy and where their strengths are.
The first time a student takes an art/skills class (boatbuilding, metal sculpture, painting, choral ensemble, etc), they don’t receive a grade. They get an “effort” grade. That encourages students to try all sorts of new things.
Because this is our student’s first year, we can’t speak to how things were pre-Covid. But, the level of instruction is great. As far as I can tell, the grading policies haven’t changed. And of course, for at least one class, there is a teacher for whom a 90 is an outstanding grade and to go beyond a 90, the student has to be showcasing an extremely high level of scholarship and writing.
The school also does something (I don’t remember what it is called at the moment) where they have students provide feedback into their engagement in each class, their happiness, etc each term. The staff then dig into the data and see if there are particular classes or teachers where students are saying they aren’t engaged and they work to change that. They also look at a student’s overall responses and they gave an example of one girl who indicated she was disengaged in just about every class and generally not happy. They met with her and found out she was incredibly homesick and not feeling connected. The adults in her web worked to find things for her to engage with and to get her more peer connections in the community and by the spring term, her engagement and happiness scores were all much higher. They truly care about the students and want them to succeed.