BOARDING LIFE New boarding model offers robust programming and increased staffing stability Pickering College has implemented a new boarding staff model to improve the experience for students and boarding staff. Under the previous model, boarding staff were associate faculty, meaning they supply-taught during the day and then had to fulfill their boarding duties in the evenings. However, this often meant they were at risk of burning out. “I started to think about how could we do this differently so that boarding students who call Pickering College home from September to June get an awesome experience with motivated, energetic, committed people,” says Laura Mason, Executive Director, Boarding & Health Services. She also wanted to find a way to bring consistency to the students in boarding, which could be challenging as the role of associate faculty was often transient, with people coming and going every year. In 2019, a consultant was brought in to examine how Pickering College could move away from what’s known as the triple-threat boarding model — where boarding staff teach, coach, and work as dons — that many independent schools employ. Throughout the consultation, Mason says it was important to consider not how we’ve always done things, but how we can do things moving forward to make it supportive and meet people’s needs. A new model was established with staff that are dedicated just to boarding, without any teaching responsibilities. In 2020, part of the model was implemented with the hiring of one permanent house director for each residence. Previously, this was a contract role; making it permanent offers more consistency for students. However, the pandemic and its impact on boarding meant the rest of the transformation was put off until August of this year, when the model was fully introduced. Working with the house directors are two house parents in each residence. These are also permanent positions who live on campus. Instead of associate faculty, there are now seven dons, also living on campus, assigned throughout the boarding program. Their hours won’t be the typical 9-to-5; instead, they will have their days free for work-life balance and deliver an improved boarding program during evenings and weekends. “They will plan activities, but they will have enough in their gas tanks to deliver really good programming for the kids, which was ultimately the goal of this,” Mason says. She says working solely in boarding benefits the staff’s wellbeing and benefits the students with a more robust program and more stability. She also says this model will improve connection with parents, as boarding staff will have even more time and energy to dedicate to communicating with them. For the 115 boarding students in New House, Firth House, and the ESL Boarding Academy, Pickering College is their home for 10 months out of the year and many students return year after year. “I want to make sure they have a great experience. I want to make sure that when they leave to go to university, that we have helped them develop to the best of their ability, and they need support to do that,” Mason says. Throughout the year, boarding students receive support from their dons, house parents, and other staff. They also develop friendships that last a lifetime and enjoy shared meals, excursions, and activities, with something for everyone. This transformation allows that programming to be even better than before. “I think what it will give is greater supervision, more energy, a more robust program. [The dons’] primary responsibility is student support and care and programming. We want our evening program to be something for everyone,” Mason says. “We really do encourage [students] to get involved and to be able to have an excellent academic experience here and academic support in the evening, but also an excellent social and developmental experience.”
20
