Advisory is a weekly staple at Northside – 45 minutes on Wednesday morning filled with a variety of activities. Some advisories are close-knit, frequently doing activities like cookie decorating and talking circles. Other advisories are a quiet space to work. 

Advisory is organized by Northside’s counseling team, with each counselor in charge of programming for a specific grade level. 

Ms. Katherine Mathews organizes freshman advisory, Mr. Chris Mourtikokis the sophomores, Ms. Nichelle Vaia the juniors, and Ms. Noa Solomon-Auger the seniors. 

The program for advisory is based on individualized learning plans (ILPs) created by CPS. 

Ms. Vaia says ILPs are “our key indicators of where our students are and where they need to be in terms of learning about career development, college planning, and then we toss in some social emotional plans.”

Ms Vaia also discussed the importance of advisory as a way for the counselors to connect with as many students as possible. “The way that we communicate with every single student as a tier one distribution, that means every student is getting the same information, is through advisory.”

Counselors track the completion of student ILP tasks via Schoolinks, which allows them to better support Northside students. 

Ms. Vaia also emphasized the importance of attendance on Wednesday – especially for the senior class. 

Ms. Vaia emphasizes the importance of senior attendance on Wednesdays “because so much important information” is distributed to seniors through advisory. 

Whether advisory is a snack-filled highlight of the week or a 45-minute period dedicated to Schoolinks tasks,one of the primary purpose of advisory is to allow the counseling department to connect with Northside students and ensure they are progressing towards a successful postsecondary pathway.