Student Support
In addition to having two dorm faculty and an assigned advisor, students also have access to a number of other supports on campus.
The Mountain School offers affinity groups, counseling services, a learning specialist, and a school nurse.
The Student Support Team (composed of the school social worker, academic support specialist, and nurse) coordinates closely with the Director, Assistant Director, and faculty to help meet the needs of each student.
Advising
While at the Mountain School, every student has a faculty member as an advisor who meets with them once a week in small group settings and for an additional one-on-one. Advisors make sure student needs are being met and that students are receiving the support they need. Advisors help with a variety of things including time management, stress management, addressing conflicts and/or challenges, and academics.
The advisor also serves as the liaison for parents/guardians and sending schools, and is their primary point of contact for any questions. Two weeks into the semester, all families receive a message from students’ advisors to check in. At the mid-term, families receive another message, during which indicator grades may be discussed. At the end of the semester, advisors write a letter for each student which is sent to both families and the home school, along with a transcript. On Opening Day, Closing Day, and days of departures for breaks, there is usually time for families to gather with the school community in a shared meal.
Belonging, Equity, And Inclusion
Affinity Groups
There are three affinity groups led by faculty and available to students who self-identify accordingly:
BIPOC (Black, Indigenous & People of Color)
LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and others)
FLI (First-Gen & Low-Income)
Additionally, students may work with faculty to offer other affinity groups according to interest. Past semesters have had affinity groups for Dis/Ability, Children of Divorced Parents, and Jewish Students. These groups provide a space for students to connect with each other and with faculty members.
Bridge Program
The Bridge Program is a pre-orientation for students on full or significant financial aid and for those who may otherwise need additional space to adjust to the Mountain School. During the Bridge Program, students will connect with other attendees, the faculty leaders of Affinity Groups, and members of the Student Support Team.
Faculty Training
Diversity, equity, and inclusion training is part of our faculty’s professional development, including recent collaboration with the Orange County Restorative Justice Center. In addition to having consultants and speakers work with us on specific topics, some faculty also participate in DEI trainings and conferences outside of on-campus professional development. This includes the National Association of Independent Schools’ People of Color Conference (NAIS POCC), National SEED Project and, most recently, Diversity Directions Independent School Seminar.
When incidents of bias or harassment occur between students, faculty work to lead facilitated conversations to address harm and work towards restoration. For students who may use racist or harassing language, faculty work to educate them on the impact of their words. In other cases, the school maintains a process to address bias incidents.
Health, Wellness, & Learning Support
Student Support Team
The Student Support Team (nurse, social worker, academic support specialist) meets weekly to discuss topics of concern and make sure that students are connected to the resources they need for well-being.
Academic Support & Learning Accommodations
Students attending TMS can submit their sending school’s IEP/ILP/504 Plan to the Mountain School and work with our academic support specialist to make sure that their accommodations are in place during their semester here.
Dietary Needs
Our chefs do an amazing job of providing dishes that meet a wide variety of dietary and allergen guidelines. At every meal there are options without dairy, meat, gluten and eggs. We have supported students to find a healthy diet here at TMS, including those with nut allergens, Celiac’s disease, and diabetes.
Physical and Mental Health
Physical and mental health are essential to students’ success at the Mountain School. The Mountain School employs a full-time social worker and a full-time nurse to support the mental and physical health needs of the students. Students can arrange individual meetings with these practitioners on campus or can coordinate off-campus care with other specialists. Services range from one-on-one counseling to arranging doctor visits to distributing medication. Reach out to our school nurse and social worker by emailing health@mountainschool.org.
Mental health community support is delivered through the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support model, which focuses on providing proactive and holistic measures for all students. In addition, the school social worker provides 1:1 support to students in crisis and coordinates access to long term care, if necessary. The school social worker actively collaborates with advisors and provides ongoing training to faculty members.
What is the process of communicating with families when students have mental health concerns or the community experiences acts of racism and harassment?
When an issue pertains to an individual student, the director, assistant director, or a delegated member of the Student Support team will contact the family directly. When an issue pertains to the community as a whole, the director communicates with all families. We try to balance transparency with privacy, e.g., naming the harm done and the ways in which the responsible party is being held accountable without naming the students involved.
For issues related to mental health, specifically, the school social worker usually communicates with the family, directly, in order to discuss next steps for care.
