2025-2026: August 29th Update

The Help Maze

The Help Maze has been a 1st Hunt and 2nd West tradition for many years (maybe 10 or so?). Sue Anne and 2nd West CC, Ross Knight, began this activity as a way to get students to learn about themelves and those they live with on hall. Students are told that Sue Anne & Ross have created a maze and that they should bring a blindfold and see if they can find their way out. Before entering, students are told that they there is a way out, but if they need help along the way, all they need to do is raise their hand. Students are led into the gym and placed in the maze, which is yarn string tied from object to object. In the beginning, we let the students travel through the gym on the string trying to find a way out. As the time goes on, we give subtle reminders to raise their hand if they need help, which eventually becomes more frequent.  Little do they know.... the way out IS TO ASK FOR HELP! It usually takes 5-10 minutes for a student to raise their hand and when they do, they get to ring a bell signaling they got out and we announce the students name so students hear that there is a way out. As students get out of the maze, they line up in the order they come out and at the end, there are always students who do not make it out of the maze. This leads us to a discussion about asking for help and how some students may ask too quickly, while others may not ask at all because they're trying to do it on all on their own when they actually need help. We also encourage them to look around and see where their friends are. It's a great activity that I think they all enjoy even though they have a moment of feeling duped and being upset that we tricked them!

Hall Agreements

After a few weeks of living together, we took time during a hall meeting to establish our hall agreements. Hall agreements are essentialy the rules and guidelines our community will go by to ensure we all are having a positive living and learning experience at NCSSM.  Students were split into 6 groups to work through some suggestions to consider and narrow it down to their top 3. From there, groups combined and repeated the process until we finished! Our hall agreement poster will be revealed upon returning for break - stay tuned to see what we agreed to do on 1st Hunt.

• Family Day Preview: 

Each September, NCSSM invites families to campus for a fun and informative Family Day!  On Saturday, September 13th, 2025, experience a ‘day in the life’ of your student as you walk through a condensed version of their schedule. You’ll envision the excitement of learning as you have the opportunity to meet your student’s instructors, counselors, and other key campus members, all while exploring NCSSM’s interactive classrooms and innovative learning spaces. 

A detailed agenda for Family Day can be found here. In addition to meeting your student’s teachers, you’ll have a chance to connect with other NCSSM parents at the Parent Association hospitality table and visit the school store, where you can snag some merchandise to show your school spirit!  

Registration is required. Please complete this registration form as soon as possible, but no later than Wednesday, September 10th to RSVP for your Family Day plans.

Sue Anne will be working at the Bryan Desk on family day - feel free to stop by to give a quick hello! If you would like to talk with Sue Anne about your student, please reach out to schedule a time with her as she will not be able to discuss students while at the main desk of the school. 

• College Fair Preview: 

This year, NCSSM Morganton will host our annual College Fair on Friday, September 12th at the end of the academic day. While the Fair will be on Morganton’s campus, NCSSM Durham will still have amazing opportunities for juniors and seniors to learn more about colleges across the country and explore what school might be right for them.  These opportunities include virtual information sessions, webinars, panel presentations, and visits from college representatives.

In the past representatives from more than 70 schools from around the country have been available to talk with students and families about their schools, the college admissions process, financial aid, and scholarships. More information about the virtual information sessions, webinars, panel presentations, and college representative visits will be shared in the coming weeks.

• Increasing Workload:

Now that we have made it to the first extended weekend, students should be getting into the swing of things with classes and life at NCSSM. Around this time students will also notice their workload increasing. It is imperative for them to develop strong time management skills and learn to seek out help as they begin to face these new challenges. If needed, students can reach out to their CC and/or any of the following resources:

• Center for Advising and Academic Success (CAAS): CAAS serves all residential and online students during their time here at NCSSM. The purpose and function of the Center is to provide individual, ongoing, and real-time academic support and guidance for all students. Some of the CAAS services include:

  • providing guidance and advice for students on course choices and placement

  • providing academic consultation for students

  • developing and managing academic support plans 

  • communicating directly with student support teams

  • communicating/collaborating with Counseling on academic support

  • providing administrative support for Enrollment Services/Registrar

• Tutorials: Most classes and departments offer formal tutorials for students. These tutorial sessions are led by both faculty and student TAs. Tutorial sessions or resources can be found on each department’s website:

  • Engineering and Computer Science

  • Fine Arts

  • Mathematics

  • Science

    • Science Department Academic Assistance

• Residential Education Courses: All juniors take RE102; in this course they learn about academic success strategies. The skills they develop and the resources provided by their instructor will be helpful to revisit as their workload increases.

• Progress Reports

As September draws to a close, faculty across campus will be completing grading assignments to release progress reports for students on September 19. To view student progress reports, families will need to log into Blackbaud and select the “progress” tab. Families will then click “report cards” to open all the progress reports for the year and select either “Semester 1 - Durham” or “Semester 1 - Durham (no comments),” depending on whether they want to view grades and teacher feedback, or just grades.

If families have concerns about their student’s performance, then please reach out to their student’s CC. CCs always meet with students who have multiple Cs or a D to help develop a plan for improvement, but will be happy to meet with anyone if there are concerns. It is also important that students reach out to their individual teachers, counselor, and the Center for Advising and Academic Success for advice on how to improve. This is also a good time for students to evaluate whether they should be attending tutorials more often.

• Roommate Agreements

Now that students have spent a few weeks on campus and have a better sense of what the ideal living space looks like for them, it is time to complete roommate agreements! Students should review the Living with a Roommate and the Roommate Conflict Resolution flyers on hall for tips on fostering a positive and healthy roommate relationship and to learn what steps to take to address conflict.

All doubles and triples must submit a roommate agreement by September 15. Only one individual from the room should submit a form, but EVERYONE should be involved in creating the roommate agreement. Students in single rooms do not have to complete a roommate agreement. Once the form is submitted each roommate and the CC will receive a copy. Please note that students can revisit the roommate agreement at any time and make changes, as needed.

As students complete their roommate agreement, they should keep in mind that communication is the single most important factor in building good relationships. By working with each other, the roommate agreement will help roommates begin the process of discussing issues that have often been found to be sources of conflict. Students should be honest with themselves and their roommate(s) now, so that issues can be addressed before they arise. Students should also enter the discussion with an open mind and be prepared to compromise whenever reasonable. 

Roommate agreement forms can be found HERE.

• Residence Halls Closing & Opening:

Just a quick reminder that the Residence Halls will be closing twice during the next month:

• Closed Friday, August 29th at 5:00pm.  Opens Monday, September 1st at noon.

• Closed Friday, September 26th at 5:00pm.  Opens Sunday, October 5th at noon.

CCs will confirm that all students have submitted an Orah pass at their weekly hall meeting. On this pass, students should indicate where they are going for the break, who they are traveling with, and how they are getting to their location.

Next Update:
Friday, September 26th