Overview

The Counseling Department offers all students individual counseling, college and career planning, academic advising and personal conferences. The counselors are involved in consultation, testing, research, evaluation and curriculum development. They also work with students and their parents on college and financial aid applications. The Counseling Department provides assistance in numerous areas including:

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

  • Individual counseling for personal issues
  • Small group counseling
  • Class sessions on developmentally appropriate topics (suicide prevention, sexuality, eating disorders, communication skills, anger and conflict management, peer and family relationships, etc.)

Testing Program

All students participate in school wide testing including:

  • ITED – Iowa Tests of Educational Development: Administered to all students at the beginning of September
  • Explore: Administered to 8th grade
  • Plan: Administered to 9th grade
  • PSAT: Administered to 10th and 11th grade
  • Strong Interest Inventory: Administered to the 12th grade

Academic Support

  • Monitoring grades and academic skills
  • Study groups
  • Peer tutoring
  • Study skills instruction (memory, note-taking, organization, time management, essay)
  • Referrals for evaluations

College Advising

  • Students are assisted in their decision making process through classroom presentations
  • Assistance in writing resumes and application essays
  • Visits from college representatives
  • On-line access to various college and financial sites
  • Regular updates on admissions, scholarship information
  • Individual meetings with college counselor

Career Decision Making

  • Annual Career Fairs
  • Assistance in interpreting career information provided by Explore, Plan, ACT and Strong Interest Inventory