SEL Lessons: Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is an integral part of the elementary school counseling program and important to every student’s academic, social and emotional success. In order to help promote social, emotional and academic success, topics discussed in SEL classroom lessons include; respect and responsibility, growth mindset, emotional identification and regulation, personal safety, drug awareness and prevention, kindness, friendship and conflict resolution, career identification, etc. These lessons are preventative in nature, designed to reach all students, and are taught in the classroom weekly (currently virtually)by the counselor.
Individual Counseling: School counselors are available to meet individually with a student in circumstances when a student's educational success is being impacted. The school counselor spends time working with individual students to improve their social skills, discuss feelings, and to empower problem solving methods. Elementary school counselors assist ALL children. While a counselor cannot provide on-going counseling, it may be appropriate for a student to receive short-term individual counseling. When more attention and intervention is required, school counselors can act as a referral agent for parents to access counseling services within the community.
Small Group Counseling: The purpose of small group counseling is to enhance students' learning by improving their perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors. Small group counseling provides a safe setting where children, along with their peers, can increase their self-awareness and improve their cooperation and communication skills. The children can learn from each other. Ultimately the goal of small group counseling is to prevent problems in the future by teaching children new skills. Every child can benefit from participation in a small group. Students can be invited to join a group by parent request, teacher or counselor suggestion. During Distance Learning, small groups will be conducted virtually for approximately 20 minutes per week. Permission slips will be sent to families electronically.
