Places to Know

Student Success Center

The Student Success Center provides counseling, psychological support, college guidance, optimal learning services, activity/interest group/community service guidance for students and learning support programs.

Wellness Center

The Wellness Center is coordinated by the Counseling Psychologist K-12, who is available to assist students with social and emotional challenges or life changes. Programs to assist students during transitional times and to ensure a balance in students’ life are implemented by the Wellness Center.

Counseling Psychologist

Available through the Wellness Center, a Counseling Psychologist is prepared to assist students with social-emotional issues (more extensive counseling) as they arise and to help students develop optimal coping strategies. The Counseling Psychologist also serves as a member of the K-12 Child Study Team.

Child Study Team

By enrolling your child in our school, you agree to adhere to our Child Safety and Trust guidelines as recommended by the Child Study Team (CST), which are critical for your child's safety and success. Non-compliance with these guidelines may lead to the withdrawal of your child's admission or suspension from the school. We emphasize the importance of these rules in maintaining a secure and positive learning environment for all.

The Child Study Team monitors and analyzes a full range of student performance, including academic, social-emotional, behavioral and overall well-being. The team determines which programs offered by the school will most effectively meet the student’s needs and provide opportunities for them to reach their potential. CST supports students by creating intervention plans and recommending the next steps for student support and growth.

The Child Study Team (CST) is made up of the Principal, Counselors, K-12 Licensed Clinical Psychologist, the Optimal Learning Specialists, and possibly the Nurse and/or the English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher. CST carefully considers input from faculty, staff, and parents on a regular basis. This team meets weekly for continued collaboration about student needs.

For each case, the process begins with a student's referral by a classroom teacher or parent.

In order to design and determine the best possible learning experience for each student, informal observations may involve administrators, educators, and specialists throughout the day as needed, inside and outside the classroom.

Process of Referrals to the School’s Licensed Clinical Psychologist

According to APA (American Psychological Association) Clinical psychology is the psychological specialty that provides continuing and comprehensive mental and behavioral health care for individuals, couples, families, and groups; consultation with agencies and communities; training, education, and supervision; and research-based practice. It is a specialty in breadth — one that addresses a wide range of mental and behavioral health problems— and marked by comprehensiveness and integration of knowledge and skill from a broad array of disciplines within and outside of psychology proper. The scope of clinical psychology encompasses all ages, multiple diversities, and varied systems.

The referral to the clinical psychologist can be made:

1. Through CST’s request (consent needed)

2. Through Designated Safeguarding Lead / Officer (no consent needed)

3. Parent’s request (consent needed)

4. Student’s request (informing the parents after the first session of the student’s request, consent needed)

5. Psychological emergencies (no consent needed)

1. CST

5. 1. • CST can request the clinical psychologist to support a student if the case is to be managed within the school. The decision of whether the student needs further support comes from the clinician is based on assessment, observation, and/or clinical interview. The clinician needs to update CST to a level of confidentiality and parents and his findings. Recommendations may be given. If the case is only managed internally by the school’s psychologist, nine (9) sessions is the limit of the sessions that can be delivered. If there is a need to continue due to the student’s request, referrals for external therapists can be provided. The school’s clinician and external therapist must communicate in the student's best interests, and parents will be asked to sign the relevant consent form.

   2. Designated Safeguarding Lead /Officer

      • Whenever ACS Athens staff members have reasonable cause to believe that a student is suffering or is at significant risk of suffering abuse or neglect, they must report the suspected incidents of child abuse or neglect to appropriate school personnel. The Designated Safeguarding Lead and officer are responsible for the procedures that ACS Athens follows, which may include physical examination and psychological evaluation. In such a case, consent to examine or evaluate the student is not a requirement, and the newly updated local laws will be strictly followed. The liaisons are responsible for reporting the incident to the authorities.

   3. Parent’s request

      • Parents can also place a request (via e-mail kougioumzogloue@acs.gr) for their children to book an appointment with the clinical psychologist. At first, the parent(s) will have to book an appointment themselves with the clinician to address the request and to receive the developmental history before seeing the student on condition that the student is willing to receive such services. Parents are guided in addressing their concerns and volition to make this appointment.As soon as the first one or two sessions are conducted with the student, the clinician should call the parents for another meeting to explain his findings and recommendations.  If the case is only managed internally by the school’s psychologist, nine (9) sessions is the limit of the sessions that can be delivered. If there is a need to continue due to the student’s request, referrals for external therapists can be provided. The school’s clinician and external therapist must communicate in the student's best interests, and parents will be asked to sign the relevant consent form.

   4. Student’s request

      • A student at any level can request to see the school’s clinical psychologist. During the first meeting and after having a first clinical impression about the student’s request, the student is informed of the need to have the parents' consent. The distinction between parent consent and confidentiality is to be clear. After comprehensively assessing a student's need(s), a referral for external therapy might be made if the difficulty is more perplexing.

   5. Psychological Emergency

      • A psychological emergency is an acute disturbance of a student's behavior, thought, or mood, which, if untreated, may lead to harm, either to the individual or to others in the environment. Under the umbrella term “psychological emergency,” you can have both majors, where there is a danger to life either of the student or to others in his/her environment, or minor, where there is no threat to life but causes significant difficulty (Sudarsanan et al., 2004).

Suicide, Parasuicide, Non-Suicidal Self Harm (NNHS): these conditions are major psychological emergencies, and consent won’t be requested before the intervention. Instead, an assessment will be conducted once such a case is reported. If the student is not willing to follow the school’s procedure, parents will be asked to come and pick the student up. During this time, students will not be left without supervision.

As parents, you might be requested to follow very specific recommendations relevant to the outcome of the assessment, such as visiting an external public or private professional. If the case is identified as critical, according to the outcome of the assessment, the student will be back on campus only with a medical note that there is no immediate danger towards himself/herself and others.   

Indicatively, other major and minor psychological emergencies are as follows:

Major emergencies

Minor emergencies

Suicidal Ideation

Panic attack

NSSI

Acute grief reaction

Parasuicide actions

Disaster

Psychotic episode

Tantrum

Lastly, the school's clinical psychologist can visit classes and observe with or without CST’s request. He can also participate in parent meetings to consult if and when needed. 

Student Life

Extra-curricular, interest groups and community service events take place via the Student Life Center. Students are provided with choices to join in or lead activities of their interest.

Registrar

The Registrar is responsible for keeping all students’ records and provides all necessary documents needed for college or to transfer to another school.