Foundational to Pingry's student wellness programming is its Advisory program. Each Lower School student has a homeroom teacher who acts as the primary point of contact for the student’s family, which becomes especially relevant in the latter years of the Lower School when students have different teachers for each subject area. In Grade 5, the Advisory program involves students meeting three days a week in their homeroom and twice a week in a larger group to discuss issues such as adjusting to Grade 5, schedule and workload, and friendship issues.
In the Middle and Upper Schools, students are assigned an advisor—a faculty or staff member—who serves as a family's primary point of contact throughout the school year. Advisors help their advisees negotiate an array of topics—from the academic program to the school’s social experiences and anything in between—that may be a source of concern for a student. Advisors are routinely in touch with their advisees’ teachers, coaches, and parents, and are available to facilitate assistance in situations when a student requires additional support.
Beyond receiving individual support from their advisor, all Middle and Upper School students are also part of an advisory group. In the Upper School, students meet for 25 minutes per week during a dedicated advisory period to discuss a range of non-academic topics and build connections within a familial, supportive environment. In the Middle School, advisory is a daily, ungraded class, that, like its academic counterparts, follows a structured, grade-specific curriculum: Grade 6 examines kindness and community, Grade 7 focuses on leadership, and Grade 8 explores the question, "What do I stand for?" Middle School advisors also facilitate a close-knit group dynamic and guide student-led parent-teacher conferences, helping each student set individual goals and providing support and guidance toward meeting them throughout the year.