Greetings from the Academic Support Center (ASC)! Knowing that many families start to wonder about what resources are available to students after midterm comments come out, we want to share with you how we work with students. The ASC provides targeted content- or skill-based support to students on a short-term basis with the goal of helping students develop competencies that they can use independently. Students’ first resource is their teachers, and we ask that all students work with their teachers to determine whether additional work with the ASC is needed to complement the work done in the classroom and in meetings with the teacher. If students have worked with their teachers for extended periods of time outside of class and continue to need support, they can reach out to the ASC faculty for free and temporary support. Please note that the ASC does consider certain factors in order to prioritize student needs. The staff will consider a student’s class level (intro-level courses are prioritized over advanced level), the complexity of a student’s accommodations and need for support, and a student’s financial resources.
Should a student or family ever need more permanent support, the ASC or the Academic Office can provide recommendations for private tutoring. Kim Kopelman, Leah Cabrera, Courtney Fields-Thomas, and Tim Seston are the four part-time ASC faculty this year and bring their expertise in executive function skills (time management, organization, study skills, etc.), math, science, reading, and writing to the ASC. Curious about the top three executive function strategies we’ve used lately? Check them out here: Mapping Your Week, Pomodoro Technique, and Priority Lists. Before end-of-semester assessments, the ASC will send out study tips to all students as well, so stay tuned for that!
As we look towards Thanksgiving and the end of the semester, the ASC would like to remind families that with the late Thanksgiving break this year, students will have one week of class before final assessments start. We recommend that the Thanksgiving break be a time for relaxing and rejuvenating, but we also highly recommend that any student who is not caught up on their work going into the break use this time for that purpose. Coming back from break on top of work will allow students to focus their energy on end-of-semester assessments. All of the three techniques above can help students approach the end of the semester efficiently and effectively, and we recommend them to any student who is looking for strategies for that period.