Welcome to our Counseling Corner!

The counseling department at Walters Middle School is dedicated to assisting students with their academic, social, emotional and personal needs.  In addition, our counselors provide conflict management between students, preventing conflicts from escalating. 

School Counseling 

Our school counseling team at WMS works closely with administrators, teachers, students and their families to provide direct, indirect & responsive services for our students. Direct services are face-to-face services with our students (whether in our office or the classroom) and where we love to spend the majority of our time. Indirect services include organizing and facilitating meetings with school stakeholders to help ensure our students' needs are being monitored and addressed. Responsive services include addressing unforeseeable and emergency situations related to the physical and emotional safety of our students.

Our Services:

• School counseling core curriculum: Classroom lessons provided to all students 

• Individual counseling sessions 

• Crisis Counseling

• Short-term small group counseling (6-8 sessions)

• Parent/guardian meetings and presentations

• Student Advocacy  via:

  • Leading Coordination of Services Team (COST)

  • Facilitating Student Support Team (SST) meeting

  • Support 504 Updates

• Collaboration and Consultation with teachers and administrators

Click to learn more about the role of a school counselor as defined by the American School Counseling Association (ASCA). 

How Does a student See the counselor?

Students may request at meeting with  their counselor by completing a Counseling Request form at the front office. Additionally, parents, teachers, administrators, or other students may reach out to the counselor to refer a student to their school counselor if they have concerns regarding their student's academic, social, or emotional development while at WMS.  Please note that school counselors do not provide therapy. For students who are in need of additional support, the counselors are happy to assist with connecting them to outside resources. 

Limits to Confidentiality: 

Confidentiality between the counselor and student exists to allow the student to be honest when working through a problem, however, students and Parents/Guardians should be aware of the limitations to confidentiality in the school counseling setting. The following list includes reasons confidentiality may need to be broken: 

• the student poses a danger to self or others

• there is a court-ordered disclosure

• consulting with other professionals, such as colleagues, supervisors, treatment teams and other support personnel, in support of the student

• privileged communication is not granted by state laws and local guidelines (e.g., school board policies)

• the student participates in group counseling 

Our Counseling Team:

The Counseling Department at Walters Middle School is made up of three credentialed school counselors, one per grade level and a part time associate mental health therapist. Students are assigned to their counselor based on their current grade and remain with that counselor throughout their time at WMS. Our counseling team works closely in providing academic, social, emotional and career support to all students at Walters Middle School. 

EMERGENCY INFORMATION 

In a medical or psychiatric emergency, please call 9-1-1 or take your student  to the nearest emergency room. 

     Other Helpful Contact Numbers

• Crisis Text Line 

  • Text "Home" to 741741

• National Suicide Prevention Hotline

  • 1-800-273-8255

• National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)

  • 1-800-950-6264

• Other Free Counseling Hotlines 

  • https://www.opencounseling.com/hotlines-us

• For medical or psychiatric support (non- emergency) call the number on your insurance card.