The Pottsboro Counseling team welcomes you to a fantastic school year full of Cardinal Pride! Throughout your high school experience, you will find our services to be an integral part of your education. We will work diligently alongside students and parents to engage students, foster achievement and inspire excellence throughout their high school years. Please know you are an extension of our team and we look forward to assisting with your academic, personal/social and college/career needs!
Your Pottsboro School Counselors Are:
• Child advocates who work collaboratively with parents, students, teachers, administrators and communities.
• Educational specialists who assist students with their academic, career development and personal/social areas.
The Goals of the Pottsboro School Counseling Department Are:
• To assist students with educational, personal, career and goal planning.
• To help students understand themselves and others.
• To assist students in identifying and dealing with problems.
• To provide crisis intervention when necessary.
• To coordinate referrals to school and community support services.
• To serve as a resource to students, parents, teachers, and administrators.
Some Reasons to Contact Your Child’s School Counselor Are:
• Academic skills support
• Post-secondary planning and application process
• School adjustment issues
• Coping, problem-solving,decision-making concerns
• Peer relationships and conflict resolution problems
• Divorce, separation and family changes
• Experiencing loss, death and grief
• School-based and community resources information or referrals
The Professional School Counselor
Professional school counselors recognize that each student possesses unique interests, abilities and goals that that will lead to many future opportunities. Collaborating with students, families, educational staff and the community, the professional school counselor works to ensure all students develop an academic and career plan reflecting their interests, abilities and goals and including rigorous, relevant coursework and experiences appropriate for the student.
Rationale
Academic and college/career planning provides all students with the opportunity to identify strengths, areas in need of improvement and areas of interest early on so students and their families can set post-secondary goals and make informed choices to support students in reaching the desired outcome. The focus of academic and career planning is threefold: to help students acquire the skills to achieve academic success, to make connections between school and life experiences and to acquire knowledge and skills to be college and career ready upon high school graduation.
The Professional School Counselor’s Role
Professional school counselors understand national, state and local requirements and programs that may affect future opportunities for college and career readiness and therefore play a critical role in academic and career planning. The professional school counselor takes a proactive role in assisting students, families and staff as they assess student strengths and interests and encourage the selection of a rigorous and relevant educational program supporting all students’ college and career goals. Professional school counselors provide all students the opportunity to:
• Demonstrate skills needed for school success.
• Demonstrate the connection between coursework and life experiences.
• Make course selections that allow them the opportunity to choose from a wide range of postsecondary options.
• Explore interests and abilities in relation to knowledge of self and the world of work.
• Identify and apply strategies to achieve future academic and career success.
• Demonstrate the skills for successful goal setting and attainment.
• Develop an electronic portfolio to highlight strengths and interests.
Summary
Professional school counselors collaborate with administrators, teachers, staff, families and the community to ensure all students have the opportunity to design a rigorous and relevant academic and career program. Professional school counselors design and implement a comprehensive school counseling program that includes educational and career planning activities for all students designed to assist students in reaching academic, career and personal/social goals.