The Texas Model for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs encompasses four general curricular content areas:

Interpersonal Effectiveness

Intrapersonal Effectiveness

Personal Health and Safety

Postsecondary Education and Career Readiness

The following sections will highlight the practices to promote the four curricular content areas that integrate the Weslaco ISD Emotional Intelligence Framework focused on the core competencies:

Motivation

Self-Awareness

Self-Regulation

Social Skills

Data Used to Design Lessons

Weslaco High School Counselors used data to make informed decisions when planning the guidance curriculum for the 2023-2024 school year. During our Spring meeting, we discussed student coping and mental health. We noticed increased student outreach and parents seeking information on drugs, alcohol, and mental health concerns. We reviewed the number of students sent to the Horton Campus, our disciplinary alternative education program, and South Palm Gardens, our Alternative Education Campus. We also saw increased mental health referrals from tier 2 to tier 3 services. 

Multi-tiered systems of Support (MTSS) is the framework we follow to provide services to WISD students. Mental health services are integrated into the MTSS framework. Based on this framework, the promotion of mental health and prevention of occurrences of problems are done in Tier 1 (Guidance/SEL/advisory lessons). Tier 2 focuses on preventing risk factors or early onset problems from progressing (Group counseling/Individual Counseling), and Tier 3 focuses on individual student interventions that address more serious concerns and prevent worsening symptoms that can impact daily functioning: restorative circle referral, LPC referral, or outside agency referral.

Restorative Circles

A restorative circle is a way to repair relationship harm done by 2 or more students. The primary goal is to bring parties together to address conflict through conversation, and restorative circles help to facilitate that conversation. They promote dialogue where all parties can speak as equals. Unlike conventional discipline strategies, restorative circles allow students to understand how their behavior affects others while being heard. Students in a restorative conversation are encouraged to be open and honest about their perspectives regarding a conflict, how they have been harmed, and how they think others might have been hurt. Students also work together to devise ways to fix the harm done and restore relationships. Students’ counselors and administrators who are external to the group but support the students in the group are also included. 

When are restorative circles used?

Restorative Circles allow students to gather to respond to wrongdoing or conflict. The impacted individuals discuss what happened, its impact on them, and what is needed to make things right. Common examples include statements, actions, or incidents that cause direct or indirect conflict or miscommunication that are witnessed in a classroom. Restorative circles allow every participant to speak and be heard. There is a clearer understanding of what and why something may have happened. This kind of equity helps students become aware of themselves, learn empathy, and discover change is possible and that support is there.  

In these circles, each person speaks one at a time, going around clockwise or counter-clockwise direction. The structure is as simple as it gets but quickly establishes equality in the room. The facilitator usually asks the questions, and each person answers one at a time. Once these questions are responded to, the structure may change to more of a discussion-based conversation to ensure everyone’s needs are met.  We value restorative circles to discipline rather than punishments that often disconnect students from the classroom, their education, and ultimately themselves.

Essential Elements of Circles

Circle – participants are seated in a circle formation.

Agreements – guiding principles participants agree to follow while in the circle.

Facilitator – facilitator(s) who will hold the circle accountable to the circle agreements.

Opening and Closing – marks the circle as a separate space from daily life.

Guiding Questions – the topic of focus within the circle.

Circle Order – participants take turns talking, which allows for equal opportunity to share their stories and listen to others. 

WISD MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES (ESPANOL)          WISD MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES (ENGLISH)