Middle School Counseling
Sensitive to the physical, social, emotional, and intellectual changes of emerging adolescents, middle school counselors work proactively and cooperatively with all students and their families to address individual needs and ensure school success.
- In addition to counseling, consulting and making referrals, they advise students on course selection, conduct orientation and transition to high school workshops
- Coordinate career awareness activities that may include the use of the interest inventories, worksite visits and Career Days
- Facilitate parent-team conferences
Individual Counseling
In confidential setting, students are assisted in understanding their feelings, attitudes, concerns, and behaviors. Counselors establish a relationship characterized by respect, understanding, openness, acceptance and trust.
Group Counseling
Group counseling may assist students experience commonly shared concerns and/or developmental difficulties in areas such as interpersonal relationships with peers and/or adults, school attendance, academic achievement, or coping with life changes such as grief and loss.
Classroom Guidance
Through a series of planned classroom learning experience, counselors assist teachers with meaningful activities targeting the personal, social, academic, and career development of all students. In the fall, counselors will spend 2 days in the classrooms presenting the students with information on bullying, teasing, and sexual harassment. In addition, in January and February counselors will review/create with students their 6 year plan as well as course selection for the upcoming year.
Consultation
Counselors may confer directly with teachers, parents, administration and other helping professionals to help students in the school setting. In this role, the counselor helps others to assists the student in dealing more effectively with developmental or adjustment needs.
Coordination
Counselors are responsible for the coordination of various services and activities ion the school. Examples of these activities include crisis intervention programs, parent and student orientation and education programs, parenting skills courses and peer mediation programs. Counselors often coordinate referrals to the school psychologist, social worker and various community agencies.
Developmental Guidance and Counseling Program
The developmental guidance and counseling program in Arlington Public Schools is composed of organized objectives and activities, based upon the National Standards for School Counseling Programs. The curriculum nay be presented in classrooms or advisory groups. The objectives may be integrated into subject-area curriculum.
The curriculum includes:
Understanding of self (interests, abilities, skills, achievements and personal characteristics.
Understanding one's behavior and learning the consequences of that behavior
Understanding and working with people
Goal setting and the decision- making process
Developing appropriate habits and attitudes
Developing awareness of careers, and
Developing test-taking abilities.
Home and School in Partnerships
A positive relationship between school and home fosters the academic, social, and emotional growth of children.
School Counselors
Seek to involved parents in the school program
Invite parents to review the school counseling program
Obtain parental consent for individual or group counseling
Protect the privacy of information shared by parents and children; and
Inform parents of situations or behaviors that may harm their child.
Counselors Recommend:
Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids to parents of rising 9th graders and high school students. For more than a year, Alexandra Robbins followed nine students who attended her alma mater, Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland. She delivers a poignant, funny, riveting narrative that explores how our high-stakes educational culture has spiraled out of control.
