Student Support Center

Personalized Resources to Empower Students

Students at Hampton Roads Academy learn far more on campus than writing, math, science, and history. Our goal is to equip Navigators with the skills and self- assurance they need to excel as students and in their academic and professional careers after graduation. HRA’s Student Support Center embodies this holistic educational philosophy, integrating student success with comprehensive academic support services. Here, Upper School students benefit from regular, personalized assistance that addresses their academic needs and helps them develop strategies for achievement in the classroom and beyond. The Student Support Center not only provides resources to ensure our students’ excellence, but also reinforces the Academy’s culture of resilience, confidence, and care.

Supporting Academic Success for Every Student

Student Support Center Philosophy and Purpose

HRA aims to challenge its students with a rigorous curriculum, but we are equally committed to providing students with the academic support they need. The objective of the Student Support Center (SSC) is to deliver regular, personalized help that is catered to their academic needs and reinforces such critical skills as organization, time management, and goal-setting. Taking a unique approach to the learning experience of each member of our diverse student body, we will assist students in identifying their strengths and weaknesses and developing strategies for success, with an emphasis on self-advocacy and accountability. Whether students seek to enhance their study habits or require a plan to recover from setbacks in specific subjects, they will find a proactive and compassionate resource in the SSC.

The Student Support Center is currently focused on the needs of our students in Grades 9-12, though we plan to evolve to serve Middle School students as well. Taking an integrated approach to academic support, the SSC collaborates with faculty to develop classroom strategies and ensures that students and families feel supported and empowered throughout their HRA careers.

Lisa Thatcher, Director of the Student Support Center

Lisa Thatcher

Director of the Student Support Center

Our Services

The SSC offers a wide array of resources, ranging from academic reinforcement to counseling services. We support students returning to school after an extended absence due to illness or other causes. We provide targeted assistance to students with documented processing, memory, and attention deficits and/or specific learning disorders/disabilities. And we help students excel no matter what challenges they may face in the classroom. Our ultimate goal is to transform moments of academic stress into into opportunities for growth and achievement.

HRA students studying

The Student Support Center’s services include:

  • Comprehensive student support, including mental health counselor services, an advisory system, academic assistance, and executive functions skills coaching

  • Guided study halls for students struggling with time management, organization, self-advocacy, and grades

  • Peer tutoring

  • After-school tutoring in the SSC (for an additional fee)

  • Assistance in coordinating help sessions with teachers during office hours (7:30-8:05 am and 3:00-3:30 pm)

  • Facilitation of necessary accommodations for students with learning differences and communication of Student Accommodation Plans with the teaching team

  • Extended-time testing and a quiet testing space for Middle and Upper School students

Learning Accommodations

Based on student educational evaluation dated within three years, the Student Support Center will coordinate appropriate accommodations for students with documented learning differences and communicate them to the teaching faculty. Learning accommodations will be limited in their application and may not fundamentally alter the nature of the curriculum.

Support options may include:

  • Preferential seating in the classroom

  • Quiet work space

  • Small group/quiet testing space

  • 50% extended time for assessments

Note:  HRA may not be able to provide all accommodations that are recommended in psycho-educational testing.

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