Counseling Curriculum

Overview of Program

The purpose of the Chocksett Middle School Counseling Program Curriculum is to provide students with a comprehensive, age appropriate and standards -based delivery of social/emotional lessons that foster a safe learning environment and promote student success in the areas of:

• Recognizing and managing their emotions

• Demonstrating care and concern for others

• Establishing positive relationships

• Making responsible decisions and

• Constructively handle challenging social situations

With greater awareness of self and others, students are able to improve their focus on their studies and improve individual performance. Improved social skills have been shown to correlate with students’ increased time-on-task with higher achievement scores and higher grades. Other key findings link Social/Emotional learning to instill greater motivation to learn, deeper commitment to school, increased time devoted to school work, better classroom behavior, and improved attendance and graduation rates. The curriculum provided addresses the core domains of social and emotional development as outlined by CASEL casel.org/core-competencies/ which include: self awareness, social awareness, self management, relationship skills, and responsible decision- making.

In addition, the Counseling Program Curriculum supports and is an integral part of the Wachusett Regional School District’s Strategic Plan, which focuses on promoting student’s social, emotional and health needs by providing a healthy school climate, building an understanding of social, emotional and physical health as factors affecting learning, and promoting students ability to utilize their knowledge and skills to maximize their learning potential.