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9-12 Counseling

In high school, many students are dealing with academic pressures as they face high-stakes testing, the challenges of college admissions, the scholarship and financial aid application process and entrance into a competitive job market. They also may face increased social pressures to engage in risky behaviors involving sex, alcohol and drugs. School counselors are committed to helping students understand that the choices they make now will affect their educational and career options in the future. Counselors play a crucial role during these years in helping students navigate this final transition into adulthood. 

In order to support and build a strong relationship with students through their high school years, counselors:

Meet individually with students

Work in groups with students

Conduct presentations in classrooms

Consult with parents, teachers, administrators, and community agencies

Host evening programs, such as College and Financial Aid Night.

Make referrals to professionals in the community, e.g., therapists, tutors

Help seniors with the college application process and write letters of recommendation

Academic Support

School Counselors are available to help support students academically. Academic support may look different depending on each situation but may include some or all of the following:

  • Helping to improve the academic success of all students by monitoring academic progress and performance and working with the teacher, students, and families to identify intervention strategies to improve performance for struggling students.
  • Meeting with students to help each student build a schedule and select courses that challenge them academically and set them on the right path to meet their post-secondary goals.
  • Working with students individually or in groups to develop study, organizational and test-taking skills.

Social-Emotional Support

School Counselors are available to help support students. Social and emotional support can be provided in different ways and may include large group activities as well as small group and individual counseling. Some areas of focus include:

  • Counseling students at risk of risky behaviors involving sex, alcohol and drugs. Counselors work with students, families and outside agencies to provide prevention strategies.
  • Providing coping strategies for students who have undergone some element of stress or tragedy.
  • Working with students to resolve conflict and create positive peer relationships.
  • Helping students with behavioral issues find success in the classroom by working on strategies with the student, teacher and parents.
  • Helping students deal with academic pressures as they face high-stakes testing, the challenges of college admissions, the scholarship and financial aid application process and entrance into a competitive job market.

Career Development/Post-Secondary Planning Support 

At the high school level, students are actively beginning to plan for their post-secondary years. They continue to spend time exploring and identifying individual interests and skills, look for internships and shadowing experiences, and often times begin to have jobs outside of school. These experiences help students to identify college and career interests. School counselors help to support high school students in many ways including:

  • Advising students in planning post-secondary educational and occupational goals using academic, career and labor market information. Counselors work with students analyzing and evaluating their abilities, interests, skills and achievement to develop immediate and long-range plans. They advise students about what needs to be done to enter college, career or the military.
  • Introducing students in 9th grade to the high school transcript and graduation requirements.
  • Pushing into 10th grade classrooms to provide instruction on career exploration
  • Holding junior interviews with grade 11 students to ensure they are on track to graduate and discuss post-secondary options. Bring 11th graders to college fair in the spring.
  • Process college applications, forms, and writing of letters of recommendation for seniors. Host an evening parent/student College Night.

College/Post-Secondary Support

As students continue to explore post-secondary options, many students will plan to attend college. School Counselors are here to help with post-secondary planning whether plans include, college, employment, military, or a gap year. Since the majority of our students attend college after graduating, most of our large group activities related to post-secondary planning are focused on college planning. 

Some of these activities include:

  • Discussing standardized testing (SAT/ACT/AP) with sophomores, junior and seniors
  • Administering the PSAT and reviewing PSAT score reports with students
  • Providing large group instruction on the college search process, admission requirements and the HCS application process
  • Organizing and facilitating College Night
  • Transcript reviews with all juniors and seniors on an individual basis
  • Taking all juniors to the College Fair in Syracuse each spring

Family Support 

The high school years can be filled with new experiences and opportunities for students and families. School counselors work with families to guide them through these new experiences and help to answer questions. Some of the ways school counselors work with families are:

  • Working with parents to implement strategies at home that will help students be successful in school.
  • Serving as a liaison between the school and community agencies to assist parents in obtaining needed services.

Transition Support

Transitioning between grade levels is exciting, but can also be challenging for students. School counselors work to help transitions be as smooth as possible. Some of the things they do include:

  • Working with middle school students to help students have a successful transition to 9th grade.
  • Meet with teachers to make sure that they are aware of student's needs to ensure a successful transition to high school.