Will Svensson '18

My first week at Vermont Academy I began working with my Advisor on my MAPS plan. It was a great way to start thinking and talking about my future and the classes that interest me.

Academics

Signature Program: MAPS® Customized Advising

Teachers & Students Setting Goals Together

MAPS® (My Action Plan for Success) plans are working documents developed by each student with feedback and support from his or her advisor, teachers, coaches, and parents. The document encompasses several areas, including student self-assessments of strengths and weaknesses, learning preferences, and goal setting with action steps for success. The MAPS program is the bridge that carries students across a broad, yet individual, range of abilities, challenges, and interests.

Students' main partner on their MAPS journey is their advisor. One of the advisor’s key roles is to guide the student to discover, understand, and make decisions regarding his or her learning and development opportunities in the curriculum and community.

Through the MAPS process, each student will:

Self-Assess

His or her learning style, strengths, and improvement areas
Determine

Opportunities for growth
Plan

Learning and development goals, strategies, actions, and performance metrics
Reflect

On experiences, success stories, and challenges
Adjust

Learning and development strategies to improve and reach new goals

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Students set academic, athletic, personal, short-term, and long-term goals:

Vermont Academy stresses all areas of "an education for life" and encourages students to set goals across several areas. During weekly MAPS discussions, advisors and students check-in with progress and make any adjustments needed to stay on track. Recently, a student interested in a career in fashion set a goal to design, sew, and present a fashion show--goal accomplished. She even received fashion tips from none other than Tim Gunn, host of Project Runway. Mr. Gunn was a featured speaker at Vermont Academy's Speaker Series.