BC School Counseling Program Mission Statement

The mission of the Battle Creek Elementary School Counseling Program is to provide a comprehensive, developmentally appropriate, data-driven, multi-tiered, proactive, and responsive program that creates a safe, welcoming, and caring environment, supports social-emotional, academic, and career growth, and advocates for equity and access, thus maximizing the full potential of every student.  Through collaboration with our school community, we hope to provide a program that supports our students both now and beyond their elementary years as they grow into productive, empathetic citizens.

BC School Counseling Program Vision Statement

Through their participation in a comprehensive school counseling program, all Battle Creek Elementary School students will develop a strong foundation of skills, attitudes, and knowledge in the domains of self- awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and social awareness.  These mindsets and behaviors will help Battle Creek students manage their lives as healthy, respectful, empathetic, responsible, and productive citizens who live, learn, and work in, as well as contribute to, a diverse and ever-changing world.

BC School Counseling Program Beliefs

Beliefs About Students and Their Families

• All students and families have dignity and worth and deserve to feel safe, respected, welcome, accepted, and included here at Battle Creek, regardless of race, national origin, native language, religion, disability, mobility, economic circumstance, gender identity, sexual orientation, and other characteristics.

• All students can learn and achieve when encouraged and nurtured in a safe, respectful environment.

• We are a team.  Our students will be best supported when our Battle Creek team works together with families.

• Nurturing all students’ social and emotional well-being and learning will encourage academic development and future success.

• All students should have equitable access to and opportunity for a high-quality education and a comprehensive school counseling program that helps them build a foundation of skills, attitudes, and knowledge that will prepare them to live, learn, and work in, as well as contribute to, a diverse, ever-changing world.

Beliefs About the School Counselor

• The school counselor’s role is to provide a data driven, developmental counseling program to meet the needs of all students through guidance curriculum, individual student planning, responsive services, and system support.

• All members of the Battle Creek community have the right to access services provided by the school counselor.

• School counselors are leaders, and an integral part of multiple, collaborative teams that work to ensure student success.

• The school counselor is a safe person with whom students can share concerns, accomplishments, and personal goals.

• School counselors must actively identify and help ensure additional support for children with at risk characteristics.

• School counselors advocate for all students’ success in school and life by striving to remove barriers to learning and opportunities.

• School counselors must adhere to the professional and ethical standards of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA).

• School counselors should participate in professional development activities designed to increase their knowledge and skills in the school counseling field to maintain a quality school counseling program.

Beliefs About the School Counseling Program

• School counselors must develop their program with the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) Social and Emotional Competencies, ASCA National Model, ASCA Mindsets & Beliefs, and school data in mind, and use school data to evaluate and refine program activities.

• The program should be preventative in nature and developmentally appropriate for all students.

• The program should provide instruction in the social-emotional, academic, and career domains in order to support student achievement and provide a strong foundation.

• The school counselor is not the entire school counseling program; rather, the program is developed in collaboration with and input from school staff, administration, students, and families.  Collaboration is crucial in order to plan, implement, and evaluate the school counseling program, and could not function without this teamwork. 

• By Fall 2023, the school counseling program will have an advisory committee comprised of a state certified professional school counselor as well as representatives from the school and the community for planning, coordinating, and evaluating the program.