Case study · International School of Curitiba

Hearing the quieter students

How ISC helped its quieter students find a voice — and helped staff notice who needed support.

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International School of Curitiba campus
Representative campus image. Swap for an approved ISC photo before publish.

“Mario gave students another way to reach out — especially high schoolers who don’t want to talk to teachers directly.”

Urska Manners, Teacher — International School of Curitiba

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See what International School of Curitiba did — and what changed.

  • The challenge they started with
  • How they put MARIO into practice
  • The results, in their own words

🔒 We’ll only use this to follow up about MARIO. School-owned data, always.

The challenge

Advisory relationships can feel artificial — and the students who most need support are often the ones least likely to ask for it. ISC wanted to reach high schoolers who don’t naturally open up to adults, without putting the burden on them to take the first step.

At the same time, not every teacher feels comfortable leading a personal conversation. ISC needed an approach that supported staff as much as students.

What they did

One connected approach, centered on the 1:1 conversation

1
Students check in — Regular check-ins gave quieter students a private, low-pressure way to signal how they were doing.
2
Teachers see what matters — Subtle signals (like “I’m not ready to learn”) prompted staff to step in where they otherwise might not.
3
Professional learning builds the habit — Scaffolds helped even less-confident advisors hold meaningful conversations.
4
Leaders see the patterns — Leadership could see where relationships and support needed attention.

“It helps awkward advisory relationships feel less artificial — and opens up more meaningful conversations.”

Urska Manners, Teacher — International School of Curitiba

The results

0.91
Cohen’s d across MARIO schools (NASEN) — top 5% of interventions
Quieter
students gained a way to reach out on their terms
Every
advisor supported with conversation scaffolds

Across MARIO schools, a NASEN-published study found the MARIO Approach had a Cohen’s d of 0.91, placing it in the top 5% of educational interventions.

“Mario helped teachers who didn’t feel comfortable in advisory build stronger relationships with students,” said leadership team member Jia Acree.

“It tells students we care about them — not just showing up and doing work, but whether they’re really ready to learn.”

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