Student Services Information

To navigate this page, click the links in the table of contents below. 

For more information on the Student Services Department, click here. 

       Charise Thomas                                                            Email: charise.thomas@cms.k12.nc.us 

As Career Development Coordinator, Ms. McClain pledges to assist students with the 21st century skills needed to be productive citizens in our society.  She serves as the contact for students who enroll in Career and College Promise courses at Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC). She consistently shares exciting news regarding job shadowing and our Academic Internship program. Click here to visit the Indy Career Center website.                         

Through school-based Site Coordinators, CIS connects students and their families to the relationships and resources they need to be successful in school and beyond. To learn more about CIS, click here. 

Independence High School Student Services is staffed by professional school counselors who advocate, collaborate, and facilitate individual and system change to ensure every student has the knowledge and skills necessary for academic success and personal growth. School counselors strive to empower students to embrace their full potential and to achieve their personal and academic aspirations. 

Student Last Name | Counselor Name | Email

• A-Ca | Mr. Brian Canupp | 

• Ce-Gl | Mr. Thomas Osborne |  

• Go-K | Ms. Brittany Ellison | 

• L-N |Ms. Elizabeth Howie| 

• O-SH | Ms. Jennifer Stephens | 

• SI-Z | Ms. Stephanie Bimson | 

Together, the Student Services team provides an array of social, emotional, physical & mental health, and academic support services. 

Most of these services fall under the Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) Behavior framework, ranging from core functions that support all students to intensive interventions needed by only a small number of students.

The appropriate subject area teacher(s) must provide Tier 1 and Tier 2 interventions for any student at risk of academic failure, including but not limited to students who scored below Level III on a previous year’s EOG or any High School EOC test or is at risk of not being promoted because of credit deficiencies.  For these students:

1. A faculty mentor should be assigned, who will closely monitor the student’s academic progress.

2. Performance and assessments should be reviewed at the mid-point of each grading period by the appropriate content area teacher(s) and school counselor.

3. Assessments must be administered quarterly, using various CMS-approved assessment instruments.

4. In addition, by the end of the first quarter a student is at risk of not being promoted, the appropriate teacher(s) must, by the end of that quarter, provide MTSS interventions and notify the parent/guardian as follows:

a. notify the parent of the student’s lack of progress;

b. request a conference and make every reasonable effort to meet with the student's parent;

c. offer the student targeted support (Tier 2 interventions) that provides additional time and intensity of instruction; and

d. refer the student to the Intervention Team, as necessary.

5. At the midpoint of a course, for a student who is at risk of failing the course, the appropriate teacher(s) must notify the student’s parent of this possibility. The notification may be mailed or sent home with the second quarter report card. The teacher(s) must document the parental contact.

6. In conjunction with the third quarter (or three/fourths point of a 4x4 class) progress report, for a student who is at risk of not being promoted, the teacher must make an additional parent contact (telephone call or conference). The teacher must document the parent contact.

If a student is requesting to see their counselor during instructional time and it is not an emergency situation, please ask them to see their counselor during lunch, or to e-mail their counselor with questions or to schedule an appointment. 

 As a general rule, schedule changes will be made for the following reasons only:

• • Student needs a course required for graduation

  • Student has already completed the course in which they are enrolled

  • Student is enrolled in a course for which they have not met the prerequisite 

  • Student does not have a full schedule

There will be NO schedule changes after the first 10 days of school. Do NOT tell a student they need a schedule change from your class.

Students should always be in the classes that they have been assigned to.

CMS School Social Workers promote academic achievement by supporting and linking students and families with school-based and community resources to enhance all areas of student development. For a list of resources and how to help students access them, click here. 

1.) Notice the warning signs. 

• Talking, writing, texting, or drawing about wanting to die 

• Planning suicide (notes, researching methods, etc.)

• Harming self

• Expressing hopelessness about the future

• Displaying severe emotional pain or distress

• Showing worrisome behavioral cues or marked changes in behaviors such as withdrawing from social connections, changes in sleep, uncharacteristic anger or hostility, or increased agitation or irritability

2.) On Campus Suicide Protocol

•  Maintain direct physical supervision of the student 

•  Immediately contact a mandated assessor in person or by phone for a code purple and an assessment.  Do not wait until class is over or the end of the day. 

3.) Off Campus Suicide Protocol 

• Call 911 if the attempt is in progress. 

• If student IS NOT with CMS staff, call 980-343-6030, share concern, and request CIT officer for home visit.

• If student IS with CMS staff but off campus or after hours, safely supervise student until he/she is back in care of parent/guardian. Share with parent: 

  • Student must be assessed the next day at school.

  • If parent/guardian has immediate concerns, staff should encourage use of Mobile CriSys (704-566-3410 option 1) for a free emergency in-home assessment 

  • Close supervision of the student should be provided by the parent/guardian until assessment is obtained. 

School counselors should email teacher with transfer grades from previous school. 

For Final Course Grades to calculate correctly, all currently enrolled students must have grades in the PowerTeacher Pro Gradebook in the Quarter 1, Quarter 2, and Quarter 3 reporting terms for each scheduled course. The transfer averages for Q1, Q2, and Q3 can be manually entered by the teacher on the Traditional Screen in the PowerTeacher Pro Gradebook (A+ Charm --> Traditional). The teacher will manually enter the student's transfer average (numeric) for both the grade and the percent. 

Teachers are required to enter the Quarter 4 transferring average into their gradebook for any student that has transferred into their classes from another school, another teacher from the same school, or from a different section belonging to the current teacher. Teachers will complete the Quarter 4 Transfer Average Instructions below to enter the transferring averages for students who have transferred into their classes during the 4th Quarter. 

Quarter 4 Transfer Average: The teacher will create a Formal Assignment named Q4 Transfer Average using a Percent Score type with a Max Score of 100. The teacher will assign this assignment to only the student(s) who have transferred into their class after the first day of the quarter but prior to the last day of the quarter. Once the assignment has been properly created and assigned to the appropriate students, the teacher will enter the Quarter 4 transfer average for the appropriate students. This assignment will then calculate with any assignments the student completed while enrolled in the teachers's course section.