~ISM's Guidance and Counseling Department Overview~
The mission of the ISM Guidance and Counseling Department is to help each student realize his/her full potential as a unique human being. We believe that a student’s well being is directly related to a positive self-image developed through continuous experiences of challenge, achievement, and success. This belief requires consideration of the whole person - his/her physical, emotional, social and educational development. It is the function of the ISM Guidance and Counseling Department to facilitate the well-being of all students.
The goal of the ISM Guidance and Counseling Department is to help the individual student achieve academic and life success. This is the done with respect to the ISM School Wide Expected Student Learning Results (ESLR’s) where we expected students to work to the best of their ability to be:
- Constructive, critical and comprehensive thinkers.
- Effective communicators
- Knowledgeable and responsible citizens
- Respectful, enthusiastic, and life-long learners.
Who are Guidance Counselors?
They have university graduate level training in guidance and counseling. They are child advocates and qualified to provide confidential and professional support services to students, teachers, parents and the community.
What is the job of Guidance Counselors?
- Conducting individual and group counseling and follow-up with students, teachers and parents in the areas of:
1. Academic/Behavioral
2. Personal/Social
3. College and Career
- Interviewing and placing new students.
- Conducting orientation and grade level transition programs with students and parents.
- Teaching classroom guidance lessons.
- Preparing crisis management and intervention strategies.
- Participating in Child/Student Study Team meetings to discuss special needs of students and to develop intervention strategies.
- Consulting with the teachers, parents and Building Principal Team with regards to:
1. Classroom Management
2. Parenting Skills
3. Community Resources
4. Scheduling and Sectioning
5. Adjustment to a new environment
6. ESL and LS placements
Why are Guidance Counselors necessary?
Schools increasingly need to be responsive and caring places to help all students through many transitions to become competent adults.
ISM, with over 50 student nationalities represented, has its own unique multi-cultural environment. The guidance counselor is sensitive to this situation and helps through counseling, consultation and coordination.
The guidance counselor has special skills, resources and the overview to ensure that students’ personal, social and intellectual needs are met. They are also al ink between school and community resources and agencies.
The guidance counselor is trained to provide confidential and student-centered services as well as counseling-related programs.
How do they support classroom teachers?
A considerable amount of time is devoted to consulting with teachers, parents and administrators. Through effective us of consultation, the counselor can impact greater numbers of students than would be possible through solitary efforts. Consultation may include such topics as children with attention or motivational issues, withdrawn children, children having trouble adjusting to a new environment, and children who are dealing with difficulties at home (such as divorcing or absent parents, issues around adoption, etc), classroom management techniques, effective classroom activities, standardized testing procedures and preparation activities.
How do I speak with a Guidance Counselor?
It’s always best to call for an appointment, but if you are in the school, please drop in to see if the counselor is available. It is also possible to contact the counselor via email or telephone. |