The school counseling program at Tuckahoe Middle School is designed to aid children in mastering the academic, social/emotional, and career tasks which are essential to the development of academic, technical, and life skills. School counselors help students understand the link between academics and future plans, develop skills in career exploration, acquire and maintain positive personal/social relationships, and ultimately become responsible and productive citizens.

Since the purpose of the school counseling program is help students succeed in school and in life, school counselors engage in activities with and for students that help them achieve student competencies identified by the American School Counselor Association National Standards. Student competencies define the knowledge, attitudes, and skills students should obtain and demonstrate in academic, career and social/emotional areas as a result of participating in a standards-based school counseling program.

21st century comprehensive school counseling:

• Ensures equitable access to educational and career exploration opportunities for all students

• Promotes a rigorous academic curriculum for all students

• Provides strategies for closing equity gaps

• Supports the development of skills to increase student success

• Fosters advocacy for all students

These program services are balanced between prevention and intervention and are based on the needs of students.

Program Delivery Services include:

• School Counseling Curriculum (whole-group counseling and activities) - Provide regularly scheduled data-informed lessons and activities to provide all students with the knowledge, attitudes and skills appropriate for their developmental level. School counseling curriculum topics are preventative, psychoeducational and driven by student need.

• Appraisal and Advisement - Assist students in the exploration of their abilities, interests, skills and achievements, as well as their ability to make decisions and develop immediate and long-range goals and plans.

• Counseling (Individual counseling, small-group counseling and crisis counseling) -

  • • Provide brief, developmentally appropriate, goal-focused counseling sessions to individual students that address issues related to:

      • Mental health and wellness.

      • Social and emotional development.

      • Achievement.

      • College- and career-readiness.

    • Provide ongoing small-group counseling sessions to students with similar developmental or situational challenges with the goal of improving achievement, attendance, mental health and wellness, and behavioral outcomes.

    • Provide counseling to help individual students navigate critical emergency or crisis situations.

• Consultation, Collaboration and Referrals - 

  • Provide information, insight and recommendations to individuals or teams who can support a student’s needs, or seek information from an expert about a student’s needs.

  • Work with parents, teachers, administrators, school staff members and community stakeholders to:

    • Promote achievement for a specific student.

    • Promote systemic change to address the needs of groups of students, such as underachieving or underrepresented groups of students in the school.

  • Refer students to outside providers and resources as necessary.

At Tuckahoe Middle School, school counselors work with the same group of students as they progress through their middle school years. This allows school counselors to build strong relationships with students and families. School counselors provide meaningful lessons for students on a variety of topics including, but not limited to stress/anxiety management, conflict resolution, bullying prevention, decision-making, problem-solving, goal-setting, course planning, and career exploration.