School Counseling is...

A profession that focuses on the relations and interactions between students and their school environment with the expressed purpose of reducing the effect of environmental and institutional barriers that impede student academic success.

The profession fosters conditions that ensure educational equity, access, and academic success for all students K-12. To accomplish this function, the trained school counselor  must be an assertive advocate creating opportunities for all students to nurture dreams of high aspirations. They assist students in their academic, social, emotional and personal development, and help them to define the best pathways to successfully achieve their dreams.

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Serving as leaders, as well as effective team members, school counselors work with  teachers, administrators and other school personnel to make sure that each student succeeds. As consultants, they can empower families to act on behalf of their children by helping parents/guardians identify student needs and shared interests, as well as access available resources.                                                  

The function necessarily requires focused attention to students for whom schools have been the least successful–poor students and students of color. A concentration is required on issues, strategies and interventions that will assist in closing the achievement gap between these students and their more advantaged peers. Measurable success resulting from this effort can be documented by increased numbers of these students, as well as other students, completing school academically prepared to choose from a wide range of substantial post-secondary options, including college.

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