advisory cornerstone project

The Advisory Cornerstone Project is an educational journey undertaken by each ninth grade advisory class. The common threads are:

  1. Each project focuses on a field of interest identified by the students.
  2. Each project pairs its advisory with an outside organization doing exemplary work in that field.
  3. Each project culminates in a meaningful end product that helps students reflect on what they’ve learned while enabling them to share that newfound knowledge with their schoolmates.

This advisory chooses unity as a driving theme. Working with Urban Word NYC, students explore poetry as a means of vibrant individual and group expression. Students work with a writing mentor to delve into the writing process and create original pieces. Through seeing performances and participating in city-wide SLAM competitions, students find their personal and collective voice as spoken word artists.


This advisory chooses creative arts as a driving theme. Students work with a teaching artist from the Studio Museum in Harlem to create a body of work that culminates in a group exhibition. Museum visits serve as inspiration for the creation of a series of group and self-portraits. Students are able to experiment with different media and encouraged to develop their own creative voice.


This advisory chooses reading & writing as a driving theme. Through Operation Breaking Stereotypes, students use pen pal relationships with ninth graders from a sister school in Seaport, Maine to dissolve preconceptions and create lasting bonds. The exchange culminates in reciprocal visits.


This advisory chooses performing arts as a driving theme. New Victory Theater offers acting workshops throughout the year and trains students to create their own monologues as well a year-end-show. Students take on every role of the production from script writing to set design. Through New Victory, students are also able to attend diverse theater performances after school.


This advisory chooses leadership as a driving theme. Led by NCCJ, or National Conference for Community and Justice, students participate in workshops on social justice issues and unpack the themes of racism, sexism, and homophobia. With awareness and passion ignited, students work with NCCJ to organize a Hate in the Hallways conference, an event modeled on NCCJ’s dynamic youth program.


This advisory chooses sisterhood as a driving theme. With Voice & Vision Collective, students explore issues important to young women, are trained as peer leaders, and work to truly understand and harness the strength of sisterhood. They plan and facilitate a day of youth-led workshops culminating in a fundraising event to benefit an organization working to improve the lives of girls and women.

"The Advisory Cornerstone Project embodies SLJ's commitment to integrated partnerships; to blurring the boundary between SLJ and the outside world; to exposing students to the professional world in a way that enhances their education and opens up a whole new world of possibility."

—Former SLJ Principal Elana Karopkin