Section III

Foundational Components

Pasadena ISD Counseling Mission Statement

The Pasadena ISD counseling department empowers students to become accomplished, self-directed, collaborative, lifelong learners, who boldly contribute to an increasingly complex and evolving world. Through the participation in a comprehensive school counseling program, all students will engage in positive relationships to help create a safe learning environment. The comprehensive counseling program encourages academic rigor and career exploration in order to involve all students in self-exploration and to promote the ability to find innovative meaningful experiences that enrich students’ lives.

Definition, Rationale, and Assumptions

Definition:

The Pasadena ISD Counseling Department will support and advance the social and emotional health, as well as the college and career development of all students through the delivery of a comprehensive guidance program. Students will receive supports through individual and group counseling, guidance curriculum, along with referral services provided through a variety of community partnerships.

Rationale:

The Pasadena ISD Counseling Department promotes social/emotional and academic development to support, empower and shape positive, assertive students. The counseling program addresses competencies such as health and safety, Intra/Interpersonal effectiveness, along with college and career planning. Pasadena ISD counselors will accomplish these goals through student, staff and parent needs assessments to inform the campus comprehensive guidance program on how to best meet the needs of the school community. The professional school counselor utilizes individual and group counseling, guidance lessons, district resources, advocacy, and consultation to meet the unique and diverse needs of all students.

Assumptions:

For the Beverly Hills Intermediate counseling program to be implemented and effective, the following conditions and resources are necessary

Use of data: student/staff/parent needs assessments, campus data (discipline, attendance, achievement).
Campus supports: staff supports the role of the school counselor and all support counseling program goals.
Training: District provides relevant training to enhance the campus comprehensive guidance program and support the work of the school counselor.
Materials/Supplies: Campus budget and district supports are available to ensure curriculum and general supply needs are met.
Organizational and Communication Tools: Calendar for campus and district is communicated and organized for best planning.
District Supports: Guidelines and procedures are communicated and readily available to the school counselor.
Role of the Counselor: Campus and district support the role of the school counselor and make every effort to protect the integrity of the position.
Community Partners: Community partners exist to support the overall physical and mental health of all students

Developing Goals

A well developed comprehensive school counseling program must have goals set for each school year based on multiple points of data. At Beverly Hills Intermediate, we use surveys from teachers, students, and parents as well as our own personal observations, attendance data, and testing data to help formulate yearly goals. The counseling department meets with the administrative team at the end of each school year to review the data collected. Our student absences had increased in the years since the COVID pandemic which was greatly impacting our student's academic ability and social-emotional welfare. Beverly Hills implemented multiple strategies and interventions to help students close gaps both academically and social-emotionally during the 2022-23 school year with a heavy emphasis towards making the school climate feel welcoming and helping those struggling with attendance overcome barriers preventing coming to school.

Student Needs Assessment (Teacher Suggestions)

Student Needs Assessment 2022-23There are three School Counseling Domains of the National School Counseling Standards of the American School Counseling Association. Below are suggested topics under each domain based on the competencies suggested by the standards. Choose the ones you feel would benefit our students this year. Many of the topics can be combined into one lesson.

Parent/Guardian Needs Assessment

Family Assistance Request / Requisición de Asistencia FamiliarBeverly Hills Intermediate School

Tornado Damage Needs Survey

In January 2023, Beverly Hills was directly hit by an E3 tornado while school was session. The school had quite a bit of damage as well as some of the homes in the surrounding area. Thankfully, no one was severely injured. A needs assessment was sent out to families to find out what needs existed. We had donations of food, clothing, household items, and lots of gift cards. These were distributed to the families in need to ease the burden of this natural disaster.

Deer Park, Pasadena ISDs impacted by tornado, storm that devastated communitiesPasadena ISD will reopen all campuses today except hard-hit Beverly Hills Intermediate. Meanwhile, Deer Park ISD is offering free meals to children in the area.

BHI Family Needs Survey/ Encuesta de Necesidades Familiares de BHIIn light of the recent Severe Weather that has moved through Southeast Houston and Pasadena, we are reaching out to see if any of our BHI Families had damage and might be in need of assistance. / A la luz del clima severo reciente que se ha movido a través del sureste de Houston y Pasadena, nos comunicamos para ver si alguna de nuestras familias de BHI sufrió daños y podría necesitar asistencia.

Evaluating the Program

At the end of the school year, the BHI Counseling Advisory Council meets to review the data from the year. At this time, a new goal is formulated for the following school year. If the previous year's goal was not met satisfactorily, the goal is adjusted and new strategies and interventions are discussed. Based on needs assessments, the BHI Counseling team focused on improving attendance with a focus on those chronically missing school. Beverly Hills implemented attendance requirements for incentives. In the past, these incentives were tied solely to discipline and academics. The students greatly enjoy attending these incentives and are able to participate each grading period if they meet the requirements. Our attendance committee also made more frequent home visits to help families identify and overcome barriers to getting to school. Counselors held individual conferences with students missing frequently and set up individual plans to help the students get to school. Emphasis was also added to making the school culture welcoming so students want to attend. Counseling lessons were delivered addressing issues that may prevent students from attending school such as conflict resolution, having a growth mindset, and being a good citizen of our community. Safe School Ambassadors was utilized to meet with students who are considered peer leaders to get their input on student perception. All of these interventions led BHI to consistently ranking in the top school in Pasadena ISD for attendance.

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