Counselor Job Description      

Role and Primary Function:      

The Counselor works within a collaborative team setting to ensure that the following services are provided to students:     

• Personal/Social/Academic Advisement  
• College/Career Planning Advisement   
• Scholarship information  
• Testing (Educational, Vocational, Psychological)  
• Scheduling (Course Planning/programming)  
• Programs associated with social and emotional wellness   
• Maintain confidentiality of information and clearly communicate to others the need for, limits of, and the reason for confidentiality standards.  
• Perform additional assignments/tasks/initiatives as needed by the Assistant Principal of Student Support, the Assistant Principal of Curriculum and Instruction,  and the Assistant Head of School and Head of School.  
• Represent and model professional behavior for all communication pertaining to the counseling department.

More specifically, a school counselor must be proficient at the following services:

1. Personal Counseling:   

• Understanding self/building self-esteem   
• Maximizing one's abilities     
• Physical and mental health problems   
• Family concerns   
• Interpersonal/social skills   
• Support groups   
• Therapeutic Referrals   
• Resource materials   

2. Academic Counseling:      

• Achievement and academic progress review and support    
• Quarterly review of D/F list and meet with parents and students as needed
• Complete academic probation contracts and share with Assistant Principal
• Resource for tutoring services      
• Parent/teacher/student conferences      
• Identifying learning difficulties      
• Coordinating classroom accommodations      
• Coordinating home study/independent study programs      
• Concurrent enrollment (Adult schools and/or community colleges)      
• Study skills evaluation          

3. Academic Scheduling:       

• Meet individually with every student to review potential course selection
• Make schedule changes as needed 
• Review and refer to the Course Description Guide for pre-requisite  
• Create programming around the scheduling process to ensure a smooth registration (coordinate grade level workshops, parent programs, marketing, etc)
• Communicate with academic departments and administration with questions or concerns 

4. College & Career Counseling:       

• College selection and admissions procedures   
• Write Letters of Recommendation    
• College Information Presentations for Parents/Students      
• Individual student meetings for college preparation      
• Arranging for college representatives to visit campus      
• Maintain resource materials/college catalogs      
• Provide information about testing procedures, interpretations, and timelines (AP, SAT, ACT, etc)      
• Provide students with career planning assessments & interpretation
• Explore career options resources      
• Offer workshops to support student understanding about career environments using current career trends (Holland Codes, Myers Briggs, etc)
• Supervision and administration of scholarship resources (currently through Naviance
• Collect and maintain historical data on college admissions decisions via Naviance including administering the senior graduation survey       

5. Referrals:      

• Tutoring programs      
• Psychological services and agencies      
• Therapists, Psychologists, Psychiatrists      
• Child Welfare programs      
• Alcohol and other drug counseling programs          

 Direct Supervisor: The Assistant Principal of Student Support