A Community-Wide Commitment

Whether in a morning meeting, through a connection with an advisor, or participation in a group like Active Minds, students find support, guidance, and encouragement in a variety of programs and relationships at Westminster. Student Support takes a holistic approach to meeting the needs of learners from Pre-First through Senior Year. These years are a time of breathtaking neurodevelopment with implications for both learning and social-emotional needs. Therefore, we approach Student Support through a wellness oriented perspective that encompasses our entire community including teachers, coaches, chaplains, counselors, school nurses and club sponsors.

Wellness for All

Westminster is committed to helping students realize their fullest potential. Our community is proactively oriented and acknowledges the well-established and clear connections between the body and the mind. Teaching students to care for themselves from this holistic perspective honors each student and his or her personal journey. Every student will have physical education and health classes to learn care for the physical self; every student will have exposure to chapel and prayer services to learn to care for the spiritual self; every student will have interactions with counselors to learn to care for the emotional self. At Westminster, you may find students doing yoga on Broyles Field, engaging in a mindfulness session in Clarkson Hall, or talking about the latest research on mental health issues in The Well. The spaces reflect the idea that physical, mental, and emotional health are all linked.

Academic Development

Neuroscientific understanding of how children learn, retain, and use information is growing daily. At Westminster, we are committed to staying current with this data and incorporating the research into our work with students. Further, in a world with ready access to information, we acknowledge that the role of a school is to teach students more than simple content. Instead, our students must learn to interact with, evaluate, and respond to the information made so easily available to them. Our students are asked to push beyond the walls of the classroom and imagine the questions “What if? What next? What about?” We surround students with academic support including classroom teachers, Grade Chairs, Advisors, and Learning Strategists throughout their journey.

Counseling

The Counseling Program is designed to further the social, emotional, and intellectual development of our students. The counselors provide support services through many avenues, including individual counseling, small group counseling, large group guidance, interventions, and referrals. They collaborate with classroom teachers to infuse the curriculum with relevant teachable moments. They also consult and coordinate services of outside professionals to meet the needs of students, parents, and faculty.