Counselor

What is an elementary school counselor?

• A certified, specially trained professional educator that serves ALL students in the school
• A special friend when a child needs someone to listen
• A caring person who provides help and guidance to teachers, parents, students, and administrators
• Someone who counsels with students both individually and in groups

What does an elementary school counselor do?

• Conducts a comprehensive and developmentally appropriate counseling program
• Conducts staff development for faculty
• Utilizes referral services and community resources
• Conducts parent and teacher conferences
• Provides classroom lessons to each class under the domains of social-emotional learning, career and college exploration, and academic skills such as organization and goal setting
• Works with identified groups of children with specific needs to provide both proactive and responsive interventions
• Provides brief, solutions-focused individual counseling to students
• Provides individual counseling to
  • help students develop effective communication skills
  • help students develop positive interpersonal relationship skills
  • help students develop positive coping and self-regulation skills
  • help students set positive goals, exercise responsibility and improve academic success
  • help provide support during a crisis

A child may see the counselor for:

• Review and discussion of academic need
• Any problems that they may have that are impacting academic performance
• Divorce or changing family issues
• A loss of a family member or close friend
• Decision-making and problem-solving skills
• Improvement and aid in the development of positive self-esteem
• Family concerns or fears
• Developing and increasing social and organizational skills as it relates to academic performance