In designing and implementing student-centered school models, it is important to establish conditions that will ensure authentic relationships between young people and adults can develop. Relationships built on trust and mutual respect will spur the growth of thriving learning ecosystems in which students have choice, voice, and agency.
The conditions and practices that enable and strengthen these relationships is often referred to as a primary person model. A school with a clearly articulated, intentional primary person approach ensures that every single student has a relationship with at least one adult in the school who knows them well. That relationship is characterized by genuine concern, openness, understanding, and high expectations.
This has been a challenging year so far. Through it, we’ve all seen, again and again, how a primary person approach can ensure that students stay connected to their school and to learning. When schools shut down in March as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, schools with strong primary person models fared better in getting tech in the hands of students, providing socio-emotional support, and ultimately, in encouraging students to engage in learning. And as recent examples of racially motivated violence and police brutality have captured the world’s attention, a students’ primary person found themselves well positioned to leverage existing relationships with students to support them in processing the pain and trauma of these recent events.
We’ve spoken with many students, educators, and organizations this spring. Nearly everyone spoke about how their school’s primary person model supported the transition to remote learning. Some even attributed the bulk of their success to the primary person work that underpins their culture and community structures. At Springpoint, we are currently developing a set of remote PD touch points that will help our partner schools continue to strategically deepen and strengthen a robust, multi-faceted primary person model.
Primary person models can take many forms. School leaders might follow different pathways toward achieving foundational connections between students and staff but, in nearly each instance, it’s baked into the very DNA of the school. When Springpoint staff visit schools, we ask students to tell us about an adult at school they feel comfortable going to with any questions, concerns, or struggles. Students’ answers are often telling. Many times, students light up talking about teachers and other staff who they know genuinely care about and support them. If students struggle to identify an adult that fills this role for them, we help the school think about how to reimagine and prioritize a primary person approach.
One common manifestation of primary person is advisory. An intentionally designed advisory model builds community, provides students with a safe environment, and can ensure that all students have a trusted adult invested in their success. To read about how high schools structure advisory, please take a look at our advisory case studies. Each case study demonstrates how an innovative high school has structured their advisory model, and includes resources and lessons learned.
The role of a primary person is multi-faceted. They are an academic coach, a students’ first point of contact who prioritizes individualized support in attainment of academic goals as well as the development of interpersonal and communication skills. A students’ primary person also helps keep them on track toward graduation, surfaces unique opportunities aligned to their interests, advocates for them, and helps them navigate challenges.
We are excited to support our partners this summer as they work to deepen and reimagine aspects of their primary person work in anticipation of an uncertain fall. Throughout, we will work with them to share updates, best practices, examples, and quotes that can inform fellow practitioners who seek to strengthen their own primary person work as a way to facilitate and bolster socio-emotional supports to students and help them find ongoing academic success no matter what the fall may bring.