Community

Leadership Development

A close-knit community is based upon a strong system of communication, leadership, and structure. At Carrabassett Valley Academy, students practice leadership and learn through experience. Students help run dish duty crews and campus clean-up teams. Students may also lead a community club, run for student council, and apply to be a Peer Mentor, Peer Tutor, and/or a member of the CVA chapter of the National Honor Society. Students who hold leadership positions serve as role models for the rest of the student body. These student leaders also serve a vital role as a communication link between students and faculty to express opinions, provide feedback, and effect change. These and other leadership opportunities allow our student-athletes to develop the skills needed to be productive members of their community.

Peer Mentors Program

The CVA Peer Mentoring Program was established to provide students in grades 7-9 and all new students with a way to discuss problems they may be having or challenges they are experiencing with peers who can actively listen, offer advice, and provide support.

Peer Mentors are trained to recognize behaviors of concern and when to refer to an adult. The role of a peer mentor is to guide and support other students, helping to create a safe, supportive, and productive environment. They organize social events such as game nights and ice cream socials to promote bonding within the community. It is the goal for Peer Mentors to become suicide prevention trained and/or Mental Health First Aid certified and serve as the link between students and staff to address students of concern and promote a positive culture.

Students entering grades 10-12 may apply to be a Peer Mentor in the spring. The application process asks students to demonstrate qualities of service, leadership, and character and are expected to be approachable, empathetic, and trustworthy. The peer mentor application process is a thorough and complex process requiring student-athletes to meet certain criteria to be nominated and a rubric to evaluate each candidate with input from faculty, coaches, and current peer mentors.

Peer Tutors

The CVA Peer Tutoring program was designed to encourage student leadership and provide a better-supported academic environment.  Students with an interest in being a peer tutor can submit their names and be approved by the teachers to create a list of tutors available in a variety of subject areas. Tutors go through training to learn how to guide their peers and address multiple learning styles. Tutors are recognized based on a tier system, rewarding the number of hours spent tutoring during an academic year. 

National Honor Society

Carrabassett Valley Academy has its own chapter of The National Honor Society. The purpose of this chapter is to create an enthusiasm for scholarship, to stimulate a desire to render service, to promote worthy leadership, and to encourage the development of character in the students of Carrabassett Valley Academy.

Full-year students can become eligible for CVA’s chapter of the National Honor Society in the second trimester of their sophomore year or during their junior year. To be eligible for selection to the chapter, candidates must have been in attendance for a period of one trimester at Carrabassett Valley Academy (with an unweighted GPA of 90 or above) and have a minimum unweighted cumulative grade point average of 90 or higher. Upon meeting the grade level, attendance, and GPA standard requirements, candidates are then considered by the CVA National Honor Society Faculty Council based on their service, leadership, and character.

The CVA Chapter of the National Honor Society take leadership roles in many community service endeavors including hosting the Special Olympics each year.
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Student Council

Members represent the ideas and interests of the student body by planning, promoting and hosting community based events and activities. Council members also work with school officials to represent the ideas, interests and concerns of the study body in regards to school policies and rules. The Student Council is a student run organization and meets once a week, members are elected by their peers through a democratic voting system.

Community Advocates

The mission of CVA CommUNITY Advocates is to promote and maintain a community of belonging where all students, faculty, and staff feel welcomed, valued, respected, and safe. It also seeks to create awareness and inclusion of differences, preparing students to be advocates for unity beyond CVA. The group is open to all employees and students. Meetings and activities occur a few times a month on a random schedule.

Community Service

CVA plays an important role in supporting the surrounding community. All students are expected to participate in school-sponsored community service projects throughout the school year. Events include, but are not limited to: Special Olympics, canned food drives, the Carrabassett Valley Spring Clean-Up, and Sugarloaf work days.
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Carrabassett Valley Academy prohibits discrimination against or harassment of any member or group based upon age, gender, race, color, religion, disability,  categories sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, genetic predisposition, ancestry or other categories protected by Maine or federal law. CVA does not discriminate on these bases in the administration of its admission process, scholarship and aid programs, educational policies, athletics, or other school-administered programs.
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