Middle School Counseling Program and Services
The major goal of the middle school counseling program is to foster the optimal academic, personal, and career development of early adolescents. Services focus on the transitional period of the child from puberty to adolescence with emphasis on the academic, social, emotional, and physical changes that students experience during this period of their lives. Each middle school has two full-time school counselors. They are assigned by grade level to the student groups in an effort to create a long-term relationship with the student and parents. Typically, a counselor will begin with a grade level or portion of a grade level and follow those students from grade 6 through grade 8. Counselors provide classroom guidance activities, small group sessions, individual counseling, and parent workshops.
Special features of the middle school counseling curriculum include:
· Summer Connection Program
· Study Skills and Test Taking Strategies
· Violence Prevention Program
· Career Education
· Academic and Career Planning
DEVELOPING THE STUDENT’S ACADEMIC AND CAREER PLAN
In order to prepare students to live and work in society, opportunities are provided by the Spotsylvania County Schools to help students develop to the fullest of their capabilities. Course offerings in middle and high school are geared to meet the needs, interests and abilities of all students and expand their options beyond high school.
The process of developing a student’s Academic and Career Plan begins as early as grade 7 and continues with the annual review of progress toward the student’s established goals. Parents and students, working side by side with school counselors and teachers, provide the direction for the future by making appropriate course recommendations and yearly schedule plans in line with the long term goals of the diploma option and desired career field. Students take career assessments in grades 7 and 9 to determine appropriate career clusters based on their interests, skills and aptitudes. The results of these assessments are noted on the Academic and Career Plan to help direct course selection and preparation for the education needed to enter into the career fields.
Serious consideration should be given to the class registration process by students and their parents as choices are made regarding school subjects and career preparation each year. The Catalog of Secondary Course Offerings presents students and parents with essential information needed to take an active role in this decision-making process. This course description guide has been prepared to enable students to make wise and appropriate choices in the selection of their classes at the secondary level.
Below are links to each of our middle school's individual school counseling pages: