Archie Williams provides students with a multitude of resources to allow for academic success. These tools provide support for students who are struggling, looking to challenge their academics, or figuring out their post-high school plans. These resources are extensive, including the school counselors, peer tutoring, Homework Club, Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), the College and Career Center, and the new testing center. 

The Archie Williams school counselors, Kyle Kassebaum, Sheila Souder, Molly Baker, and Molly Yasuda, oversee academic support provided by the school. The counselors act as a bridge between students and school resources. From the beginning of freshman year, each student can meet with their school counselor to discuss class schedules, academic struggles, and emotional well-being. 

Reaching out to school counselors is the first step to receive help when faced with challenges at Archie Williams. Senior Gunnar Koenig utilized this resource when creating his schedule at the beginning of the year.

“The [counselors] helped me change multiple classes going into this school year, initially because of [my] changes in plans and then because of scheduling conflicts,” Gunnar said.

Although the school counselors are typically recognized for assisting with scheduling needs, Archie Williams counselor Kyle Kassebaum sees the role as more than just helping with academics. Kassebaum wants students to know that counselors are an important resource for any struggles students are facing. 

“I think that our main role is just being the go-to person for students throughout their four years [at Archie Williams], whether that be if they have academic challenges, social/emotional challenges, or just need a check in… We’re usually able to kind of point them in the right direction,” Kassebaum said.

Another resource provided at Archie Williams is the Peer Tutoring program. This program gives underclassmen access to tutoring, especially in math and science, from upperclassmen. Peer tutoring can take the form of an elective class, where upperclassmen tutors earn an elective credit, or through the after-school Homework Club, where students are paid for their tutoring services.

Assistant Principal Nate Severin believes that peer tutoring is an especially important tool, as it may be easier for some students to seek help from a peer rather than an adult. 

“Naturally, there’s just more trust that’s built right off the bat [between peer tutors and students receiving tutoring], as opposed to an adult that they don’t know… That barrier of asking for help is removed a little bit when there’s a student involved,” Severin said. 

Archie Williams English teacher Lani Wolf supervises the after-school Homework Club on Tuesdays and Thursdays in room 126 from 3:45 to 5:15. She believes that students who take advantage of the after-school Homework Club benefit from a dedicated space to complete their work with the help of peer tutors. 

“Homework Club is an after-school peer tutoring program… [It] is open to all students to either do homework in a quiet place, work with peers in groups, or get tutoring… Homework Club is underutilized, and I think that it’s just a great place to go after school to get your homework done before you get home and start turning to other things,” Wolf said.

In addition to being a valuable resource for those receiving help, peer tutoring also provides opportunities for tutors to gain leadership skills. Archie Williams junior peer tutor Sylvie Fine believes that tutoring has helped her develop as a student and gain real-world capabilities.  

“Peer tutoring has helped me work on my collaboration skills and figure out new ways to explain things… Helping underclassmen has also developed my ability to teach concepts clearly and has helped me learn to provide constructive feedback,” Sylvie said.

Another way students can receive support and learn skills for their educational future is through AVID. Archie Williams AVID coordinator and social studies teacher Kathleen McCormick believes that the program is beneficial to students’ transitions into high school and their future endeavors.  

“AVID is a support program for students that come in [to high school] and need support with transitioning to high school organizational skills and getting students ready to take more advanced classes… AVID is a nationally recognized program that’s in a lot of different schools, and it’s a well-established curriculum,” McCormick said. 

Encouraging students to challenge themselves and learn skills for their future, AVID has benefitted students like senior Stella Smoot, who feels that the program has helped her develop both inside and outside of school. 

“[In AVID], it’s expected that you’re volunteering, you’re taking hard classes, you have a job, you have extracurriculars and also it just helps you keep on top of your grades and make sure you have opportunities to talk to teachers and get tutors and help,” Stella said. 

Archie Williams also provides resources for students looking to take their academic careers beyond high school with a variety of programs, such as college visits, internships, college counseling, and job openings that can be found in the College and Career Center. 

Another resource the center provides is College and Career Specialist Lisa Neumaier, who focuses on discussing post-highschool plans with students who come to her for help such as college, trade schools, or a job.

“The main thing that people should know is that [the College and Career Center] provides a full-time employee, whose whole purpose and use of time is to help students pretty much plan their post-high school experiences for the majority of our students that does end up being in college,” Neumaier said.

Additionally, the College and Career Center provides students with resources to seek out extracurricular activities. This allows students to develop their resumes and skills to prepare for life after high school.

“The center itself has brochures, a job board, a community service board, a volunteer board, a scholarship board, and we have files on summer programs, summer opportunities,” Neumaier said.

The newest of Archie Williams’ academic tools is the Testing Center, which launched Thursday, September 26. The Testing Center is a dedicated space for students to make up missed tests, retake tests, or use additional time to complete an exam. The testing center is open for an hour and a half in room 408 after school Mondays and before school Thursdays.

The creation of the Testing Center came with the implementation of the new Friday bell schedule, which was a request from the teacher’s union to the Tamalpais Union High School District. Severin believes that the center has many uses that will be beneficial to student success. The space provided will mainly focus on supporting student-athletes or other students who may miss school for a variety of reasons. 

“There was an ask [from the teacher’s union]… to provide time for students to do their makeup tests, retake quizzes, etcetera, if they miss for sports, or they just are absent due to being sick,” Severin said.

Archie Williams senior Kaeley Sullivan uses the testing center when she has to miss school due to sports, and finds it an especially valuable resource for student-athletes. 

“[The testing center] was beneficial to me, because I am a student-athlete, and having time in the morning and time in the afternoon to make up a test worked great for my practice schedule, accommodating whether I have morning practice or I have an afternoon practice… [The testing center environment was better for me to take it there than it would have been in a classroom such as a tutorial,” Kaeley said. 

Although there may be some challenges faced by students where there are no specific resources to help them academically, Archie Williams’ extensive programs provide a wide variety of tools dedicated to helping students succeed in high school and beyond. These tools, however, are only helpful if students take advantage of them by reaching out to those who can help them use these resources.