Overview

Individual and Group Counseling

 A counselor’s role is to assist in clearing the way for each student to have a happy and educationally successful year. Sometimes issues such as work habits, friendships, behavior, stress, difficulty managing schoolwork & busy schedules, or events taking place in the home can impede that goal. We encourage you to let us know if there are any major changes in your family life (such as illness or divorce) so that we can be alerted and, hopefully, more sensitized to your child’s needs during a difficult time.  Please feel free to contact us if you have any worries about your child. Also – we want to urge you to contact us if your child feels he/she is being bullied. We have a very unique and effective way of dealing with bullying that really has turned students’ lives around. Please do not wait too long before contacting us, because we don’t want students to suffer any longer than they need to. We are very happy to try to help so that our students can feel safe and supported here at school.

Seeing students and parents one-to-one is, of course, a big part of a counselor’s job. We encourage students to take the initiative to sign-up to see us in the office by submitting a slip in the counseling box when they would like a friendly ear in sorting out a vexing problem.  Several counseling groups are generally conducted each year but the focus isn’t always the same. We also have a counseling intern program to provide more regularly scheduled support for students that have been identified to as needing more support.

All-Calls

If you have a question or concern  in one particular class, please contact the teacher directly. If you have a concern in many or most of your child’s classes, feel free to call us to discuss the possibility of setting up a teacher conference that we refer to as an “all call.” Counselors are responsible for scheduling and facilitating these meetings held at 8am in the morning before school. 

Resources and Referrals

Counselors provide support for students and families both in and out of school. Feel free to check out our Resource page, at your convenience. Contact us for other referrals, if needed. 

Advisory  Meetings

Did you know that every week, students engage in social emotional learning during Advisory class on Wednesdays? The focus of advisory is framed for each grade level by a specific through line:

5th Grade: Independence: How can I take charge of myself and contribute in all of my communities?

6th Grade: Impact:  How do my choices and actions effect me, my family and my community?

7th Grade: Perseverance:  How can I learn from my mistakes and grow?

8th Grade: Legacy:  How do my actions and words define my character?