The West Irondequoit Central School District
School Counseling Guiding Principles
The mission of the West Irondequoit Central School District’s school counseling program is to provide a comprehensive, developmental counseling program addressing the academic, career and personal/social development of all students. School counselors are professional school advocates who provide support to maximize student potential and academic achievement. In partnership with other educators, families and the community, school counselors facilitate the support system to ensure all students in the West Irondequoit Central School District have access to and are prepared with the knowledge and skills to contribute at the highest level as productive members of society.
Ø Through the West Irondequoit School Counseling Program ALL students develop strategies to acquire the knowledge, attitudes, and skills to achieve their highest academic, career and personal/social potential.
Ø The West Irondequoit School Counseling Program is in alignment with the American School Counseling Association (ASCA) National Model and the New York State Model For Comprehensive K-12 School Counseling Program standards.
Ø The School Counseling Program is comprehensive in scope, developmental in nature, proactive in design, and differentiated in order to address individual and societal needs.
Ø The role of the school counselor is multidimensional. School counselors ascribe to the ASCA Code of Ethics and participate in on-going professional development. School counselors incorporate leadership, advocacy, counseling, consultation, coordination, collaboration and teaming, and the use of data to ensure students’ success in the domains of academic, career, and personal/social development.
Ø School counselors are shared stakeholders working in collaboration and partnership with students, families, educators, and community members in a variety of settings at a building, district and community level.
Ø School counselors, in collaboration with stakeholders, are invested in helping students make the transition from school to school, school to work, or school to higher education or career and technical training.
Ø All students benefit from an interdisciplinary delivery system, which includes a school guidance curriculum, individual student planning, responsive services, and system support.
Ø The on-going use of a variety of data sets, including process, perception and results data, is integral to ensure that every student receives the benefits of the School Counseling Program. The data is used to identify and address individual student needs and issues, examine current practices, and determine the best ways to make systemic changes in order to seek continuous improvement.
Ø The School Counseling Program delineates a framework of specific, measurable outcomes in the three domains of academic, career and personal/social development. These outcomes must align with each student’s developmental needs and must answer the question, “How are students different as a result of the School Counseling Program?”
Ø The School Counseling Program fosters an environment that encourages students to develop self-awareness, as well as understanding, tolerance and acceptance of others’ diverse qualities, backgrounds, beliefs and aptitudes. The School Counseling Program enables our students to become productive members of the global community.
Ø The School Counseling Program, using a variety of tools, assists all students in identifying and cultivating their intellectual strengths and personal attributes as they explore their higher education and/or career options.
Ø The School Counseling Program will help students develop the skills of critical thinking, problem solving, decision making, self reflection and effective communication.
Ø The School Counseling Program promotes life-long learning for all students.
Academic Outcomes
Career Development Outcomes
Personal & Social Outcomes