While the matching of success mentors to mentees is a site-level activity, the district can offer guidance for how best to make these matches, particularly through the training it offers to site coordinators.

If possible, mentees should be matched with success mentors they already know and with whom they already have a positive relationship. Keep in mind that it’s easier if you assign mentors to students whom they already see in the course of the day so that mentors don’t have to spend time looking for their mentees—if the student is in school, the mentor will see him or her.

Other factors to consider are whether the success mentor speaks the same language as the family of the mentee, might already be familiar with the family, and shares similar life experiences with the mentee or his or her family.