Program, Definition, Rationale & Assumptions

Definition: The Horn HS Counseling Department will work with teachers, administrators and specialists in our school to provide students with a comprehensive counseling program. The counselors will develop and lead guidance curriculum, support responsive interventions, consult and coordinate with students to be successful inside and outside of school, and coordinate with parent/guardians to facilitate their involvement in the education process. Students will be able to demonstrate healthy social/emotional traits and characteristics, become productive and responsible members of their community as they transition to adulthood, and achieve academic success.

Rationale: In order for students to learn, they must be able to do so socially and emotionally as well as academically. In order to be successful academically, students must be proficient in intrapersonal, interpersonal, post-secondary planning and career readiness, and personal health and safety competencies. JHHS Counselors help students identify their unique strengths and weaknesses and build skills to facilitate success in and out of the classroom. We strive to help our students prepare for and find their paths to career and/or postsecondary success. We use data from teachers, input from parents and students, student grade reports, and assessment results to best prepare appropriate interventions and individual guidance for students. JHHS Counselors employ accepted counseling trends and counseling theories to guide and advise our students through our comprehensive counseling services.

Assumptions: For the Horn HS Comprehensive School Counseling Program to be fully and effectively implemented, the following programmatic conditions and resources are necessary.

• Appropriately trained and certified school counselors

• Appropriate support staff

• Use of Skyward to track time used in direct student support, planning, collaboration, and non-counseling related services

• Clearly defined roles within the counseling department, At-Risk Coordinators, the Registrar, Advanced Academic Coordinator and support staff

• Removal of responsibilities and administrative/clerical duties that do not support the mission and goals of the counseling program

• Needs assessments from teachers, students and parents to adequately plan counseling programming

• School counseling specific budget

• Training opportunities to develop school specific plans to meet needs of the current school population

• Offices that promote confidentiality and provide an environment conducive to counseling and parent conferences

• Software to facilitate and expedite the Section 504 paperwork and implementation

Evaluating Our Program

The school counseling center will evaluate each SMART goal set in the counseling program. At the conclusion of the year we will evaluate a needs assessment of the teachers, staff and community to ascertain where the gaps in programming lie. At the conclusion of each parent information meeting, we will have attendees complete an evaluation that evaluates the presenter, information provided and further needs of the attendees. The CAC will look at these evaluations when planning and developing future sessions. The counseling center will also look at data and goals from attendance reports, discipline, CIP, CCMR and the district goals. Evaluation of this data will allow the counseling center to create goals for the next year and determine what further development is needed.