Student Services

Personal and academic growth go hand in hand. Our goal is to help students develop a positive self-concept and assume responsibility for their own learning. In so doing, we raise their awareness of their community and world.

Personal and academic counseling at Prospect Sierra is supported throughout the school by our teaching faculty, assisted by three credentialed learning specialists and a licensed psychologist. To learn more about counseling and learning specialist programs, follow the links at left.

Homerooms and Advisory

In the K-6 homerooms, teachers use a variety of methods to facilitate students' personal growth. Class meetings, journal writing, art projects, and private conferences are common ways to reach students. Conflict-resolution skills are taught at all levels and are integrated into a peer mediation program at the middle school level.

In grades 7-8, a licensed psychologist assists the Middle School Head in coordinating the advisory program. The seventh- and eighth-grade students are organized into groups of 10 to 12, by grade; in these small advisory groups they develop close, trusting student-adult relationships that support engagement with learning and feelings of self-esteem and belonging. Each advisory is a safe haven for discussing personal and/or family issues. Specific activities are designed for some topics, including multiculturalism, organizational skills, peer and family relationships, decision making with regard to serious teenage issues (intimate relations, drug use, violence), and choice of high school. One or two staff members are assigned to each group to provide direction, guidance, and leadership. Advisory groups meet at the beginning of each day for five minutes and for one 50-minute period each week.