Mentorship is a priority in New York’s Baldwin Union Free School District.
The school system, located on Long Island, has provided faculty-to-student mentoring to Baldwin High School students for more than 25 years, with teachers, administrators and coaches offering sustained guidance on goals and challenges, from academics to social-emotional needs to future careers.
Baldwin broadened those efforts to include students at its middle school in September 2022.
The original program began in 2001 with only five mentors and five mentees, with the idea of developing student-teacher relationships. Over time, the goal has broadened toward not only developing relationships but also guiding postsecondary planning — and it has expanded to 70 mentor-mentee pairs, with students at the middle and high schools chosen based on who seems to need the guidance, said Gabriella Franza, assistant director of instructional programs.
Baldwin also added a student-to-student mentoring initiative in the 2024-25 school year called the Peer2Peer Path Program, in which 9th and 10th graders are paired with an upperclassman.
The Peer2Peer Path Program currently has 40 mentor-mentee pairs and is completely voluntary, with students connected based on having common interests, as revealed through a survey at the outset, Franza said.
The program focuses on 9th and 10th graders getting to high school and feeling included, as well as covering postsecondary goals, Franza said. The student mentors and their mentees talk about both what high school is like and what education and career paths the younger students might want to pursue afterward. And a guest speaker appears most Mondays to provide thoughts on those topics.
“It’s not only about them learning from each other through peer-to-peer education, but we’re also training the [student] mentors on what it’s like to be a mentor,” she said.
“Ninth grade is such a critical year if you are going to ultimately graduate high school on time,” Superintendent Anthony Mignella added. “The transition is so important. We expect a 14-year-old to adjust quickly. Peer2Peer supports relationship building — what to expect, what to know.”
Since the mentors lived that experience not long ago, they can make sure the freshmen don’t get lost, Mignella said.
While it’s difficult to pinpoint specifically to the mentoring programs, Baldwin Union Free School District boasts a 99% graduation rate, along with strong academic performance overall, said Mignella.
“The district has always believed in the power of mentoring and how that supports students both academically and social-emotionally, helping to build confidence and self-esteem,” he said. “The program has evolved, and, in my opinion, with Gabi’s guidance, has added important layers and different opportunities to collaborate.”
Supports and giving back
The district and its faculty invest the time and energy knowing the variety of challenges that students face, such as social media and a greater sense of loneliness, in addition to traditional academic and mental health hurdles, Mignella said.
“Our mentoring program truly supports students to thrive in those areas that they might have a need,” he said. “We’ve seen students who might be considered somewhat at-risk thrive academically and social-emotionally. Their attendance, self-confidence and self-esteem improves. They’re more prepared for postsecondary education, and they know how to advocate for themselves and form relationships. They’re collaborating and being more civically engaged.”
Before students first meet alone with their teacher-mentor, they have a pre-meeting with school leaders to discuss their overall goals as well as postsecondary plans, so those are in place from the get-go, Franza said.
The district partners with MENTOR New York on training for both teacher and staff mentors as well as student mentees, ensuring they are well prepared. Another partnership with Ridgewood Savings Bank has funded an annual mentor dinner.
During the past couple of years, the program has also included a Mentors Give Back program in which mentees and mentors do a community service program together, Franza said. Last fall, for example, they created and sold keychains to raise relief money for the people of Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa devastated the Caribbean nation.
Additionally, students have typically launched schoolwide kindness initiatives in the spring semester.
“Students wrote random notes of kindness, and we were able to deliver them to different students throughout the year,” Franza said. “We’re building community initiatives along with the mentoring process.”
