School Counselors' Network

"School counselors are key agents, both directly and indirectly, in promoting advocacy with and for students with disabilities. Directly, school counselors can support students with disabilities in helping them recognize their strengths and develop self-advocacy skills. These skills can assist students in navigating through systemic barriers and difficult experiences imposed on them due to stigma and/or ignorance about disabilities."

From Advocacy for All: Serving Students with Disabilities By Taqueena Quintana, Ed.D., and Jenna Alvarez, Ph.D. | October 2019

Welcome to YOUR School Counselors' (SCN) Network!!

We want YOU to know that this is YOUR network. This is about what YOU need and that OUR job is to facilitate that in the best, most effective way possible.

Access Resources Here

Timely Resources & Opportunites

Counseling Permission - Building Trust with Parents

"One of the biggest challenges with school counseling isn’t the sessions themselves. It’s getting started. Before a student can join, you need to explain the service to parents, get the counseling permission slip signed, and then coordinate with teachers. Those first steps are often where things stall."

Read More Here

Shifting Our Mindset On Student Behavior

3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode:

How to shift your mindset about challenging student behaviors and see the messages behind them.
Practical strategies for training and supporting staff, including paraprofessionals, so everyone responds consistently.
Ways to partner with parents and administrators while maintaining learning for all students, even when behaviors escalate.

Listen Here

MTSP Environmental Assessment

The MTSP for Schools Environmental Assessment supports EDC's Multi-Tiered Suicide Prevention for Schools approach by helping school districts evaluate their current suicide prevention efforts across all levels of support. Educators can use the tool to identify strengths and gaps to guide planning and improve practices. The tool comes with a companion guide and 2022-2024 assessment data.

Access Resources Here

"The VCU Autism Center for Education is inviting Virginia residents to enroll in Evidence-Based Practices to Teach Students with ASD, a free online course running from September 8 to October 13, 2025. Designed for educators, this course provides an overview of effective instruction, appropriate skill selection, and evidence-based practices, focusing on the “foundational five”: antecedent-based interventions, visual supports, systematic instruction, and strategies to promote social and communication skills."

Register Here

REGISTRATION OPEN!!

Section 504 Training: From Eligibility to Implementation

Date: Wednesday, September 24, 2025

Time: 9:00 am-12:00 pm

Where: Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center:1 Partnership Cir., Abingdon, VA

Download Flyer

REGISTRATION OPEN!!

Section 504 Training: From Eligibility to Implementation

Date: Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Time: 9:00 am-12:00 pm

Where: The Village Center at Warm Hearth, 2387 Warm Hearth Dr, Blacksburg, VA 24060

Download Flyer Here

Join our ABC ~123 Behavior Change email group . The purpose of ABC~123 is to share three ideas that teachers can use to support students with challenging behavior. These three ideas will be delivered to your email box each week! We hope these ideas help you to more effectively address challenging behaviors. Please join and invite others who may benefit from these weekly helpful strategies. You can email jebaldw3@vt.edu with any suggestions on topics you would like to see more about in the future.

Join the growing Region 6 & 7 Network of support and professional learning for School Counselors in Virginia. Receive weekly updates connected to our SCN website, where we work to keep you aware of important information from the VDOE and as well as the latest resources and leadership opportunities specifically for YOU. As a network, we want you to be able to connect and learn form one another, so please share your ideas for future SCN sessions and let us know what resources you need. Thanks for all you do!

Join us for an incredible interview with Traci Smith, Coordinator of Student Support and Mental Health, with Washington County where she shares about her journey & their amazing school counselors !!

LISTEN HERE - School Counseling Week

School Counselors' Network

Welcome to YOUR School Counselors' (SCN) Network!!

Timely Resources & Opportunites

Counseling Permission - Building Trust with Parents

REGISTRATION OPEN!!

Section 504 Training: From Eligibility to Implementation

REGISTRATION OPEN!!

Section 504 Training: From Eligibility to Implementation

SIGN UP FOR OTHER AMAZING RESOURCES!!!!

CLICK ON THE ARROW TO SEE ALL OF THE GREAT RESOURCE NEWSLETTERS

Level Up (SCHEV and VDOE)

Anxiety & Depression Association of America Newsletter

Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities National Training Center Newsletter

CASEL's SEL Inbox weekly newsletter

SAMHSA's National Training and Technical Assistance Center for Child, Youth, and Family Mental Health (NTTAC) Newsletter / (NEW NTTAC Website)

National Alliance on Mental Illness/Virginia

National Center for School Mental Health Newsletter and Listserv

Center on the Developing Child: Harvard University

Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center Newsletter

Progress Center

Please let us know if you would like to see additional resources added to the tabs listed above so far.

Jen Baldwin at jebaldw3@vt.edu and Natalie Mey at nmey22@vt.edu