Counseling and Academic Advisory Team

The School Counseling Curriculum consists of structured developmental experiences presented systematically through classroom and group 8-12. The purpose is to facilitate student growth and development, promote academic achievement and positive mental health, and assist students in acquiring and using career life skills. The curriculum is organized around the three content standards. Essential Grade Level Expectations are identified in the department scope and sequence. While counselors are responsible for managing and implementing the curriculum, the support of the faculty and staff is essential for successful implementation. The curriculum is delivered through both classroom and group activities. Examples of curriculum topics in each of the content standards are as follows: 

• Social & Emotional Development:  Personal safety, respecting differences, empathy-building, problem-solving, personal strengths and talents, mindfulness, coping with stressful situations, emotional regulation, social skill-building.
• Academic Development: study skills, test-taking skills, goal-setting, grade-level transitions, four-year planning, and test interpretation
• Career Readiness:  Career awareness and exploration, career paths, career resources, job skills, decision-making, post-secondary planning.

​School counselors work closely with teachers to organize where and when school counseling curriculum activities will be taught. Learning activities are cross-referenced to the state standards and provide practical ways to work closely with classroom teachers to achieve the district's educational goals. The school counseling curriculum is delivered through such strategies as:

• Classroom activities: Counselors teach, team-teach, or assist in teaching guidance, curriculum learning activities in the classroom, school counseling center, or other school facilities.
• Group activities: Counselors conduct groups outside the classroom to respond to student-identified interests or needs. Counselors plan and lead structured activities to develop skills and increase students' knowledge concerning guidance standards and grade-level expectations.

Comprehensive School Counseling Program Philosophy

Proviso Township School District 209 believes that our Comprehensive School Counseling Program (CSCP) is an essential and integral part of our district's educational program and mission. It exists to promote every student's ability to live, learn, work, and contribute to their communities. We understand that the CSCP is developmentally appropriate and involves assisting all students with continuous growth and transitions. All students can become effective, responsible, productive, life-long learners. We acknowledge that our program should be assessed annually, be self-reflective, and continuously improve. We assert that the Comprehensive School Counseling Program should be linked to student achievement, be aligned with state and national standards, and encourage professional development. We maintain that our CSCP is coordinated across all school levels and collaborates with the community.

 District 209 CSCP, when fully implemented, will:

• Address the diverse needs of every student;
• Provide for self-reflective evaluation and annual program reviews based upon best practices, relevant research, and appropriate data;
• Be coordinated by a team of school counselors and implemented by students, parents, teachers, administrators, and staff support;
• Including developmentally appropriate guidance curriculum, activities, and services based on the needs of the entire student population; and
• Be an integral component of each school's program and an essential link with the community.

All students can develop the skills necessary for academic success, personal growth, positive interpersonal relationships, career development, and healthy choices. 

• All students have a right to equitable treatment and access to opportunities and support.
• School counseling is integral to a school system’s efforts to enhance educational attainment for all students.
• School counselors must work to design and implement programs that contribute to student success.

Counselors meet with students in large groups, small groups, and individually to implement the counseling program by providing:  

• Academic planning
• The organizational, study, and test-taking skills
• Academic support interventions
• Transition planning
• Post-secondary planning and the college application process
• Career planning
• Education in understanding self and others
• Coping strategies
• Peer relationships and effective social skills
• Communication, problem-solving, decision-making, and conflict resolution
• Substance abuse education
• Multicultural/diversity awareness
• Crisis Intervention

Counselors collaborate and consult with parents to address:

• Academic planning and support
• Post-secondary planning
• School-to-parent communications/concerns
• Referral process

• Prepares students for the challenges of the 21st century through academic, career, and personal/social development
• Relates educational success to future success in life
• Facilitates career exploration and development
• Develops decision-making and problem-solving skills
• Assists in acquiring knowledge of self and others
• Enhances personal development
• Assists in developing effective interpersonal relationship skills
• Broadens knowledge of the options available to them for lifelong learning
• Provides advocacy for students
• Encourages facilitative, cooperative, peer interactions
• Fosters resiliency factors for students
• Assures equitable access to educational opportunities

• Prepares children for the challenges of the 21st century through academic, career, and personal/social development
• Provides support for parents in advocating for their child’s academic, career, and personal/social development
• Develops a system for their child’s short and long-range planning and learning
• Increases opportunities for positive parent/school interaction
• Enable parents to access school and community resources

• Provides an interdisciplinary team effort to address student needs and educational goals
• Provides skill development for teachers in classroom management, teaching effectiveness, and effective education
• Provides consultation to assist teachers in addressing student needs and guiding them through the changes they experience throughout their school career

• Integrates school counseling with school improvement
• Provides a program structure with standards-based content and curriculum
• Assists administration in using school counselors effectively to enhance learning and development for all students
• Assists administration in improving the school climate and creating a positive learning environment for students
• Provides a means of evaluating school counseling programs

• Provides a rationale for implementing a comprehensive developmental counseling program in the school system
• Assures that a quality counseling program is available to all students
• Demonstrates the necessity of appropriate levels of funding for implementation
• Supports appropriate credentialing and staffing
• Provides a basis for determining funding allocations for school counseling programs
• Furnishes program information to the community promoting better school and community relations
• Gives ongoing information about student competencies and achievements attained through school counseling program efforts

• Provides a clearly defined role and function
• Eliminates non-counseling functions that do not impact student achievement or development
• Provides direct service to all students
• Provides a tool for program management and accountability
• Enhances the role of the school counselor as a student advocate
• Ensures the counselors' role in school improvement

A developmental school counseling program focuses on all students. While the counselor continues to respond to the individual's unique needs, all students benefit from experiential activities that enhance their knowledge and skills in career planning and exploration, self-awareness, interpersonal relationships, and educational/vocational development. Proficiency in these areas improves students' self-concept, fosters better peer and adult interactions, and lends students a sense of purpose and direction in planning and controlling their own lives more effectively. Such enhanced competencies result in students being prepared to cope with life's decisions and manage human relationships. Thus, the comprehensive school counseling program is preventative and remedial.

During the high school years, individual learning plans and programs of study are reviewed and updated regularly by students’ post-secondary personal, educational, and occupational goals. The particular student planning component provides time for regular individual work with students and group sessions focusing on individual student planning. School counseling curriculum activities continue to support student planning by emphasizing the development and use of decision-making skills, goal-setting, and planning. The importance and relevance of strong social/emotional, academic, and career development skills are stressed. The goal is for students’ plans of study to become pathways or guides through which they can use the past and present to anticipate and prepare for the future.