SHES Guidance

National School Counseling Week

February 7th-11, 2011

Wow! It's hard to believe half of the year is over already. This has been a great year so far full of success, great memories and fun for students and staff!

            Please enjoy an overview of some of the things we have done and will be doing for the remainder of the year!

            If you have questions or need assistance please contact me, via email at linderki@pcsb.org, or you can call me at the school.

School Counselors Wear Many Hats:

 Resource referrals - connect students and families to outside agencies as needed

 504 Coordinator - provides accommodations for students as needed

 RtI Coordinator -Working with others to develop strategies to promote success for all students

 Tier 3 Intervention Coordinator - new this year to my role; coordinate interventions for students who need additional academic and behavioral support

 Bully Prevention

 Crisis Intervention

 School Counseling Support (see below)

School Counseling Support

We do have a number of support programs in place at SHES. These programs are intended to eliminate "barriers to learning". In other words, there are times when social, emotional, or physical problems might make it difficult or impossible for a child to learn. We try to eliminate those barriers by providing support for children and families. Sometimes it can be confusing for families what those services are and/or how to access them.

I hope the following information will be of help to you:

As your guidance counselor, I teach life skills such as character development, social skills, bullying, problem solving, personal safety, etc. in all of the classrooms. In addition, I provide small group counseling, individual counseling, parental support, and staff support. Small groups will be based on the needs of our students (for example, anxiety, stress management, changing families, organizational skills, friendship skills, anger management, etc. Small group times are arranged with staff for minimal class interruption. I will typically meet five or six times with groups. Individual students may self-refer or be referred by staff or parents. I provide short-term counseling, crisis intervention and problem-solving skills. If a student needs more than short term support, I refer parents to a community agency. If your child says that s/he met with the counselor, please don't be concerned! I often help children with "quick and easy" problem-solving. If you do not hear from me, know that the situation was a typical elementary school problem. However, if there is a concern and/or I would like to work with your child to help with an on-going problem, I will send a letter home or call you so that we can work as a team. Parents need to know that confidentiality is a part of the counseling process; however, I may ask permission to share information with a child's teacher if it would be in the student's best interest.

 Super Stars - Continued from last year, this recognition program gives opportunities for students to shine in areas of behavior, academics and character traits. Winners will receive a  certificate, a "Super Star" to wear all day, their picture displayed on the "Super Star" bulletin board and recognition on the morning announcements

 Bully Prevention -The priority of Pinellas County Schools is bully prevention and at SHES we will continue to utilize our reporting system as well as the investigative procedures as defined by the Prevention Department of Pinellas County.

 Bringing Up Grades (BUGS) - This program, sponsored by Kiwanis, is designed to promote academic achievement in school. The program is based on the student's report card and the first report card will be our baseline. All non-honor roll/non-principal’s list students who raise at least one letter grade while maintaining their remaining grades will be recognized and celebrated in a variety of ways.

 Guidance in a Bag - This program offers a variety of benefits including reading, life lessons and character building. Each class will receive a "Guidance in a Bag" that will circulate throughout the classroom. Students are encouraged to bring the bag home, read the character based story with a family member, review the discussion questions and bring it back the next day for the next student to enjoy.

 L.I.L. G.I.R.L  T.A.L.K - This program is for young ladies that are willing to share their own personal experiences with other young ladies in order to become and remain successful students and productive citizens. This programpromotes academic achievement, encourages positive behaviors, enhances self-discipline, develops self-esteem and build relationships of young ladies.

 Response to Intervention (RtI)

     Perhaps you have heard the term RtI around schools lately. RtI stands for Response to Intervention. Pinellas County Schools is excited to adopt the Problem Solving and Response to Intervention model as a way to make sure all children are making academic progress.

     In the problem solving process, teams meet to discuss student needs, based on data, and develop appropriate interventions too meet those needs. The more extensive the problem, the more intensive the intervention.  The data used includes a series of assessments designed to pinpoint specific areas of academic need. Then, more assessments are used to monitor progress.

     All schools, K-12, in Pinellas County are adopting this model. The goal is student success, both academically and behaviorally. While this is a brief and significantly abbreviated explanation of the process, know that if your child struggles, you will work closely with his teacher, and possibly with the intervention team, to meet his needs.

     We are excited to implement this process and look forward to using our resources to ensure student success.

Resources

Current times the way they are, many families are suffering a temporary set back and might need some help.  It is important that children have their basic needs met in order to learn at school.

There are numerous resources available throughout the county for families in need. Thrift stores provide clothing, food banks can help with grocery needs, along with many other resources for temporary assistance.  

 The Department of Children and Families has an Economic Services division which helps with food stamps and medical assistance and Tampa Bay 211 provides information on helpful resources. Reach them by dialing 211 on your phone, or via the internet at www.211tampabay.org.

  Clothes to Kidsis a resource that is available to low income families. If you need a referral for Clothes to Kids, please contact me. Families can "shop" for new and gently used clothing, free, twice a year. You must have a referral and an appointment to shop. For additional resources please feel free to contact me.