Wellness in Upper School

As students matriculate to the Upper School at St. John’s Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) is shaped through a four-year advisory platform. The mission of the St. John’s Upper School advisory program is to cultivate caring relationships to support students in their school life so students feel well known and cared for and can develop a sense of personal responsibility and self-worth.

Students are arranged into co-ed groups of 8-12 same-class adolescents. This advisory group of students is assigned to the same teacher for all 4 years of Upper School. Advisories meet 4 times every 7-day schedule rotation. Like Lower and Middle School the curriculum is based upon the identical five foundational skills as identified by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL).

Advisory meetings cover topics including belonging, community, stress management, healthy relationships, kindness, compassion, and gratitude. Students are continually challenged to build upon the skills and development acquired in Middle and Lower School.

The Upper School experience readies students for increased independence, freedom, and responsibility. It is this stage of adolescence where their identities and self-awareness are further forged. They hone more abstract skills related to navigating social and interpersonal relationships with more sophistication, regulating emotions appropriately, and moral decision making in an effort to engage fully and successfully in higher academia and become productive, contributing citizens.