Counseling and Social-Emotional Learning

Professional school counselors work with students on academic, career, and social-emotional growth, guiding them to be successful and responsible in society. Professional School Counselors use various resources, like professional development, research, professional & ethical standards, social-emotional learning standards, and strong relationships to help advocate for student needs. District counselors collaborate with each other to help provide common instruction that covers state-mandated topics. They also collaborate with administrators and teachers at the building level to identify needs specific to each building. School counselor contacts can be found on the individual school web pages linked under “Schools” from the district home page. 

Elementary counselors visit each classroom weekly for 30-minute lessons on social-emotional topics, school behavioral expectations, academic success, and future/career planning. Teachers reinforce these lessons over the course of the school year. Secondary counselors create and share bi-monthly lessons on age-appropriate but similar topics, with the addition of planning & preparing for training, college, and life after high school.

In addition to universal lessons taught to all students at each grade level, district counselors also use behavior and bi-annual social-emotional survey data to identify students for targeted, small group interventions and/or individual interventions, based on student need and available resources. Our counselors also work closely with community counseling agencies to help refer students and families to community organizations that can assist with more intensive therapeutic needs.

Professional school counselors strictly adhere to student confidentiality laws. Should a student report that he/she is thinking about harming himself, herself, or another person, counselors are obligated to notify proper authorities and parents/guardians, and may contact emergency or crisis services to protect the safety of the student.

Please note: According to BOE 7:250, students age 12 or older may access professional school counseling services without parent/guardian consent. In addition, all school counselors are designated as the resource person(s) for students who are parents, expectant parents, or victims of domestic or sexual violence, and can offer support services to these students.

For more information on state guidance for social-emotional learning, visit the state board of education website at https://www.isbe.net/sel.