Fort Bend ISD School Counseling Mission Statement

Our mission is to support every student in Fort Bend ISD to achieve mental wellness, academic, and personal success in K-12 education and prepare for his or her post-secondary goals and aspirations. 

Definition

The Missouri City Middle School counseling department integrates the framework of the Texas Model for Comprehensive School Counseling to effectively provide classroom guidance lessons, individual conferences, restorative practices, academic achievement, goal setting, career planning and support for social, and emotional challenges.  We use campus specific data to identify the unique needs of our campus and design various lessons and activities to meet those needs at every grade level.  Additionally, we use competencies from the four areas of the Texas Model, Personal Health and Safety, Post- Secondary Planning and Readiness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, and Intrapersonal Effectiveness, to adequately address developmental areas to enhance students’ educational, career, personal, and social progress through the following: 

• Group and individual counseling to encourage students to make appropriate decision-making choices and problem-solving skills 

• Consistent services to motivate all students to set and reach personal goals   

• Emphasis on quality programs to teach students effective conflict resolution strategies through restorative practices and circle groups 

• Student goal attainment through the development of SMART, career, and social goals 

• Developmental curriculum to promote a positive and healthy learning environment  

• Project Wisdom character education to help students build self-confidence and self-worth 

• Check and Connect with students to build relationships, encourage school attendance, and provided needed resources 

• Promote knowledge and awareness of post-secondary education, college, and career readiness 

• Celebrate academic achievements and student of the month recognitions  

• Collaborate with all school staff, parents, and community members to incorporate the “whole child” concept, which includes all the aspects of a child’s well-being, social-emotional, physical, creative, and cognitive capacities

Missouri City Middle School’s administrators, teachers and staff members are committed to building life-long learners through a holistic approach to learning. Our counseling department supports our school mission to foster high academic performance, while developing students of character and integrity to meet the challenges of everyday life. We consistently collaborate with all stakeholders to ensure that students acquire knowledge, skills, and values necessary to become productive members of society.  With focus on working as a cohesive team, we use our campus-wide motto, “We Not Me,” to equip our students with an awareness and sensitivity to all cultures and to cultivate an appreciation for global diversity in a safe and secure environment.  All new and returning students at every grade level hear positive affirmations, Project Wisdom character education quotes, and two of our school mottos in daily morning announcements.  One of our campus administrators, a grade level counselor and our student news crew members keep our campus updated with daily news and school events.  At the end of each daily announcements, we boldly declare, “We love you at MCMS where we go from Good to Great…Whatever it Takes!  We NOT Me, Cougars!” 

Assumptions

Missouri City Middle School’s comprehensive counseling program, lessons, activities and overall delivery process utilizes the following resources: 

• Campus administration to support and collaborate with the counseling team to implement school-wide programs through the Anti-Defamation  League – No Place for Hate, Project Wisdom character education, Student of the Month recognitions, Honor Roll celebrations, Social Emotional Wellness programs, campus based needs assessment, and counseling program surveys. 

• We use the Texas Model as a developmental framework to understand our role as a professional school counselor to meet our students’ educational, career, personal, and social development. We cooperate with other campus activities to support, monitor, and keep our school safe and secure. 

• We work closely with our teachers, librarian, and campus technology facilitator to gain access to classroom and technology to present, implement, and teach guidance lessons.  We engage students and teachers in various activities to help students achieve their goals.  

• We also collaborate with our teachers and parents to help facilitate the needs assessment, implement pre-assessments, and post-assessments.  Our parents and teachers proactively engage in helping us with Career Day, No Place for Hate activities, Section 504 grade level meetings, and parent night. 

• We use our counseling budget to obtain resources and purchase celebratory incentives  to keep our students engaged and motivated.  We also use our budget to attend out of district professional development programs and conferences. 

• We use our Cougar Counseling Calming Corner to meet with individual students, groups, and parents in a confidential setting. We also meet as a counseling team to plan, create, and assign duties to each grade level counselor to meet the needs of our students. 

• We regularly Check and Connect with our students to express affirmations and support their over all well-being in the learning environment. 

• We receive support from the administrative team to have adequate time to meet with students in crisis and consult with district administrators if additional guidance and clarification is needed to best handle the student’s crisis.